FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fresh off sweeping the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) swimming and diving championships, the Fairfield University programs will head to Pennsylvania for their last team event of the 2025-26 season. The Stags will participate in the 2026 ECAC Open Championship which runs from Friday, February 27 through Sunday, March 1

Fairfield placed its mark in MAAC history by winning both the men's and women's swimming and diving championships, the fifth title for the women and the first crown for the men. The women captured its title by edging Marist University by a margin of 10 points.

"The MAAC championship was a total team effort, and I'm unbelievably proud of both programs," Head Coach Jake Lichter said. "For out women to capture a fifth MAAC title in eight years and to do it in a meet that came down to the final relay is truly a storybook ending. The team never stopped fighting after sitting in fourth place and trailing Marist by nearly 100 points at the end of the second day.

The men also beat out Marist in capturing the championship, but the team managed a more comfortable margin of 65 points.

"To see our men breakthrough for their first MAAC championship is just incredible," Coach Lichter continued. "While it was a total team effort, that win was due in large part to our relentless male divers, who pushed us over the top on the final day help us secure the title before the last relay. This team has been building toward this moment for two years, buying into the culture, challenging one another every day, and believing they could make history. Now they have."

The divers certainly showed their mettle in the 1-meter event, taking three of the top eight spots. Andrew Cataldo surged with his final dive to take silver by netting 262.25 points. Cameron Pope finished fifth based on his score of 212.40 while Tyler Robie brought home team points from the eighth position with his 198.40 points.

While the men's divers clinched the title by combining for 75 team points, the women's 400 free relay posted the deciding points with its second-place finish with a time of 3:25.10, one spot ahead of Marist by .16 seconds.

"I'm incredibly grateful to our 400 free relay of freshman Natasha De Pree, graduate student Allie Bashor, sophomore Sofia Smerechniak, and senior captain Holly Rahurahu for having the courage, belief, and determination to step up and clinch the victory in such a high-pressure moment," Lichter said.

In addition to their performance in the 400 free relay, members of the foursome also put their stamp on the championship in other ways. De Pree ended up winning the MAAC Rookie of the Meet award for her performances in the four-day event. Bashor captured gold in the 100 butterfly while Smerechniak was a bronze medalist in the 1650 freestyle.

Now, the team will go up against some of the region's top swimming and diving programs at the ECAC Championships. The event, which will be hosted by Bucknell University, will include 24 programs, some of which the Stags have faced during the 2025-26 season. Fairfield will be one of six programs that will be all in with both swimming and both diving teams competing in the event.

The Championship begins on Friday with the women's 3-meter diving event as Lillian Tonole and Jade Leblic representing the Stags. The Stags will have student-athletes in 35 of the 40 events to be decided over the four days of competition. The men's team will have 19 student-athletes competing while the women's team will have 18 student-athletes at the event.

The Stags will look to improve on last year's placements at the ECAC Championships with the men's team taking fifth overall with scoring 229 points while the women's squad placing sixth overall with its 214 team points.