2026 Ivy League Women’s Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

2026 IVY LEAGUE WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21
• Location: Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, Providence, RI
• Defending Champions: Princeton women (3x)
• Teams: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale
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• Live Video: ESPN+
• Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet

Day 3 of the 2026 Ivy League Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships gets underway this morning with preliminary heats in five different events: 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back.

The Princeton women have opened up an 85.5-point advantage on Harvard after the first two days.

Scores After Day 2

1. Princeton – 532
2. Harvard – 446.5
3. Brown – 399.5
4. Penn – 353
5. Yale – 318
6. Cornell – 245
7. Columbia – 202
8. Dartmouth – 194

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – PRELIMS

• Ivy League Record: 51.57, Alex Forrester (Yale) / Lisa Boyce (Princeton) – 2013 / 2014
• Ivy League Meet Record: 51.57, Alex Forrester (Yale) – 2013
• 2026 NCAA Cut: 52.52
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.87

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Sydney Lu (Harvard), 52.40
2. Kayla Fu (Penn), 52.99
3. Heidi Smithwick (Princeton), 53.20
4. Lily Klinginsmith (Brown), 53.54
5. Sophia Sunwoo (Princeton), 53.56
6. Edie Simecek (Princeton), 53.58
7. Margaret Hu (Penn) / Kate Levensten (Penn) / Brianna Cong (Penn), 53.67*
8. –

Defending champion Sydney Lu asserted herself as the swimmer to beat in the heats of the 100 fly as the Harvard senior clocked 52.40 to lead the field by over half a second heading into the final.

Lu owns a season-best of 52.21 and set a lifetime best of 52.04 en route to winning last year’s final.

Penn sophomore Kayla Fu, who won the ‘B’ final in her freshman year, touched in 52.99 to win the penultimate heat and advance 2nd into tonight’s session. She owns a best time of 52.54 set at the Big Al Invite in the fall of 2024.

Princeton had three swimmers advance to the ‘A’ final, led by last year’s runner-up Heidi Smithwick, who set a season-best of 53.20 to qualify in 3rd. Freshman Sophia Sunwoo set a personal best of 53.56 to qualify in 5th, while junior Edie Simecek hit a season-best of 53.58 to make the top eight after she was 12th last year.

There was a three-way tie for 7th between a trio of Penn swimmers, setting up a potential swim. Margaret Hu, Kate Levensten and Brianna Cong produced matching 53.67s. Hu has been the fastest among the three this season in 53.30.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS

• Ivy League Record: 4:02.47, Alicia Aemisegger (Princeton) – 2009
• Ivy League Meet Record: 4:06.15, Alicia Aemisegger (Princeton) – 2009
• 2026 NCAA Cut: 4:13.20
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 4:09.53

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Eleanor Sun (Princeton), 4:10.91
2. Katya Eruslanova (Penn), 4:12.37
3. Chloe Kim (Princeton), 4:13.87
4. Sumner Chmielewski (Brown), 4:14.69
5. Stephanie Iannaccone (Harvard), 4:15.09
6. Caroline Riggs (Yale), 4:16.08
7. Meg Wheeler (Princeton), 4:16.82
8. Sophie Segerson (Princeton), 4:17.22

Defending Ivy League champion Eleanor Sun paced the 400 IM prelims in a time of 4:10.91, comfortably winning the penultimate heat in a time just shy of her season-best (4:10.17).

Penn junior Katya Eruslanova came within a half-second of her best time from the first circle-seeded heat in 4:12.37 to advance 2nd overall, marking a season-best by nearly three seconds.

Princeton freshman Chloe Kim, who leads the conference this season with her time of 4:09.82 from the Big Al Invitational, cruised to victory in the final heat in 4:13.87 to advance 3rd into the final.

Brown’s Sumner Chmielewski, who was 4th last year, matched that position this morning in 4:14.69 after hitting a PB of 4:12.97 in the 2025 final.

WOMEN’S 200 FREE – PRELIMS

• Ivy League Record: 1:41.93, Lia Thomas (Penn) – 2021
• Ivy League Meet Record: 1:43.12, Lia Thomas (Penn) – 2022
• 2026 NCAA Cut: 1:45.53
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:44.74

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Crystal Yuen (Brown), 1:45.99
2. Savannah Skow (Princeton), 1:46.07
3. Morgan Lukinac (Brown), 1:46.32
4. Isabella Dieffenthaller (Brown), 1:46.47
5. Carinn Bethea (Dartmouth), 1:46.50
6. Julia Ebli (Yale), 1:46.67
7. Anna Moehn (Penn), 1:46.93
8. Kelly Dolce (Brown), 1:47.30

Brown sophomore Crystal Yuen topped the first circle-seeded heat of the 200 free, running down Yale freshman Julia Ebli to touch first in a time of 1:45.99, which ended up holding as the fastest of the morning.

Yuen set a personal best of 1:45.36 on Wednesday leading off Brown’s 800 free relay. She was 5th in the Ivy League final as a freshman in 1:46.39.

Ebli, a Canadian native, set a lifetime best of 1:46.67, which ended up being good for 6th overall, after breaking 1:47 for the first time leading off Yale’s 800 free relay (1:46.90).

Princeton freshman Savannah Skow (1:46.07) and Brown senior Morgan Lukinac (1:46.32) won each of the next two heats to advance in 2nd and 3rd. Skow set a PB of 1:45.49 leading off the 800 free relay on Wednesday, while Lukinac anchored Brown to victory in 1:44.71.

Brown freshman Isabella Dieffenthaller, who leads the conference this season with her 1:45.39 showing from a dual against Yale, clocked 1:46.47 to qualify 4th into the final. She split 1:44.82 on Brown’s winning 800 free relay on Wednesday.

Reigning Ivy League champion Alexandra Bastone of Harvard won’t have the opportunity of defending her title this year after placing 9th in the prelims in 1:47.50, missing the ‘A’ final by two-tenths.

WOMEN’S 100 BREAST – PRELIMS

• Ivy League Record: 58.44, Katie Meili (Columbia) – 2013
• Ivy League Meet Record: 58.44, Katie Meili (Columbia) – 2013
• 2026 NCAA Cut: 1:00.30
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 59.51

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Jessey Li (Yale), 1:01.03
2. Kate Handley (Penn), 1:01.21
3. Devyn Sargent (Yale), 1:01.38
4. Angelina Chen (Brown), 1:01.48
5. Aliana Marakovic (Harvard), 1:01.96
6. Katherine Jia (Dartmouth), 1:02.17
7. Ashley Hong (Columbia), 1:02.20
8. Eliza Brown (Princeton), 1:02.31

Yale senior Jessey Li topped Penn junior Kate Handley in the last heat of the 100 breast as the two swimmers advanced 1-2 in tonight’s final.

Li, last year’s runner-up, clocked 1:01.03 to lead Handley, who was close behind in 1:01.21.

Li is the only swimmer in the conference who has been sub-1:01 this season, going 1:00.14 during a dual with Penn State, while Handley’s time marked a new PB, improving on her 1:01.56 set at the Big Al Invitational. She was 8th last season.

Yale sophomore Devyn Sargent won the first circle-seeded heat in 1:01.38 to advance 3rd overall, just 12 one-hundredths off her newly-minted best time, while Brown freshman Angelina Chen led the penultimate heat in a PB of 1:01.48 to qualify 4th.

Harvard’s Gabi Augustyn, 4th last year, missed the ‘A’ final in 16th (1:03.23).

WOMEN’S 100 BACK – PRELIMS

• Ivy League Record: 52.02, Anya Mostek (Harvard) – 2025
• Ivy League Meet Record: 52.02, Anya Mostek (Harvard) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Cut: 52.65
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.68

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Amy Qin (Penn), 52.31
2. Kate Levensten (Penn), 52.33
3. Sabrina Johnston (Princeton), 52.40
4. Anya Mostek (Harvard), 52.58
5. Delaney Herr (Princeton), 53.09
6. Edie Simecek (Princeton), 53.70
7. Brianna Cong (Penn), 53.93
8. Blythe Wieclawek (Harvard), 53.97

Three Quakers, three Tigers and two Crimson head into the ‘A’ final of the 100 back.

Leading Penn’s trio was sophomore Amy Qin, who put up a big best time of 52.31 to pace the field into the final, shattering her previous best of 53.18 set in December.

She’ll be joined in the final by teammates Kate Levensten (52.33) and Brianna Cong (53.93), who qualified 2nd and 7th overall, respectively. The swim for Levensten marked a new personal best, and came after she tied for 7th in the 100 fly earlier in the session.

Princeton’s trio headed to the final will be Sabrina Johnston, Delaney Herr and Edie Simecek, with Johnston leading the way in 3rd with a personal best of 52.40 coming off her big win in the 50 free last night.

Simecek, like Levensten, made her second ‘A’ final of the day (Levensten still hasn’t officially made the 100 fly top eight, pending a swim-off) after taking 6th in the prelims of the 100 fly.

Harvard senior Anya Mostek, the three-time defending champion in the event, qualified 4th overall in 52.58 and will be vying for the career grand slam in tonight’s final. She’ll be joined by teammate Blythe Wieclawek, who advanced 8th in a lifetime best of 53.97.

Yale’s Devyn Sargent, fresh out of swimming the 100 breast and making the ‘A’ final, narrowly missed out on cracking the top eight in the 100 back, taking 9th in a time of 54.22.