The UConn swimming and diving team traveled to Geneva, Ohio for the four-day Big East Championships event. The program took on high-level opponents across the conference, including the powerhouse Villanova and reigning Big East Swimmer of the Year Allie Waggoner from Seton Hall. Despite the tough competition, UConn had many standout performances and secured a strong second-place finish.
The championships kicked off with a tightly-contested 800 freestyle relay, where Villanova’s squad edged out Xavier for first and UConn rounded out the top three with a time of 7:21.56. The Huskies secured another podium finish in the 200-medley relay, where Xavier took a narrow first place over Georgetown and UConn finished just ahead of Villanova for third place. After a solid start to the championships, UConn ended the night in third overall with 108 points, trailing Villanova (116) and Xavier (120).
Day two opened with a dominating performance from Seton Hall’s Waggoner (4:46.72) in the 500 freestyle preliminaries, with UConn junior Norah Rome behind her to secure a second-place finish in 4:50.18. The Huskies had a strong presence in the 200 IM preliminaries, advancing three swimmers—freshman Sydney Perkins (2:02.39), junior Lexi Martino (2:02.57) and freshman Nadine Amin (2:03.62)—to the final. In the 50 freestyle preliminaries, Xavier junior Olivia Oyster (22.31) claimed first, trailed by UConn freshman Jessica Sheng (22.79), while senior captain Maggie Donlevy (23.41) also advanced. The Huskies stole the show in the one-meter diving preliminaries, claiming the top five spots, with sophomore Kate Cooper (279.70), senior Julia Pioso (266.15) and junior Olivia Denery (262.95) making up the podium.
The top of the 500 freestyle finals finished the same as the preliminaries, with Rome (4:49.96) taking second place for the event. Amin came within striking distance of the podium in the IM finals, ultimately settling for fourth. Sheng put up a good fight in the 50 freestyle, but Oyster proved tough to catch, earning an NCAA B-cut time in the event. The Huskies continued to dominate the diving events, sweeping the podium in the one-meter final, this time with Denery (290.45) in first, followed by Cooper (285.45) and junior Darah Ostrom (253.00). The night was wrapped up by the 200 freestyle relay, with Villanova (1:31.39) taking first and Xavier (1:31.74) sneaking just past UConn (1:31.77) for second. Competition remained tight at the end of night two, with Villanova moving to first with 563 points. However, UConn closed the gap with 556 points, followed by Xavier in third with 368.
The penultimate day of the event started with the 100 butterfly preliminaries, where sophomore Maggie Rhodes (55:00) and junior Ella Epes (55.24) qualified for the finals. Two Huskies qualified in the 400 IM preliminaries—Martino (4:21.89) and sophomore Olivia Herbert (4:24.73). Rome (1:49.99) qualified in the 200 freestyle preliminaries. Perkins delivered a standout performance in the 100 breaststroke, clocking in a time of 1:01.16 to secure second and an NCAA B-cut. The Huskies dominated the 100 backstroke preliminaries, sweeping the podium with Donlevy (53.99) in first, Sheng (54.47) in second and senior Kayla Mendonca (54.61) rounding out the top three.
Perkins continued her strong performance, placing second in the 100 breaststroke final with a NCAA B-cut qualifying time of 1:00.97. Connecticut continued its dominance in the 100 backstroke with Donlevy (53.45) taking first with a B-cut of her own, followed closely by Sheng (54.09). The night finished off with the 400 medley relay, where Xavier (3:38.46) took first and UConn (3:38.82) was not far behind in second.
The final day of the event started with the 200 backstroke preliminaries, which Mendonca (1:58.08) convincingly claimed first. Freshman Zoey Griffin (2:00.27) nearly finished on the podium as well, but had to settle for fourth. Perkins (2:15.26) secured another first place, this time in the 200 breaststroke preliminaries. Cooper also continued her strong diving performances, finishing first in the three-meter dive preliminaries with a score of 305.00.
In the last slate of finals events, Rome (16:46.25) started off with a third-place finish in the 1650 freestyle, behind a record-breaking swim from Waggoner that shaved seven seconds off the previous Big East best. Mendonca capped off her impressive meet by taking second in the 200 back with a time of 1:58.45. In the 100 free, Sheng claimed another second-place finish in 49.39. The Huskies had an impressive showing in the 200 breaststroke, with Perkins (2:12.52 B) securing first and junior Kier Liesinger (2:14.56) narrowly finishing in third. Cooper continued her excellent dives, taking first in the three-meter finals with a score of 327.35. In the final event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay, Connecticut claimed second place.
Villanova clinched its 12th consecutive championship with a score of 1588 points, with UConn in second with 1516 and Xavier in third with 1167. Waggoner repeated her Most Outstanding Swimmer title after record-shattering performances this past week. Cooper, after her continued success throughout the event, unanimously won Women’s Most Outstanding Diver. The Women’s Diving Coach of the Year also went to UConn’s Katie Polk after the Huskies consistently dominated this season.
Despite ultimately coming up short, UConn put up a thrilling battle with a powerhouse like Villanova and had plenty of inspiring performances to be proud of. After showcasing its talented roster and plethora of young talent, UConn proved they could be a force to be reckoned with in the Big East for seasons to come.