2023 NEC Championships
- Tuesday, February 21 – Saturday, February 25, 2023
- SPIRE Institute, Geneva, OH
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Bryant (5x)
- Men: Bryant (2x)
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- Live Video
With reigning champion Bryant departing for the America East this season, the Northeast Conference enters a new chapter this week as the Bulldogs won’t be the team celebrating at meet’s end for the first time since 2017.
The Bryant women won five straight titles before leaving, while the men’s team won the first two conference championships in NEC history (the first men’s meet was 2021). Therefore, a first-time champion will be crowned on the men’s side, while a few schools will be vying to reclaim the women’s title after Bryant’s dominance. Prior to Bryant’s run, Central Connecticut State (CCSU) won three straight titles.
- Teams Competing: CCSU (women), Howard, LIU, Merrimack (women), Sacred Heart (women), St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U (women), Stonehill (women), Wagner
EVENT SCHEDULE
Tuesday
- 800 free relay
Wednesday
- 500 free
- 200 IM
- 50 free
- Women’s 3-meter diving
- 200 medley relay
Thursday
- 400 IM
- 100 fly
- 200 free
- Men’s 1-meter diving
- 200 free relay
Friday
- 200 fly
- 100 back
- 100 breast
- Women’s 1-meter diving
- 400 medley relay
Saturday
- 1650 free
- 100 free
- 200 back
- 200 breast
- 200 fly
- Men’s 3-meter diving
- 400 free relay
SWIMMERS TO WATCH
WOMEN:
Maaike Broersma, Junior – LIU: LIU’s Broersma didn’t compete at the NEC Championships last season, but comes into the 2023 meet with a great chance to win three events individually. The Dutch native leads the conference this season in the 50 free (23.19), 100 back (54.06) and 200 back (1:58.31), with her backstroke times well ahead of the rest of the field.
Venna Andersen, Junior – LIU: Another junior at LIU, Andersen made ‘A’ finals in all three of her individual events at last season’s championships, picking up a third-place showing in the 100 breast and two sixth-place finishes in the 50 and 100 free. This year, Andersen is the frontrunner in both the 100 free and 100 breast, having hit a best of 50.77 in the 100 free to lead the NEC while clocking 1:03.85 in the 100 breast. In the 50 free, she sits second at 23.47 behind teammate Broersma. The two could very well combine to win five individual events, with the 50 free being the one where they’ll go head-to-head.
Katie Czulewicz, Gr. Sr – CCSU: Czulewicz won the 200 free in 2021 and the 500 free last season, and owns respective best times of 1:50.09 and 4:53.96 which make her a threat to win both races this year. Her season-bests are well off those marks, so that’s something to keep in mind, but she’s generally been someone who doesn’t swim fast until taper time.
Ella Johnson, Gr. Senior – LIU: Johnson comes in as the defending champion in the 200 fly, and she’ll have a great chance to add a few more titles to her name in her fifth season. Johnson leads the NEC in the 200 fly and 500 free (5:03.32) this season, and sits fourth in the 200 free after finishing in that same position last year.
MEN:
Miles Simon, Senior – Howard: Simon has been on a tear this season for Howard, posting the top times in the NEC in the 50 free (19.85), 100 free (44.19) and 100 fly (48.58) while also posting the #2 time in the 100 back (48.53). A senior, Simon won the 200 IM title last season but seems to have shifted his focus towards 50/100 free and 100 fly this year, as those were the events he raced at the H2ounds Invite in December. The Bison will be going head-to-head with LIU for the team title, and Simon sweeping his individual events would go a long way to helping their cause.
Kaan Nalcaci, Freshman – Wagner: A freshman, Nalcaci has been a force in his first season with the Seahawks, dropping the top times in the NEC in both the 100 back (48.12) and 200 back (1:47.34). Wagner had no male swimmers earn an individual podium finish last year, and Nalcaci now comes in with a chance to win multiple titles.
SHOWDOWN RACES
WOMEN:
500 Freestyle: The top five women are within a second and a half of one another this season in the 500 free, led by Ella Johnson, with SFU’s Aurem Pifarre Planes and Wagner’s Aura Vilarrasa close behind in 5:03 territory. CCSU’s Katie Czulewicz is the defending champion and has been as fast as 4:53.96, but hasn’t been in that range this season.
100 Butterfly: With the top four finishers from last season consisting of three athletes from Bryant and one who hasn’t raced this season (LIU’s Allie Bashor), the 100 fly is a wide-open event this year. Wagner’s Annie Jencova (57.65) is the fastest swimmer in the NEC this season, but there are 10 women within a second of her, including the top returner from the 2022 championships, CCSU’s Cassidy Stotler.
MEN:
200 Breaststroke: The 200 breast projects to be a duel between LIU teammates Stephen Taylor and Giannis Venetos. The two swimmers placed fourth and fifth last season, but the three men who finished ahead of them have all departed, and Taylor (2:00.87) and Venetos (2:01.88) are well ahead of the rest of the field this year.
200 Freestyle: St. Francis Brooklyn’s Daniel Matheus Santos comes in as the defending champion in the 200 free, having roared to a meet record last year in 1:37.69, but he ranks second this season behind LIU freshman Emilio Garcia, who was 1:39.29 in December (beating Santos head-to-head) and comes in riding a wave of momentum.
SWIMSWAM PICKS
WOMEN
- Wagner
- LIU
- Saint Francis U
MEN
- Howard
- LIU
- St. Francis Brooklyn
Wagner appears poised to win their first NEC women’s title since 2014, while on the men’s side, LIU and Howard are projected to finish within a few points of one another, but the Bison appear to have a slight edge on the relays so we’ll give them the nod.
