For the sixth consecutive year, men’s swim and dive (10-1 NESCAC) earned the NESCAC title, winning this weekend’s meet with an incredible total of 1801.5 points, ahead of second-place Tufts by 363 points. 

The first day of the championship, which took place at Middlebury, started with the 800 freestyle relay, an event the Ephs have won for the past six NESCAC championships. It was no surprise that this year they crushed the event once again. 

The team won nine of the 23 events. Oliver Schalet ’25,  Ryan Nunez ’27, Haochen Liu ’27, and Carter Anderson ’25, made it to the top of the podium in their individual events, and there were 28 individual A-finals performances and 14 All-NESCAC finishes — outdoing every other team at the meet.

“This team has been a blast all year long, and it was great to cap off the season with a NESCAC championship,” Schalet wrote to the Record. “People showed a lot of fight in the pool and on the boards this weekend, and everyone did their part for the team.” 

In the A-relay, co-captain Schalet started with a new personal best time of 1:37.15, followed by co-captain Anderson, Harrison Williams ’26, and Nunez who achieved times of 1:38.28, 1:39.19, and 1:37.31, respectively. The relay finished with a final time of 6:31.93 — 3 seconds ahead of Tufts. 

In the B-relay, Nye Hanan ’28, Kevin Whitworth ’26, Zach Houlton ’24.5, and Nathaniel Tunggal ’25 ended with an overall time of 6:40.31, taking first. Hanan swam a personal best, starting off the relay with a time of 1:39.23. Whitworth, Houlton, and Tunggal followed him with times of 1:38.28, 1:40.51, and 1:40.80, respectively. 

With two decisive wins under their belt, the Ephs headed into day two. The morning consisted of preliminary rounds to determine whether swimmers would move on to finals. During the preliminaries, 14 Ephs made it to the A-finals, more than any other team at the championship. 

In the 200 freestyle relay, Mason Green ’27, Barrett Heritage ’25, Theo Randall ’27, and Schalet finished with an overall time of 1:20.91, coming in second place, behind Bates. Whitworth, Colin Kavanagh ’27, Gabe Lee ’26, and Nunez finished with a time of 1:23.77, placing third for the B-relays. In the 400 medley relay, Charlie Venci ’25, Michael Grover ’26, Heritage, and Schalet came in third place with a time of 3:14.72. 

Alongside relay success, the Ephs dominated in Saturday’s individual events.  

In the 500 freestyle, four out of the eight swimmers who qualified for finals were Ephs. Nunez won the race with a 4:23.18, the top-ranking time in Div. III this year. Anderson came in second with a time of 4:26.38. 

The Ephs stacked up even more wins in the 50 breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and freestyle. In breaststroke, Grover placed third with a time of 24.99, earning All-NESCAC honors, and Ian Fournier ’28 brought in 10th place in the B-finals. In the butterfly, Heritage and Noah Labich ’25  came in third and seventh in the A-finals, with times of 21.81 and 22.28, respectively. In backstroke, Venci was the runner-up with a time of 22.48 and Green came in eighth place with a time of 23.83, and in the B-final, Lee and Whitman Horton ‘28 came in 10th and 15th with times of 23.36 and 23.82, respectively. In freestyle, Heritage and Green came in fourth and eighth place, with times of 20.48 and 20.82,  while Randall won the B-final with 20.71 and Whitworth came in 15th with 21.14.

Finally, in the last event of day two, Schalet, Kavanagh, and Lee competed in the 200 individual medleys, with Schalet setting a new pool record, winning the event with a time of 1:47.98, Kavanagh setting a personal best time of 1:49.15 and Lee placing fifth with a time of 1:50.81. 

Going into the third day, the Ephs were on top, 191 points clear of Tufts, and were about to blow that lead wide open. 

In the evening session of the 1650 yard freestyle, Anderson finished an emphatic first with a pool record time of 15:27.43, his third consecutive title in the event. Will Hook ’28 placed fourth with a personal best of 15:42.04.

Swimmers also showcased impressive results in the 200 breaststroke, butterfly, and backstroke. Schalet won the backstroke — which he considers his “off” event — with a personal best of 2:00.13, and Fournier came in 14th with a time of 2:05.03. In butterfly, Nunez was a runner-up for the A-final with a time of 1:48.46, and Labich earned 5th with 1:50.30, concluding an outstanding career on the team. In the backstroke, Whitman Horton ’28, Venci, and Kavanagh placed eighth, seventh, and third respectively, with Kavanagh earning All-NESCAC honors in third place with a time of 1:47.66.

Throughout the championship, the divers also dominated in their events, with Liu and Calder Biondi ’28 earning the top two scores in the 1 meter and 3 meter diving event. Liu won the diving event with 476.20 points, with Biondi right behind him in second place with 465.30. 

In the 100 freestyle, Randall and Green placed seventh and eighth, with times of 45.81 and 46.83, respectively, while Whitworth came runner-up in the B-final.

The final event of the meet was the 400 freestyle relay. In the A-relay, Kavanagh, Randall, Nunez, and Schalet finished with a time of 3:00.50, placing third, while Williams, Whitworth, Hanan, and Heritage earned second in the B-relays and 13th overall with a time of 3:02.86.

Biondi reflected on the team’s NESCAC triumph. “We’re all in it together,” he said. “We’re all in it for the same goal, and the way to get there is to help each other. It really showed [through] every swim, every dive, the whole team was there supporting and they were each we were cheering everyone on and that knew level was definitely a factor in why we were able to win this weekend.”

The team’s co-captains, Schalet and Anderson, earned NESCAC career high point honors. Schalet finished with 358.5 points and eight NESCAC titles and Anderson with 350 points and five NESCAC titles. 

The team’s coaches were instrumental in this individual and collective success, according to Schalet. “Our coaches are incredible,” Schalet said. “They shape this team and make us the best swimmers and divers, but also people, that we can be. I’m grateful to be part of such a great group and am especially proud of the senior class for our work throughout the last four years.”

Alongside the swimmers, coaches Steve Kuster, Allie Clark, James Singewald, and Brandon Pearson won the Coaching Staff of the Year award. “This meet for sure had its ups and downs for us, but ultimately this team stepped up in so many ways to get the job done,” Kuster wrote in an email to the Record. “I’m very proud of the total team effort and our guys. We are really excited to be bringing home a NESCAC title!”

The diving team has its regionals next weekend in Springfield, Mass., and individual athletes will be heading to nationals in Greensboro, N.C., in March.