HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams made their 2026 debut today, participating in a tri-meet with Boston University and host Colgate University. The men's team earned a split by defeating Colgate by a 154-83 score but falling to Boston University by a 169-72 count. The women's team came up short against both Boston University (153-88) and Colgate (152-89).
The Stags earned several top three finishes over the event with first-place finishes from
Natasha De Pree and Balazs Ament highlighting the day. De Pree secured the best time in the 500-yard free with a time of 5:01.87 while Ament garnered the top spot based on finish of 1:59.83 in the 200-yard breast.
In addition, three men's swimmers secured a pair of top three finishes for Fairfield, namely Tim Regan, Bobby Regan, and Aidan Schnapf. Schnapf earned second place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.17 and third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:51.02.
Tim Regan garnered third-place swims in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1:41.28, as well as the 500-yard freestyle, checking in at 4:40.69. Bobby Regan collected silver in the 200-yard IM by taking the distance in 1:52.56 and bronze in the 200-yard breaststroke by clocking in at 2:05.40.
Jochi Nolla completed the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:42.19 which was strong enough for third place. Cormac Rouse completed Fairfield's top three finishes for the men with his second-place showing in the 100-yard freestyle (46.30).
On the women's side,
Sofia Smerechniak also placed in the 1000-yard freestyle, bringing home third with a time of 10:34.52.
Isla Bartholomew registered third place in the 200-yard IM by finishing the event in 2:08.55.
Callie Gray picked up a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly by touching the wall in 2:04.46.
Tone Sandsjo ended the day for Fairfield swimmers with her third-place swim in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.92).
Fairfield divers also made their mark in the tri-meet with
Jade Leblic scoring 196.90 points in the 1-meter (6
th) and
Alexandra Reback posting 180.45 points in the 3-meter (8
th). Andrew Cataldo was the Stags' top finisher in both the 1-meter (238.05 points) and the 3-meter (255.90 points) for fourth place in both dives.
The Fairfield University swimming and diving teams will complete the home portion of their schedule on Saturday, January 17 when the squads host Iona University at the RecPlex Pool. Between the diving and swimming competitions, the Stags will honor the senior class with a ceremony.