Women’s swim and dive (7-0, 4-0 NESCAC) took first place at the NESCAC Championship last weekend, which was hosted at the Middlebury College Natatorium. Following an undefeated season and a historic Div. III dual meet streak of 135 wins, the four-day championship meet was the icing on the cake for the team. The win marks the team’s 20th title in program history.
Lily Codd ’26, Abi Greenberg ’27, Clementine Robins ’27, and Amanda Wager ’23.5 began the first evening session of the meet with a stellar performance during the 800 free B-relay. The team won its heat with an electrifying 7:30.14 time, with Greenberg making her NESCAC Championship debut and swimming the anchor leg. Frances Hayward ’24, Carter Roebuck ’27, co-captain Emma Schulman ’24, and Sophia Verkleeren ’25 competed in the 800 free A-relay and took gold with an NCAA B qualifying time of 7:12.81, with Verkleeren and Roebuck swimming personal bests during their respective legs.
“When we won both the A and B 800 freestyle relays on Thursday night, it really set the tone for the rest of the meet,” co-captains Caitlin Murphy ’24, Gabriella Lopez-Ona ’24, and Schulman wrote in a joint email to the Record. “We were cheering so incredibly loud and the energy in the entire building was ecstatic. It was truly a night to remember and helped propel us into the long weekend of racing and diving ahead of us.”
At the meet, the Ephs were granted the opportunity to qualify for a NESCAC event by opting into a time trial of their choice. Irene Yang ’26 swam a personal record of 26.34 seconds during the 50 back. Brielle Gold ’27, Bernadette Ramoy ’27, Liz Ramoy ’25, and swam the 50 free with times of 24.66 seconds, 24.81 seconds, and 24.18 seconds, respectively.
The next day, Liz Ramoy, Roebuck, Schulman, and Alden White ’27 won the 200 free B-relay with a competitive time of 1:35.15 minutes. During the 200 free A-relay, Emma Dimter ’27, Sam Kilcoyne ’23.5, Zora Vujovic ’25, and Yang won with a time of 1:33.27, setting a pool record. Kilcoyne also defended her first place titles from 2020, 2022, and 2023 in the 50 fly, touching the wall first with a time of 24.46 seconds. Verkleeren then won her second 200 individual medley title with a time of 1:59.48, setting a pool record.
Divers Adelaide Herman ’25 and Ashley Loh ’27 competed in the 1-meter competition, where Herman placed third with an overall score of 413.70 points and Loh placed seventh with an overall score of 386.30 points. Schulman, Vujovic, Charlotte Wishnack ’25 and Yang won the 400 medley B-relay, setting a pool record of 3:43.12 minutes. During her leg of the race, Yang set a personal record of 56.11 seconds in the 100 backstroke. Verkleeren, Kilcoyne, Wager, and Dimter won the 400 medley A-relay by a stand-out five seconds with a time of 3:39.04 minutes, setting yet another College, pool, and meet record in the process.
On the third day of the meet, the Ephs continued their winstreak during the 200 medley B-relay with a first-place time of 1:43.66 minutes by Gold, Vujovic, Wishnack, and Yang. The 200 medley A-relay team — which consisted of Dimter, Kilcoyne, Verkleeren, and Wager — followed the performance by setting a new school, pool, and NESCAC record of 1:40.79 minutes, beating the College’s previous record, 1:42.18, from 2020.
During the 1000 free, Codd and Hayward took first and fifth place, respectively, with Codd finishing in 9:58.69 minutes, a lifetime, pool, and meet record. During the 50 fly, Kilcoyne, Lopez-Ona, and Schulman dominated the event, placing first, fourth, and second respectively. Lillie Bushway ’24, Greenberg, and Verkleeren then took on the 400 individual medley (IM) championship finals, with Verkleeren taking first place with a time of 4:17.68. Dimter, Robins, and Roebuck then raced in the 200 free championship final, with Roebuck taking second place with a time of 1:51.07.
Wager and Wishnack topped the podium after the 100 breaststroke, placing first and second with times of 1:01.86 and 1:02.40, respectively. Divers Herman and Loh rounded out the day with first and fifth place, scoring 465.25 and 386.30 points.
On the last day of the meet, Codd and Hayward competed in the 1650 free, with Codd winning the event with a pool and meet record of 16:38.13 minutes. Verkleeren won her third individual event during the 200 back with a time of 1:58.26, with White and Yang following close behind in sixth and fourth place, respetively. Roebuck, Wager, and Wishnack swept the podium during the 200 breaststroke, touching the wall at 2:18.22, 2:12.61, and 2:13.25 respectively. Greenburg touched the wall at 2:03.10, Kilcoyne defended her 200 fly title with a new pool record of 2:01.69, and Schulman touched the wall at 2:08.03. Lopez-Ona, Roebuck, Schulman, and Yang won the 400 free B-relay, while Dimter, Kilcoyne, Verkleeren, and Vujovic won the 400 free A-relay and took home another pool record.
Yang explained that reclaiming the NESCAC Championship title — a feat the team achieved for the first time since 2020 — was a satisfying culmination of the team’s hard work throughout the season. “[Winning the title] was a season-long goal, and I’m so happy we actually actualized that goal,” Yang wrote to the Record. “It wasn’t something that would come easily without all the effort and work we put in the past six months.”
For their performances throughout the season, Herman was awarded NESCAC Diver of the Year, Verkleeren was awarded NESCAC Swimmer of the Year, and Kilcoyne and Wager won first and second place for the Career High Point Swimmer Award. The College’s coaching staff was also awarded with the Swimming Staff of the Year Award.
Looking ahead, the Ephs with qualifying times will go on to the Diving Regionals on March 1 and 2 and the NCAA Div. III Championship at Greensboro, N.C., from March 20 to 23.
