This past weekend, Middlebury hosted the NESCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship for the first time since 2019. Over four days, the Panthers competed in more than 20 events, setting five school records and achieving multiple NCAA 'B' cut swims, earning them sixth place overall with a total score of 919 points.
The meet started off strong on Thursday with Rodin McKenna ’27, Pierce Bigelow ’25, Matthew Hensel ’25 and John Masiello ’27 breaking the school record for the 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet finished seventh with a combined time of 6:43:81, beating Middlebury’s 15-year-old record (6:46:10) by nearly 2.5 seconds.
Friday brought yet another achievement, with Luke McNamara ’26 breaking the 200 individual medley (IM) record, which has stood for 28 years. McNamara surpassed the 1997 mark of 1:51:20 in preliminaries, when he touched the wall with a time of 1:50:88. He then beat his own time in the championship finals later that day by over half a second, posting a school record of 1:50:31 and earning him a fourth-place finish.
Where McNamara dominated the day, Hensel earned himself the night’s fastest event, claiming 14th place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21:13.
The Panthers further extended their presence at the NESCAC championship in the 50-yard breaststroke with Paul Shen ’26 finishing 13th place with a time of 25:76 and James Thomas ’27 in 16th, touching the wall at 26:22.
The Middlebury divers also delivered and boosted the team’s standings in the one-meter event. Owen White ’26 finished seventh with a score of 360.90 and Henry Wang ’27 followed him in 11th with a score of 279.55.
Wang reflected on the event as a whole from his perspective as a diver.
“Even though with just two members, we were not as competitive this year in terms of numbers and experience. We still felt very excited to represent Middlebury.”
Friday wrapped up with the Panthers coming close to breaking yet another school record during the 400-yard medley. Jack Undercofler ’25, Shen, Andrew Dou ’26, and Masiello finished seventh with a time of 3:20:17, falling short of the school record by a mere 0.02 seconds.
Saturday was another successful day for the Middlebury swimmers. During the kick-off event of the evening session, Undercofler, Shen, Dou and Prin Chantarangkul ’27 broke the 200-yard medley relay mark set in 2023 by over a second. The quartet posted a combined time of 1:30:77, placing them in seventh overall.
However, this was not the end of the Panther’s achievements, with McNamara continuing his record breaking streak. This time the junior swimmer claimed the second fastest preliminary time of 3:58:47 in the 400-yard IM, earning him a spot in the championship final where he claimed runner-up honors with a time of 3:58:49. The impressive run by McNamara bested the program record previously established by Jean-Paul Gowdy in 1999.
When asked about his performance during the whole event, McNamara said that the core of his success lies with his teammates who have been with him during the entire season, motivating him to put in the work by leading by example and always showing up.
“Being on deck with my favorite people gives me the confidence to go above and beyond and do things I have never done before,” McNamara said.
Apart from the joy brought by the program’s numerous successes, Saturday was also a time of nostalgia and reflection for the graduating seniors. The evening event offered the whole Natatorium an opportunity to celebrate Bigelow, Hensel, Undercofler, Sam Hughes ’25, Terry Luongo ’25, Jack Paul ’25, and Will Sonne ’25, and to recognize the meaningful contributions that they each brought to the team.
Sunday was a beautiful wrap to the whole event. Shen broke another program record in the 200-yard breaststroke. In the qualifying heats, he was the only swimmer with a sub-two minute time. In the final, he earned second overall, finishing with the time of 2:01:09. Hughes added to the team’s success in the 200-yard backstroke, recording a NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:47:45 in preliminaries, which secured him a spot in the championship final.
The final event of the championship was closed by Masiello, Hughes, Ryan Mauney ’26, and Hensel in the 400 free relay where their combined time of 3:03:73 placed them ninth overall.
Reflecting on both the championship and the season, captain Hughes highlighted the team’s progress over the past decade.
“The team has been trusting the process, training really hard and putting the work in which resulted in a performance that far exceeded the previous 10-15 years,” Hughes said.
Thomas echoed this sentiment.
“NESCAC is one of the fastest and most competitive conferences in Division III so seeing the efforts of the team and the results really feels good,” Thomas said.
Looking at the bigger picture of the season, many team members emphasized the collective effort that made their success at the NESCAC Championships possible. McNamara and Wang acknowledge the guidance of coaches Bob Rueppel, Emily Daniels, and Bradley Scott, while Hughes expressed gratitude for the support of the women’s team.
Finishing the Championships in sixth place might not be the perfect outcome for the Panthers, but nonetheless it’s an enormous achievement. With five school records broken and nearly 150 more points than last year’s total, Middlebury’s swimmers and divers have set the stage for continued success in the seasons to come.
Editor’s Note: James Thomas ’27 is the Communications Director for The Campus. He had no role in the publication of this article.
