By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor

The Indiana High School Swim Coaches’ Association has released its preseason poll for the 2009-10 girls swimming season, and 23-time defending state champion Carmel will start the year off at No. 1. 

Based on a theoretical scoring system from a 16-place meet using the times/scores of the returning Top 20 individuals from sectionals and state finals as well as the best regular-season times of the 2008-09 season, the Greyhounds tallied 209 points. That was considerably more than No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern (135), with Noblesville (86), Center Grove (74), and Chesterton (66) rounding out the preseason first five.

Relays and diving will not be incorporated into the ratings system until the third week of the upcoming regular season.

Teams are listed by ranking followed by school and vote total. The IHSSCA’s preseason Top 48:

1. Carmel 209
2. Hamilton Southeastern 135
3. Noblesville 86
4. Center Grove 74
5. Chesterton 66
6. Fishers 64
7. Homestead 48
8. Zionsville 48
9. Fort Wayne Snider 40
9. Munster 40
11. Westfield 37
12. Columbus North 34
13. Penn 33
14. McCutcheon 31
15. Wawasee 31
16. North Central (Indianapolis) 28
17. Lawrence North 23
18. Plymouth 23
19. DeKalb 22
20. Portage 21
21. Southridge 20
22. Avon 18
22. Crawfordsville 18
24. Shenandoah 16
25. Bloomington South 15
25. Yorktown 15
27. Evansville Reitz 14
28. Elkhart Memorial 13
28. Twin Lakes 13
30. Fort Wayne Canterbury 12
30. Lowell 12
32. Columbia City 11
32. Hamilton Heights 11
32. Mount Vernon (Posey) 11
35. Northridge 10
36. Concord 9
36. Connersville 9
36. Madison 9
39. Castle 8
40. Brebeuf 6
40. Franklin 6
40. Martinsville 6
43. Greenwood 5
44. Brownsburg 4
45. Crown Point 3
45. Lake Central 3
47. West Lafayette 2
48. Lawrence Central 1