2026 NIC: Records Fall in Multiple Events, Ohio State Women and Queens Men Take Lead (Day 1 Recap)

2026 CSCAA National Invitational Championships

• March 12-14, 2026
• FAST, Ocala, Florida
• Meet Central
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Arkon
  • Men: Ohio State
• Psych Sheets
• Schedule of Events
• Day 1 Results

The opening night of the 2026 CSCAA National Invitational Championship kicked off with two meet records and strong performances across the board. The championship often features swimmers who were under the NCAA B-cuts, but ultimately not selected to compete at the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.

On the women’s side, Ohio State leads after day 1 with 193 points, with Kentucky trailing close behind at 175 points. Meanwhile for the men, Queens University holds a dominant lead at 298.5 points.

Women’s Team Scores Through Day 1

1. Ohio State University – 193
2. University of Kentucky – 175
3. Fresno State – 165
4. Queens University Charlotte – 152
5. University of Akron – 146.5
6. Rice University – 143
7. University of Illinois – 122
8. Duke University – 119.5
9. San Jose State University – 110
10. University of Northern Colorado – 100

Men’s Team Scores Through Day 1

1. Queens University Charlotte – 298.5
2. Ohio State University – 237.5
3. Grand Canyon University – 197.5
4. Duke University – 147
5. George Washington University – 139
6. University of Kentucky – 135.5
7. University of Denver – 112
8. Florida Atlantic University – 107
9. Towson University – 103
10. University of the Pacific – 102

The meet began with fireworks as University of Akron shattered the meet record in the women’s 200 freestyle relay. The quartet of Ada Szwabinska, Callie Parkes, Brie Trumpower, and Cora Spetz combined for a 1:29.75, taking down the meet record of 1:29.99 set by Queens University back in 2024. Rice University placed second in 1:31.47 behind Lily Archibald, Avery Karacz, Bella Zhang, and Lizzie Zadel, while University of Northern Colorado rounded out the podium in 1:31.89 with the squad of Martina Trionfetti, Alexis Mishler, Vitoria Simioni, and Kyra Rabess. There were notably 6 teams disqualified in the event, including Queens, Ohio University, Niagara, and GCU.

On the men’s side, Queens University of Charlotte captured the 200 freestyle relay title in 1:17.88 with the squad of Nien Levy, Stamatis Paleocrassas, Pablo Ortega, and Daniel Meszaros. Notably, Ortega had one of the fastest splits in the field with a 19.22 on the third leg. Grand Canyon University finished second in 1:18.11, led by Alex Volkov, Guillermo Carrey, Eli Cohen, and Mario Perez, while Ohio State Buckeyes took third in 1:19.22 with the quartet of Austin Hickok, Ethan Reniewicki, Mason Francis, and Rayburn Kohl.

In the women’s 50 backstroke, Leah Treglia of University of Miami (Florida) delivered the first individual win of the meet, touching in 24.37. It was a 1-2 day for the Leahs as Leah Evans of the University of Toledo placed second in 24.74, while Hayley Oke from Fresno State took third in 24.86.

Shortly after medaling in the relay, Grand Canyon’s Alex Volkov doubled up on the night by claiming the men’s 50 backstroke in 21.50. With his performance, he held off Devin Naoroz from University of Kentucky, who touched in 21.57, and Queens’ Pablo Ortega, who finished third in 21.75.

After the short 50 backstroke, the meet moved into the much longer 500 freestyle. In the women’s race, Ella Dyson of Rice delivered a strong performance to win gold, touching in 4:44.93.

Kentucky’s Katy Jost finished second in 4:46.44 a short distance behind. However, the margin between 3rd and 4th was much tighter as Leonie Tenzer of Queens (4:47.07) and Abigail Perry from Ohio State (4:47.11) finished within a tenth of each other.

The men’s event saw the first individual meet record of the night fall as Ohio State’s TJ Frost threw down an impressive time of 4:17.36 for the victory. With his performance, he took down the meet record of 4:18.02 set by Utah’s Jones Lambert last year. Queens’ Akos Horvath finished a distant second in 4:24.97, while Austin Simpson of Duke placed third in 4:25.27.

Freshman Julia Saxman from University of Denver captured the women’s 50 butterfly in 23.69, edging Isabelle Videment of Miami (FL) at 23.82 and Anna Keen of Ball State at 23.84. Another record fell in the men’s 50 butterfly as Emil Harlem of Queens blasted a 20.74, taking two tenths off of the mark (20.97) previously held by Rateb Youseff Hussein from Florida Atlantic. Ohio State’s Austin Hickok finished second in 20.98, finishing just shy of the previous mark, while Denver’s Hamish McLellan placed third in 21.11.

Ohio State’s Jessica Eden took the women’s 200 IM, in a 1:59.07 performance to break the two-minute barrier. All of the swimmers on the podium actually dipped under the 2:00 mark as Ryley Clark from Fresno State followed in 1:59.45, while Hayden Penny of Kentucky took third in 1:59.61. On the men’s side, Raphael Vanhecke of University of the Pacific surged to victory in an impressive time of 1:45.65. Matheus Teixeira Przewalla of Queens finished second in 1:46.17, and Ohio State’s Shmuel Vaisburg placed third in 1:46.34.

In the women’s 50 breaststroke, Fresno State’s Jenna Pulkkinen claimed the title in 27.76, edging Akron’s Ada Szwabinska (27.96) as both swimmers finished under 28 seconds. Iowa State’s Grace Swoboda followed in 28.08 for third.
The men’s 50 breaststroke was a lot tighter of a race as Kentucky’s Cayden Pitzer touched first in 24.16, just holding off George Washington’s Alessandro Borsato by .02 seconds as he finished in 24.18. Ball State’s Aidan Biddle placed third in 24.26 to round out the podium.

Shortly after the 50 breaststroke, Akron’s Ada Szwabinska returned to the pool to show impressive range in the 50 freestyle, doubling up for the victory in 22.50. Ohio State’s Taya Hutchison finished second in 22.77, while Tulane’s Eliza Lennox grabbed third in 22.81.
Grand Canyon’s Guillermo Carrey delivered a quick 19.70 to take the title in the men’s race. Queens teammates Stamatis Paleocrassas (19.81) and Daniel Meszaros (19.85) followed in second and third, respectively.

In the women’s 400 medley relay, Ohio State posted the victory in a time of 3:38.42 with the quartet of Sienna Rodgers, Danika Varda, Lorin Tobler, and Taya Hutchison. In the men’s race, Queens University claimed gold with a 3:07.84 performance, led by Pablo Ortega, Matheus Teixeira Przewalla, Emil Harlem, and Daniel Meszaros.