GENEVA, Ohio – The Fairfield University men's swimming and diving team retained the top spot while the women's swimming and diving team jumped two spots into second place of the team standings as the third day of the 2026 MAAC Championships is in the books. The men scored 860.83 points, ahead of Marist University's 792 points. The women tallied 875.5 points which trails only Marist University's 909.5 points.

Several Fairfield swimmers captured gold medals and set meet and MAAC records to help the Stags stay in contention for the team titles.

The Stags earned gold from the outset as Allie Bashor recorded the best time in the 100 butterfly with 55.17, a half-second better than the runner up. Lara Kisakol also scored in the event with a sixth-place finish based on her finish of 55.87. Cormac Rouse was the top scorer for the men by taking fourth in the B final and 12^th overall by clocking in at 49.63.

Freshman Bobby Regan was the next Stag to win  an event, pacing the 400 IM eight-swimmer field by touching the wall in 3:51.32. Jack Behm was also among the swimmers in the A final, completing the distance in 3:58.10 for seventh place. In the women's 400 IM, Olivia Glaser garnered silver by timing out at 4:26.59 while Callie Gray posted a time of 4:27.40 which was strong enough for fourth place.

Freshman Natasha De Pree brought home a gold medal when she completed the 200 freestyle in 1:48.33. Sofia Smerechniak also competed in the A final and collected fifth place (1:51.78). Aidan Schnapf paced a trio of Stags in the 200 freestyle A final, winning gold based on his time of 1:37.15. Jochi Nolla (1:38.59) and Tim Regan (1:38.60) collected the fifth and sixth positions in the event.

Tone Sandsjo broke the MAAC record in the 100 breaststroke, stopping the clock at 1:00.32 to win the event for the third time in her career. Cailey Stockwell grabbed sixth place in the race based on her finish of 1:04.68. Balasz Ament represented the men in the A final by taking seventh place by registering a time of 54.74.

The women held down second, third, and fourth in the 100 backstroke with Chloe Wukitch (56.07), Holly Rahurahu (56.08), and Lauren Patalano (56.25) filling those spots, respectively. On the men's side, Max McMillan picked up the silver medal by touching the wall in 48.31, followed by Oliver McLaughlin who ended the event sixth (48.91).

Lillian Tonole competed in the 3-meter dive A final and ended the night with an eighth-place finish, scoring 192.75 points through her six dives.

The 400 medley relay finalized day three of the MAAC Championships and the Fairfield women's team set a MAAC record by shaving seconds off the standard. Chloe Wukitch, Sandsjo, Bashor, and De Pree combined for the gold medal by finishing in 3:40.35. The men's foursome secured silver in the same event as McMillan, Ament, Tim Regan, and Aidan Schnapf based on their time of 3:16.04.

Five more events will be settled on Saturday as the swimmers and divers will compete on the final day of the 2026 MAAC Championships. The 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, and the men's 1-meter dive will be decided on Saturday. The preliminaries will begin at 9:30 am while the finals will commence at 5:30 pm.