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 records: the No. 15-ranked women’s team secured its fifth consecutive conference title, while the men’s team finished in third in a meet that came down to the final touches.
Swarthmore wasted no time making a statement. The men’s 200-yard medley relay team of Cami Wilson ’26, Dylan Ling ’26, Luke Magnuson ’26, and Danny Castle ’27 opened the meet with a second-place finish in 1:28.63. Minutes later, the women’s quartet of Maya Ambardekar ’28, Elle Anthony ’26, Norah Rutkowski ’28, and Genine Collins ’27 matched the effort, touching in 1:43.07 for another runner-up finish.
Medley momentum carried into the distance relays. On the men’s side, Sean Neirynck ’29, Jack Boerner ’29, Matthew Kim ’29, and Castle combined for bronze in the 800 freestyle relay (6:41.00), highlighted by Castle’s 1:38.36 anchor split. The women’s 800 freestyle relay proved to be a defining moment 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 deliver in individual events. Hallmark placed among the finalists in the 500 freestyle (5:00.41) before capturing gold in the 1650 freestyle with a commanding 17:20.61 — her second career conference title in the event.
Weygandt extended her dominance in the 200 IM, winning her fourth consecutive conference championship in 2:02.43 while breaking her own meet and conference records. She later added another gold in the 400 IM (4:20.71), again setting a championship record, and was ultimately named the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer — the third such honor of her career.
On the men’s side, Wilson claimed his second straight 50 freestyle title in 20.03. He later added a victory in the 100 butterfly (46.91), marking his third career conference win in the event. Castle earned gold in the 200 freestyle (1:38.55) for the second time, setting a new championship record. In the 200 butterfly, Mateo Smith ’27 secured silver with a 1:40.48 swim, while Dylan Herink ’27 added a finalist finish in the 100 breaststroke (56.01).
The women’s sprint corps proved especially dominant. Collins (22.69) and Anthony (23.36) went one-two in the 50 freestyle, with Collins collecting her third title in the event and breaking both championship and conference records. The duo repeated the feat in the 100 freestyle, finishing first and second in 50.44 and 51.67, respectively, with Collins again setting a championship record.
Cara Dominici ’27 added to the medal count with gold in the 200 backstroke (2:20.88), finishing more than two seconds ahead of the field, while Anthony secured a runner-up finish in the event (1:03.55).
Ultimately, it was the relays that clinched the women’s championship. The 400 medley relay team of Ambardekar, Anthony, Rutkowski, and Collins delivered a statement victory in 3:44.80, dropping nearly three seconds from their seed time and finishing more than eight seconds clear of the runner-up.
The 200 freestyle relay quartet of Collins, Bacinski, Packard, and Anthony broke Swarthmore’s championship record en route to gold in 1:32.24. To cap the meet, the 400 freestyle relay team of Collins, Bacinski, Weygandt, and Anthony posted a conference-record 3:23.55, sealing the Garnet’s fifth straight conference crown.
The men matched that late-meet intensity. Wilson, Castle, Tipton, and Magnuson captured gold in the 200 freestyle relay (1:20.31). In one of the most dramatic races of the weekend, Tipton, Wilson, Neirynck, and Castle edged the field in the 400 freestyle relay with a 2:59.01 finish just three-hundredths of a second ahead of second place.
By the final race, Swarthmore’s depth, star power, and relay dominance had once again carried the Garnet to the top of the Centennial Conference podium. The emergence of a new conference addition, Johns Hopkins University, set the stage for what promises to be a compelling rivalry in the years ahead. Meanwhile, the women extended their historic championship streak and the men established themselves as formidable contenders, battling down to the final stroke.
Looking ahead, ten women and four men will compete in the NCAA National Championships from March 18-21, making for the largest group of NCAA competitors in program history.
