2025 College National Open Water Championships
- December 13, 2025
- Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida
- Open Water (5km)
- Results
The Rice University women and Grand Valley State men claimed the team victories at the 2025 CSCAA Open Water National Championships on Saturday at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, with a dominant performance being delivered in the women’s race and an exciting battle that came down to the wire occurring in the men’s event.
The event saw swimmers compete in a 5km open water race, with individual winners being crowned, while the top teams were determined by combining the fastest three swimmers for each school.
WOMEN’S RECAP
Rice senior Ella Dyson dominated the women’s field en route to winning the event for the second straight year and fourth overall, producing a time of 56:05.7 to comfortably top the runner-up, teammate Ava Portello, by a minute and 41 seconds.
The swim from Dyson was remarkably more than seven minutes faster than she went en route to winning the event last year (1:03:31.0), though the entire field was significantly faster this year, indicating conditions were much more favorable.
Portello, who was 7th last year, touched in a time of 57:46.7 to comfortably place 2nd, dropping nearly 10 minutes off her time from 2024.
Villanova’s Marlene Blake took 3rd in 58:31.1, while Rice’s Ava Hamblett placed 9th in 59:18.0 to give Rice the team victory in a time of 2:53:10.
Rice’s win marked its third straight at the CSCAA Open Water Championships.
Villanova, which also had Riley Hull (58:39.2) place 6th and Peri Gaguzis (59:21.5) place 11th, took 2nd in the team race in 2:56:32.
The top Division II swimmer in the race was Tampa’s Katharina Hibbeln, who took 4th overall in 58:36.3.
Individual Results – Top 10
| Place | Name | Institution | Bib No | Division | Div Place | Gun Time |
| 1 | Ella Dyson | Rice University | 175 | 1 | 1 | 56:05.7 |
| 2 | Ava Portello | Rice University | 236 | 1 | 2 | 57:46.7 |
| 3 | Marlene Blanke | Villanova University | 159 | 1 | 3 | 58:31.1 |
| 4 | Katharina Hibbeln | University of Tampa | 194 | 2 | 1 | 58:36.3 |
| 5 | Casey Stephens | Miami University | 257 | 1 | 4 | 58:37.6 |
| 6 | Riley Hull | Villanova University | 198 | 1 | 5 | 58:39.2 |
| 7 | Libby Michel | University of Cincinnati | 219 | 1 | 6 | 58:39.8 |
| 8 | Olivia Busch | West Virginia Univ | 166 | 1 | 7 | 59:01.0 |
| 9 | Taira Vroom | University of Cincinnati | 268 | 1 | 8 | 59:15.1 |
| 10 | Ava Hamblett | Rice University | 191 | 1 | 9 | 59:18.0 |
Team Results – Top 3
- Rice University, 2:53:10
- Villanova University, 2:56:32
- University of Cincinnati, 2:59:49
MEN’S RECAP
In a close four-way battle for the title, Lynn University freshman Efe Guler claimed the victory in the men’s race in a time of 52:54.1, edging out Michigan’s Josh Brown (52:55.6), Boston College’s Matt Cinque (52:56.0) and Tampa’s Jacob Hamlin (52:57.5).
Guler claimed the overall victory despite competing for a Division II team, with Brown’s runner-up finish earning him the top spot in D1.
Hamlin was the highest finisher from last year’s race in the field, following up his 5th-place showing in 2024 by moving up one spot in the rankings.
In the team race, Grand Valley State came out on top, with Berk Boz (53:22.7) placing 6th, Raul Briceno (53:29.4) taking 9th and Anton Zeno Rauch (53:45.0) rounding out the top 10 to give the Lakers a final time of 2:40:37, easily outpacing runner-up WVU. The Mountaineers’ time was 2:44:06, with Parker Sterlitz being their top individual finisher in 5th.
Briceno won the event back in 2022.
Whittier College’s Thomas Langlois cracked the top 10 representing Division III, placing 8th overall in 53:28.5.
Individual Results – Top 10
| Place | Name | Institution | Bib No | Division | Div Place | Gun Time |
| 1 | Efe Guler | Lynn University | 41 | 2 | 1 | 52:54.1 |
| 2 | Josh Brown | Michigan | 94 | 1 | 1 | 52:55.6 |
| 3 | Matt Cinque | Boston College | 20 | 1 | 2 | 52:56.0 |
| 4 | Jacob Hamlin | University of Tampa | 43 | 2 | 2 | 52:57.5 |
| 5 | Parker Sterlitz | West Virginia Univ | 74 | 1 | 3 | 53:16.1 |
| 6 | Berk Boz | Grand Valley State | 10 | 2 | 3 | 53:22.7 |
| 7 | Eli Rolfsen | Miami University | 69 | 1 | 4 | 53:27.7 |
| 8 | Thomas Langlois | Whittier College | 57 | 3 | 1 | 53:28.5 |
| 9 | Raul Briceno | Grand Valley State | 13 | 2 | 4 | 53:29.4 |
| 10 | Anton Zeno Rauch | Grand Valley State | 93 | 2 | 5 | 53:45.0 |
Team Results – Top 3
- Grand Valley State, 2:40:37
- West Virginia University, 2:44:06
- University of Cincinnati, 2:47:09
What would it take to make this a much more high profile event? With OW being Olympic and WC events, it would be beneficial to do this so that American swimmers can become more competitive with Europeans.