Women's Swimming & Diving

Milestones and All-America Hardware Highlight NJAC's Best Day at NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships

INDIANAPOLIS—New Jersey Athletic Conference swimmers put together the best day of the 2026 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships so far on Friday at the IU Natatorium, delivering seven All-America performances — including several historic firsts — to highlight the penultimate session of the four-day meet.
 
WOMEN
 
The 100 backstroke was the highlight of the women's competition, with three NJAC swimmers earning All-America honors in the same event. Kean's Braelyn Wilson delivered the top performance, touching the wall in 54.30 to place third overall and earn her second First Team All-America honor of the meet — and fourth of her career. Wilson set a school record in the process, finishing just two tenths of a second behind the top two finishers.
 
Rowan's Ella Pennington was right behind her, clocking 54.68 to place fourth and earn First Team All-America recognition for the second straight day. It was the sixth All-America honor of Pennington's career, improving on her seventh-place finish in the same event a year ago. Kean's Olivia Chow rounded out the NJAC trio of All-America spots in the event, finishing 10th in 55.20 to earn Second Team All-America recognition — her second career All-America honor.
 
Salisbury's 800 freestyle relay team of Alexa Hilty, Rowan O'Donoghue, Jenna Krawlzik and Olivia Polucha turned in a strong performance as well, finishing 18th overall in 7:36.13 — missing Second Team All-America honors by less than a second. Kean's 200 medley relay team of Braelyn Wilson, Abby Burns, Olivia Chow and Emma Bellars finished 22nd in 1:44.79, while Salisbury's quartet of Isabelle Salvatore, Mackenzie Gula, Lily Griffin and Rowan O'Donoghue placed 25th in 1:45.67.
 
Salisbury's Libby Miyashita placed 21st in the 200 butterfly at 2:05.06. Mary Washington's Soleil Clifford finished 38th in the 100 breaststroke at 1:06.31, and Salisbury's Maddie Powell placed 41st in 1:06.67.
 
MEN
 
The men's competition featured a pair of historic milestones and a standout individual performance. USMMA's Carter Kov capped his remarkable freshman campaign with a First Team All-America performance in 1-meter diving, posting 486.60 points to place fifth overall. Kov was the top freshman in the event, edging Kenyon's Chase Smith for that distinction. Combined with his Second Team All-America honor from the 3-meter event on Day One, Kov concludes his first collegiate championship with two All-America citations.
 
Salisbury's 200 medley relay team of Mason Potts, Dominic Kazzi, Michael Paulos and Michael DeSimone made history, becoming the first swimmers in the history of either the Salisbury men's or women's program to earn First Team All-America recognition. The quartet clocked 1:29.15 in the final to place seventh overall, capping a day that began with an eighth-place prelim finish that first secured their spot in the A final and their place in program history.
 
TCNJ's 200 medley relay team of Andrew Kidchob, Tyler McGeehan, Joe McChesney and M.J. Hoban earned First Team All-America honors of their own, clocking 1:27.93 to finish sixth overall.
 
McChesney also added a Second Team All-America honor in the 200 butterfly, breaking his own program record twice in one day — first posting a 1:47.31 in the prelims before lowering it to 1:47.25 in the final to place ninth overall.
 
TCNJ's Andrew Kidchob earned his eighth career All-America honor in the 100 backstroke, placing 13th in 48.46 for Second Team recognition in what was the final individual event of his collegiate career.
 
The Lions' 800 freestyle relay team of Steven Bendoraitis, Matt Liotti, Kyle Brushaber and Gabe Beverini added Second Team All-America honors with a 16th-place finish in 6:39.60 — with Liotti, Brushaber and Beverini each earning the first All-America citation of their careers.
 
Cameron Byrd of Salisbury placed 20th in the 200 butterfly at 1:48.43, while Salisbury's Dominic Kazzi placed 23rd in the 100 breaststroke at 55.32 and TCNJ's Tyler McGeehan tied for 20th in the same event at 54.99.
 
Looking Ahead to Day Four
 
The championships conclude on Saturday with the final session at the IU Natatorium. On the women's side, Salisbury's Addi Wood and Rowan's Kaitlyn Crouthamel swim the 1650 freestyle, Salisbury's Rowan O'Donoghue competes in the 100 freestyle, Rowan's Ella Pennington and Kean's Olivia Chow are entered in the 200 backstroke, and Salisbury's Maddie Powell swims the 200 breaststroke. Salisbury and Kean each field 400 freestyle relay teams to close out the women's competition. On the men's side, TCNJ's Gavin Formon and Steven Bendoraitis swim the 1650 freestyle, M.J. Hoban competes in the 100 freestyle, and Tyler McGeehan is entered in the 200 breaststroke. TCNJ closes the meet with its 400 freestyle relay.




 
2026 NJAC SWIMMING & DIVING PARTICIPANTS AT THE NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
WOMEN'S PARTICIPANTS
Date Name Institution Event Seed Result/Notes
March 18 Rowan O’Donoghue Salisbury 500 Freestyle 4:53.23 5:06.33 -- 16th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Addi Wood Salisbury 500 Freestyle 4:59.31 5:04.02 -- 33rd overall
March 18 Kaitlyn Crouthamel Rowan 500 Freestyle 5:09.21 5:12.63 -- 42nd overall
March 18 Olivia Chow Kean 200 Individual Medley 2:04.70 2:03.97 -- 7th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Maddie Powell Salisbury 200 Individual Medley 2:09.48 2:11.36 -- 59th overall
March 18 Braelyn Wilson Kean 50 Freestyle 23.18 23.23 -- 6th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Soleil Clifford Mary Washington 50 Freestyle 24.00 24.50 -- 64th overall
March 18 Lily Griffin Salisbury 50 Freestyle 24.05 24.38 -- 60th overall
March 18 Libby Miyashita Salisbury 50 Freestyle 25.10 24.73 -- 66th overall
March 18 Braelyn Wilson Kean 400 Medley Relay 3:47.54 3:47.59 -- 17th overall
Abby Burns
Olivia Chow
Emma Bellars
March 18 Isabelle Salvatore Salisbury 400 Medley Relay 3:48.69 3:54.14 -- 24th overall
Mackenzie Gula
Lily Griffin
Rowan O’Donoghue
March 19 Rowan O’Donoghue Salisbury 200 Freestyle 1:49.26 1:50.27 -- 11th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 19 Addi Wood Salisbury 200 Freestyle 1:55.96 1:58.41 -- 48th overall
March 19 Ella Pennington Rowan 100 Butterfly 53.87 55.78 -- 24th overall
March 19 Braelyn Wilson Kean 100 Butterfly 55.19 55.75 -- 22nd overall
March 19 Lily Griffin Salisbury 100 Butterfly 55:83 57.02 -- 41st overall
March 19 Libby Miyashita Salisbury 100 Butterfly 56.66 56.81 -- 39th overall
March 19 Kaitlyn Crouthamel Rowan 400 Individual Medley 4:27.94 4:30.14 -- 22nd overall
March 19 Braelyn Wilson Kean 200 Freestyle Relay 1:34.82 1:35.75 -- 26th overall
Emma Bellars
Sydney Stemley
Olivia Chow
March 20 Braelyn Wilson Kean 200 Medley Relay 1:44.23 1:44.79 -- 22nd overall
Abby Burns
Olivia Chow
Emma Bellars
March 20 Izzy Salvatore Salisbury 200 Medley Relay 1:43.94 1:45.67 -- 25th overall
Mackenzie Gula
Lily Griffin
Rowan O'Donoghue
March 20 Libby Miyashita Salisbury 200 Butterfly 2:03.27 2:05.06 -- 21st overall
March 20 Ella Pennington Rowan 100 Backstroke 54.45 54.68 -- 4th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Braelyn Wilson Kean 100 Backstroke 54.46 54.30 -- 3rd overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Olivia Chow Kean 100 Backstroke 55.64 55.20 -- 10th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Soleil Clifford Mary Washington 100 Breaststroke 1:03.80 1:06.31 -- 38th overall
March 20 Maddie Powell Salisbury 100 Breaststroke 1:04.51 1:06.67 -- 41st overall
March 20 Alexa Hilty Salisbury 800 Freestyle Relay 7:32.07 7:36.13 -- 18th overall
Rowan O'Donoghue
Jenna Krawlzik
Olivia Polucha
March 21 Addi Wood Salisbury 1650 Freestyle 16:54.94
March 21 Kaitlyn Crouthamel Rowan 1650 Freestyle 17:27.00
March 21 Rowan O’Donoghue Salisbury 100 Freestyle 51.09
March 21 Ella Pennington Rowan 200 Backstroke 1:58.84
March 21 Olivia Chow Kean 200 Backstroke 2:01.59
March 21 Maddie Powell Salisbury 200 Breaststroke 2:19.65
March 21 Rachel Rickabaugh Salisbury 400 Freestyle Relay 3:28.03
Alexa Hilty
Lily Griffin
Rowan O’Donoghue
March 21 Braelyn Wilson Kean 400 Freestyle Relay 3:28.10
Emma Bellars
Sydney Stemley
Olivia Chow
MEN'S PARTICIPANTS
Date Name Institution Event Seed Result/Notes
March 18 Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ 500 Freestyle 4:26.12 4:28.35 -- 8th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Gavin Formon TCNJ 500 Freestyle 4:29.23 4:32.71 -- 27th overall
March 18 Matt Liotti TCNJ 500 Freestyle 4:30.60 4:29.97 -- 21st overall
March 18 Gabe Beverini TCNJ 200 Individual Medley 1:49.37 1:51.86 -- 33rd overall
March 18 Cameron Byrd Salisbury 200 Individual Medley 1:51.29 1:53.28 -- 35th overall
March 18 M.J. Hoban TCNJ 50 Freestyle 19.94 19.94 -- 6th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Mason Potts Salisbury 50 Freestyle 20.17 20.43 -- T-35th overall
March 18 Carter Kov USMMA 3-Meter Diving 483.70 points -- 11th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 18 Andrew Kidchob TCNJ 400 Medley Relay 3:12.55 3:13.40 -- 7th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Tyler McGeehan
Joe McChesney
M.J. Hoban
March 18 Mason Potts Salisbury 400 Medley Relay 3:13.72 3:16.26 -- 14th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Dominic Kazzi
Cameron Byrd
Owen Brewer
March 19 Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ 200 Freestyle 1:37.14 1:38.66 -- 20th overall
March 19 Joe McChesney TCNJ 100 Butterfly 47.19 47.80 -- 7th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 19 Cameron Byrd Salisbury 100 Butterfly 47.53 48.54 -- 15th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 19 Mason Potts Salisbury 100 Butterfly 48.50 48.87 -- 32nd overall
March 19 Gavin Formon TCNJ 400 Individual Medley 3:53.20 3:59.02 -- 18th overall
March 19 MJ Hoban TCNJ 200 Freestyle Relay 1:21.08 1:22.95 -- 22nd overall
Joe McChesney
Andrew Kidchob
Gabe Beverini
March 20 Andrew Kidchob TCNJ 200 Medley Relay 1:26.82 1:27.93 -- 6th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Tyler McGeehan
Joe McChesney
M.J. Hoban
March 20 Mason Potts Salisbury 200 Medley Relay 1:26.99 1:29.15 -- 7th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Dominic Kazzi
Michael Paulos
Michael DeSimone
March 20 Joe McChesney TCNJ 200 Butterfly 1:47.71 1:47.25 -- 9th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Cameron Byrd Salisbury 200 Butterfly 1:48.87 1:48.43 -- 20th overall
March 20 Andrew Kidchob TCNJ 100 Backstroke 48.29 48.46 -- 13th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Dominic Kazzi Salisbury 100 Breaststroke 54.46 55.32 -- 23rd overall
March 20 Tyler McGeehan TCNJ 100 Breaststroke 54.67 54.99 -- T-20th overall
March 20 Carter Kov USMMA 1-Meter Diving 486.60 points -- 5th overall
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICAN
March 20 Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ 800 Freestyle Relay 6:35.85 6:39.60 -- 16th overall
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Matt Liotti
Kyle Brushaber
Gabe Beverini
March 21 Gavin Formon TCNJ 1650 Freestyle 15:34.77
March 21 Steven Bendoraitis TCNJ 1650 Freestyle 15:43.88
March 21 M.J. Hoban TCNJ 100 Freestyle 44.08
March 21 Tyler McGeehan TCNJ 200 Breaststroke 1:58.18
March 21 TBD TCNJ 400 Freestyle Relay 3:00.18
TBD
TBD
TBD