ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Navy's Lejeune Hall will be the site for the 2016 Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championship, which is slated to run Wednesday, Feb. 17-Saturday, Feb 20.

The Feb. 17 sessions of the meet â€"â€" 2 p.m. diving trials, 6 p.m. diving final along with two swimming relay event finals â€"â€" will be free for everyone who wishes to attend. Tickets will be required for admission to each of the remaining three days of the meet, which consists of preliminary swimming heats at 10 a.m., diving trials at 1 p.m. and a session of combined finals starting at 6 p.m.

Links to free live video and live results from every session of the four-day championship can be found at NavySports.com.

Navy's teams have swept the league titles in each of the last four seasons and were tabbed as the pre-season favorites to win the respective crowns again this year. Additionally, Navy's men's squad has won the team title in each of the 12 years it has vied for the championship, while the Navy women have won a league record 14 titles in its 24 seasons of competition at the meet.

"Our team has been working hard to win this year's championship," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "With many strong performances from Patriot League schools down the stretch, we will have need peak performance from our swimmers and divers to again challenge for the title. I believe our team is ready to go and being at home will definitely bring out the best in all of us."

"Like everyone else heading into their conference championship meets," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts, "we are very excited to begin competition this week. Looking at the psych sheet, this year's meet has the potential to be a very exciting and competitive meet. Our goals for this meet are to put forth our best efforts, to strive to improve and to represent the program and the Naval Academy to the very best of our abilities."

The Navy programs return a total of nine swimmers and two divers who have won an individual event title at the league meet in their careers. On the women's side, Rachael Dudley (Sr., Hoschton, Ga.) won the 500 free in 2013 and the 100 fly, 200 fly and 500 free in '15, Ellen Bradford (Sr., Knoxville, Tenn.) won the 200 breaststroke in each of the last two seasons, Kenzie Margroum (Jr., Fort Thomas, Ky.) won the 100 and 200 free events one year ago, Hanna Gillcrist (Jr., Burlington, Ky.) won the 100 breaststroke in 2014, Julie Jesse (Sr., Edwardsburg, Mich.) was the 2015 one-meter diving champion and Maddi Thomson (Sr., Jersey Shore, Pa.) was the champion in the 200 freestyle in 2014.

For the Navy men, Tom Duvall (Sr., Dunham, N.H.) has claimed five titles over the last two seasons (200 free, 500 free, 1650 free in 2014; 200 free and 500 free in 2015), Jonathan Debaugh (Sr., Conroe, Texas) has swept the butterfly events in each of the last two years, Marlin Brutkiewicz (Jr., Mobile, Ala.) won both breaststroke titles last year and Nate Belch (So., Tucson, Ariz.) swept the two diving boards at the 2015 league meet.

Both Navy teams enter the championship with their swimmers having posted the top time in the league this season in 10 of the 13 individual events that comprise the meet. Lauren Barber (Fr., New Wilmington, Pa.) leads the league's women with a trio of top times in the 200 breaststroke (2:12.15), 200 freestyle (1:46.84) and 200 individual medley (2:00.36), with Jenny Smith (So., Columbus, Ohio) having attained the best time in the 500 free (4:48.57) and 400 individual medley (4:22.65).

Bradford has posted the league's best time in the 100 breast (1:01.30), Hannah Briant (Fr., Brielle, N.J.) was the league's fastest swimmer in the 100 butterfly (54.23), Dudley has posted the best 200 fly time (1:59.23), Margroum has attained the fastest 50 free time (22.94) and Thompson has clocked in with the best 100 free time (49.57).

In looking at the men's times this season, Brutkiewicz has been the fastest swimmer in the 100 breast (52.98), 200 breast (1:56.00) and 200 individual medley events (1:48.81), while David Carlson (Sr., Brielle, N.J.) has been the fastest backstroke swimmer in the league (47.59 and 1:43.78, respectively).

Also, Hayes McCullagh (Jr., Charlotte, N.C.) has posted the league's best time in the 100 fly (47.71), Debaugh has paced the league in the 200 fly (1:44.08), Joseph Jaime (So., San Antonio, Texas) posted the best time in the 200 free (1:36.65), Duvall has been the fastest swimmer in the 500 free (4:17.32) and Noah Martin (Sr., San Tan Valley, Ariz.) has attained the fastest 1650 freestyle time (15:13.60).

Additionally, the Navy women have recorded the fastest time in the league this year in each of the five relay events, while the Navy men have attained the league's fastest time in four of the five relay events (second to Army West Point in the 200 free).

An all-session pass can be purchased for $60, a ticket for a single session of finals is $15 and a ticket for one of the preliminary sessions is $12. Tickets can be purchased in advance at NavySports.com â€"â€" click on the TICKETS dropdown in the masthead, select "Order Tickets Online" and scroll to the meet on the resulting page â€"â€" or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY (487-6289). Tickets also will be available for in person purchase prior to the start of each session on the second deck of Lejeune Hall.

Students currently attending one of the 10 Patriot League institutions will be admitted for free upon displaying their valid school identification card at the ticket booth in Lejeune Hall.

All seating within the 1,000-seat venue is general admission and available on a first come, first serve basis.

All ticket holders without a Department of Defense identification card must park their vehicle outside of the USNA grounds. Fans are strongly encouraged to park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium ($5. per vehicle) and ride the free shuttle bus to and from the meet. The shuttle bus will run from 5-11 p.m. on Feb. 17 and 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Feb. 18-20. Those fans wishing to park downtown must enter the USNA through the gate one visitors entrance.

Whether a visitor rides the shuttle bus to the USNA or walks through one of its gates, everyone over the age of 18 must have and be prepared to display a valid picture ID card (i.e.: State issued driver's license, student I.D., or a government issued passport). Visitors under the age of 18 who do not have a valid picture ID card must be escorted by an adult. Visitors from Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington State must produce their driver's license AND a second ID card (does not need to have a photo on it) before being admitted.

Schedule of Events
Wed., Feb. 17 (shuttle bus: 5-11 p.m.)
2 p.m. - men's 3M diving trials â€"â€" Free admission
6 p.m. - 200 medley relay, men's 3M diving finals, 800 freestyle relay â€"â€" Free admission

Thurs., Feb. 18 (shuttle bus: 9:30 a.m.-11 p.m.)
10:30 a.m. - swimming individual event preliminary heats followed by diving trials
6 p.m. - combined finals
500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, women's 1M diving, 400 medley relay

Fri., Feb. 19 (shuttle bus: 9:30 a.m.-11 p.m.)
10:30 a.m. - swimming individual event preliminary heats followed by diving trials
6 p.m. - combined finals
400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, men's 1M diving, 200 free relay

Sat., Feb. 20 (shuttle bus: 9:30 a.m.-11 p.m.)
10:30 a.m. - swimming individual event preliminary heats followed by diving trials
6 p.m. - combined finals
1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, women's 1M diving, 400 free relay