FAIRFIELD VS IONA
- January 17, 2026
- Fairfield, Conn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: Fairfield Athletics
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University swimming and diving programs sent their seniors off in style by sweeping Iona University in a dual meet at the RecPlex Pool today. The Stags celebrated the senior class between the diving and swimming portions of the meet and excelled in both areas.
The women’s team posted a 232-66 win over the Gaels as Natasha De Pree proved to be a triple winner in the 800 free (9:05.49), the 100 free (58.82), and the 400 free (4:26.74). Diver Lillian Tonole joined Allie Bashor and Isla Bartholomew as double winners for the women’s program.
Tonole started the day off for the Stags by scoring an event-best 225.53 points in the 1 meter and followed up with 229.80 points in the 3 meter to sweep the diving events. Bashor touched the wall first in the 50 free (26.98) before winning the 100 fly in 1:01.89. Bartholomew picked up first-place swims in the 200 free by completing the distance in 2:04.88 and in the 200 breast with a time of 2:36.68.
The men’s team garnered a 216-84 decision over the visitors with Balazs Ament and Jochi Nolla were double winners to pace the Stags. Ament captured the 100 back (1:01.20) and the 200 breast (2:15.79) while Nolla took the top spot in both the 800 free (8:27.62) and the 400 free (4:03.30).
Fairfield swept the top three spots in eight events during the meet including the following:
Women’s 800 Free (De Pree 9:05.49; Riley Edge 9:10.08; Ella Lepis 9:12.83)
Women’s 100 Back (Lauren Patalano 1:03.58; Katie Torrey 1:03.62; Holly Rahurahu 1:03.89)
Women’s 200 Fly (Callie Gray 2:19.08; Olivia Glaser 2:21.04; Brianna Racanello 2:24.77)
Men’s 200 Fly (James Robinson 2:05.39; Ryan Woodzell 2:06.39; Aiden Wolcott 2:10.57)
Men’s 200 Back (Aidan Schnapf 2:00.54; Will Landon 2:05.44; Jack Behm 2:06.94)
Men’s 200 Breast (Balazs Ament 2:15.79; Bobby Regan 2:17.34; Ryan Schuller 2:22.69)
Women’s 100 Fly (Bashor 1:01.89; Kara Kisakol 1:03.40; Ayva Christie 1:04.77)
Men’s 200 IM (Bobby Regan 2:04.12; Behm 2:08.89; Landon 2:09.54)
The Stags also posted first-place finishes in men’s 1 meter diving (Andrew Cataldo 236.93), men’s 3 meter (Cameron Pope 253.58), the men’s 200 free (Schnapf 1:50.11), women’s 100 breast (Tone Sandsjo 1:09.18), men’s 100 back (Ament 1:01.20), men’s 100 free (Cormac Rouse 51.24), men’s 100 fly (Tim Regan 56.00), and the women’s 200 IM (Glaser 2:21.21).
The Fairfield University swimming and diving programs will return to the pool when they compete against the University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University on Friday, January 23 before completing the weekend at UMass on Saturday, January 24.
Courtesy: Iona Athletics
Competing for the first time since early December, the Iona men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams faced a red-hot Fairfield University squad on the Stags’ Senior Day at the 25-meter Rec Plex Complex on Fairfield’s campus. The Iona women fell 232–66, dropping to 7–2 on the season, while the men lost 216–84 to move to 4–4.
Before a large and enthusiastic crowd, Fairfield jumped out to an early advantage, winning the first 11 events of the meet. Junior Kieran Egan stopped the streak for Iona, touching first in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 55.40. Fairfield responded by taking the next five events before classmate Nick Patino claimed the 50-meter freestyle in 23.10.
Three races later, the Gaels earned their lone women’s victory of the day as sophomore Raegan O’Brien captured the 200-meter backstroke in 2:16.89.
Fairfield closed the meet with another dominant stretch, winning the final 11 races and finishing the day with victories in 29 of the 32 events contested.
“Fairfield was excellent today, and while the score was not competitive, the races and our efforts were hard-fought,” said head coach Nick Cavataro, now in his 47th season.
“We race in short-course (25-meter) pools only once a year, and for some of our group this was their first-ever experience in an SCM pool,” Cavataro added. Despite the results, the Gaels came away with a dozen new school records in the 25-meter course.
Anabel Huffstutler set two new marks, beginning with a time of 9:13.05 in the 800-meter freestyle, breaking the previous record of 9:28.21 set by Adrienne Bilello in 2021. She followed with a 4:27.86 in the 400-meter freestyle, shattering the 2019 record held by Isabella Nicholson by more than eight seconds.
O’Brien accounted for three school records, lowering the 100-meter backstroke mark to 1:03.93, eclipsing Meghan Patterson’s 2019 record of 1:05.81. She also broke the 200-meter backstroke record with her winning time of 2:16.89, surpassing Victoria Novinskiy’s previous mark of 2:20.56. O’Brien capped her record-setting day with a 2:24.31 in the 200-meter individual medley, improving upon Taylor Spillman’s 2021 record by 1.7 seconds.
Brennyn Veit added two records of her own, posting a 1:13.49 in the 100-meter breaststroke to better Meghan Joseph’s 2021 mark by 1.66 seconds. Her 2:38.34 in the 200-meter breaststroke broke the school’s oldest meter record, previously set in 2004 by Jackie Fountaine, by more than two seconds.
On the men’s side, Egan’s 55.40 in the 100-meter backstroke improved his own 2024 school record by a full second. Sophomore Max Buchen reset both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke records, clocking times of 1:03.34 and 2:23.96, respectively. He broke Emil Bajramovic’s 2021 record in the 100 by over two seconds and topped Jackson Madonia’s 2019 mark in the 200.
Patino’s winning time of 23.10 in the 50-meter freestyle shaved nearly a second off the previous school record set by Zack Holbrook in 2017. Junior Harry Platt added another mark in the 200-meter freestyle, edging former Iona MVP Michael Faughnan’s 2024 record with a time of 1:51.13.
The final record of the day came in the men’s 400-meter freestyle relay, where the quartet of Egan, Platt, James Gonzalez, and Nate Wales lowered the school record by .77 seconds with a time of 3:29.22. The previous record was set in 2024 by a relay featuring Egan, Wales, Michael Faughnan, and Liam Pyatt.
