Swarthmore Swimming Battles for Conference Crowns

From Feb. 19-22, Swarthmore College traveled to Lancaster, PA, for the 2026 Centennial Conference Championships, hosted by Franklin & Marshall College. Four days later, the Garnet departed with a haul of medals and information: the No. 15-ranked ladies’s workforce secured its fifth consecutive convention title, whereas the lads’s workforce completed in third in a meet that got here right down to the ultimate touches.

Swarthmore wasted no time making an announcement. The males’s 200-yard medley relay workforce of Cami Wilson ’26, Dylan Ling ’26, Luke Magnuson ’26, and Danny Castle ’27 opened the meet with a second-place end in 1:28.63. Minutes later, the ladies’s quartet of Maya Ambardekar ’28, Elle Anthony ’26, Norah Rutkowski ’28, and Genine Collins ’27 matched the trouble, touching in 1:43.07 for one more runner-up end.

Medley momentum carried into the gap relays. On the lads’s aspect, Sean Neirynck ’29, Jack Boerner ’29, Matthew Kim ’29, and Castle mixed for bronze within the 800 freestyle relay (6:41.00), highlighted by Castle’s 1:38.36 anchor cut up. The ladies’s 800 freestyle relay proved to be a defining second of the weekend: Quinn Weygandt ’26, Riley Bacinski ’29, Kate Hallmark ’26, and Ava Craig ’27 captured gold in 7:31.94, firmly establishing the Garnet as title contenders.

Swarthmore swimmers continued to ship in particular person occasions. Hallmark positioned among the many finalists within the 500 freestyle (5:00.41) earlier than capturing gold within the 1650 freestyle with a commanding 17:20.61 — her second profession convention title within the occasion.

Weygandt prolonged her dominance within the 200 IM, successful her fourth consecutive convention championship in 2:02.43 whereas breaking her personal meet and convention information. She later added one other gold within the 400 IM (4:20.71), once more setting a championship report, and was in the end named the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer — the third such honor of her profession.

On the lads’s aspect, Wilson claimed his second straight 50 freestyle title in 20.03. He later added a victory within the 100 butterfly (46.91), marking his third profession convention win within the occasion. Castle earned gold within the 200 freestyle (1:38.55) for the second time, setting a brand new championship report. In the 200 butterfly, Mateo Smith ’27 secured silver with a 1:40.48 swim, whereas Dylan Herink ’27 added a finalist end within the 100 breaststroke (56.01).

The ladies’s dash corps proved particularly dominant. Collins (22.69) and Anthony (23.36) went one-two within the 50 freestyle, with Collins amassing her third title within the occasion and breaking each championship and convention information. The duo repeated the feat within the 100 freestyle, ending first and second in 50.44 and 51.67, respectively, with Collins once more setting a championship report.

Cara Dominici ’27 added to the medal depend with gold within the 200 backstroke (2:20.88), ending greater than two seconds forward of the sector, whereas Anthony secured a runner-up end within the occasion (1:03.55).

Ultimately, it was the relays that clinched the ladies’s championship. The 400 medley relay workforce of Ambardekar, Anthony, Rutkowski, and Collins delivered an announcement victory in 3:44.80, dropping almost three seconds from their seed time and ending greater than eight seconds away from the runner-up.

The 200 freestyle relay quartet of Collins, Bacinski, Packard, and Anthony broke Swarthmore’s championship report en path to gold in 1:32.24. To cap the meet, the 400 freestyle relay workforce of Collins, Bacinski, Weygandt, and Anthony posted a conference-record 3:23.55, sealing the Garnet’s fifth straight convention crown.

The males matched that late-meet depth. Wilson, Castle, Tipton, and Magnuson captured gold within the 200 freestyle relay (1:20.31). In one of the dramatic races of the weekend, Tipton, Wilson, Neirynck, and Castle edged the sector within the 400 freestyle relay with a 2:59.01 end simply three-hundredths of a second forward of second place.

By the ultimate race, Swarthmore’s depth, star energy, and relay dominance had as soon as once more carried the Garnet to the highest of the Centennial Conference podium. The emergence of a brand new convention addition, Johns Hopkins University, set the stage for what guarantees to be a compelling rivalry within the years forward. Meanwhile, the ladies prolonged their historic championship streak and the lads established themselves as formidable contenders, battling right down to the ultimate stroke.

Looking forward, ten ladies and 4 males will compete within the NCAA National Championships from March 18-21, making for the most important group of NCAA rivals in program historical past.