2026 Ivy League Women’s Fan Guide: Diving To Be The Springboard For A Tigers Four-Peat

2025 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)
• Live Results
• Live Video: ESPN+
• Championship Central
• SwimSwam Fan Guide
• Teams: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Yale

PRE-SCRATCH PSYCH SHEET

The Princeton Tigers made it three Ivy League titles in a row last year, and will be looking to make it four on the bounce in 2026. The loss of Dakota Tucker (92 points last year) to a medical redshirt is a big blow for them in their quest to remain ahead of the Harvard Crimson, but that should be offset by their divers who have been on fire so far this year. Their swimmers reclaimed the Ivy League Dual Meet crown from Harvard, going 7-0 in their Ivy matchups, and have a perfect 12-0 record in duals this season.

At the 2025 Ivy League Championships Princeton started out strong with a win in the 800 free relay and a 2nd-place finish on the 200 medley, helped out in the former by a DQ for Harvard which saw them sitting 56 points behind their rivals after just two events. The next night was a stronger one for the Crimson, as sophomore Alexandra Bastone claimed the 500 free in 4:38.75 and they put three swimmers into the 200 IM ‘A’ final, but Princeton took 1-2-3 in that event behind Eleanor Sun, Dakota Tucker, and Eliza Brown.

The Tigers took the top two spots again in the 50 free thanks to Sabrina Johnston and Ela Noble, before dominating the 200 free relay. Harvard’s divers put in a big shift to outscore Princeton by 44 points on the 1-meter, ensuring that Harvard trailed by just 66.5 points at the halfway point.

Day 3 was a big one for Harvard, as they won four of the five individual events on offer as well as the 400 medley relay. Sydney Lu (100 fly), Alexandra Bastone (200 free), Aleksandra Denisenko (100 breast) and Anya Mostek (100 back) were the individual champions for the Crimson. Princeton had a big event of their own in the 400 IM, going 1-2-4 thanks to Eleanor Sun, Dakota Tucker, and Meg Wheeler. Despite Harvard having the edge in Day 3 titles, Princeton were able to extend their lead by a further 25 points, with Yale, Brown, and Penn locked in their own battle for third another 200 points behind the Crimson.

Harvard kicked off Day 4 with a pair of event wins, with Alexandra Bastone taking her third title with victory in the mile and Anya Mostek claiming the 200 back to give her the 100-200 sweep in that stroke. Harvard were just 58.5 points behind Princeton heading into the 100 free, which was won by Kayla Fu of Penn, the only event won by a school other than Harvard or Princeton. The Tigers dominated the final four events of the meet, scoring 126 points in the 3-meter diving after putting four divers ‘A’ final including overall champion Charlotte Martinkus, before Eleanor Sun (200 fly) and Dakota Tucker (200 breast) added titles of their own, Sun’s being her third of the meet. With victory already assured, they cruised to the 400 free relay title in an NCAA ‘A’ cut.

Princeton retained almost all of their scorers from last year, losing only Ela Noble, Emily Appleton, Isabell Korbly, and Alexa Pappas to graduation. Noble will be the biggest loss from those group, having scored 53 individual points and been an integral part of four relays. The aforementioned loss of Dakota Tucker to a medical redshirt also removes one half of their elite IM duo, but Eleanor Sun (96 points), Sabrina Johnston (87 points), Heidi Smithwick (81 points), and Eliza Brown (76 points) return. They are joined by an elite freshman quartet of Chloe Kim, Savannah Skow, Sophia Sunwoo, and Sophie Segerson, all of whom are seeded for at least 68 points.

Harvard finished just behind Princeton in the Ivy League dual meet standings, with their only defeat coming to the Tigers, but graduated some key swimmers from last season. Defending Ivy League champions Alexandra Bastone (96 points), Anya Mostek (91 points) return, as do Sydney Lu (85 points) and Stephanie Iannaccone (72 points), but Aleksandra Denisenko (80 points) and Molly Hamlin (82 points) do not. Kiley Wilhelm‘s breakout after scoring just 22 points last season – she is seeded for 92 this  year – is a welcome addition, as are freshmen Aliana Marakovic and Carolina Daher. The Crimson do face some big losses on the board with divers Elizabeth Miclau (56 points) , Remi Edvalson (38 points), and Amy Wotovich (42 points) all having graduated, but return just four divers to have hit double figures in points last year in Ennika Carlson (36 points), two-time 2024 champion Nina Janmyr (26 points), Samantha Holtz (19 points) and Tabitha Chen-Fiske (13 points).

The fight for third is always an exciting one, but this year it may be a fight for fourth as Penn have separated themselves from the pack. They are actually seeded for more swimming points than Harvard, but they likely do not have the diving to crack the top two – they scored only 20 points on the board last year, more than 200 points behind the pair of Harvard and Princeton. Their swimmers have been on fire this season however, with Kayla Fu (78 points last year), Kate Levensten (55 points), Anna Moehn (84 points), Katya Eruslanova (61 points) and Brianna Cong (freshman season) all seeded for over 70 points in 2026.

Brown and Yale will be in a battle behind them, with diving likely to prove the difference again there. Yale finished 92 points ahead of the Bears last year after outscoring them by 130 points on the boards, but the Bulldogs are seeded for just over 100 points fewer in the pool than their rivals Brown in 2026. With Laurel Jin (29 points) and Hayden Henderson (42 points) graduating from their diving corps and Alex Massey (75 points) and Lilly Derivaux (68 points) missing in the pool, they could be vulnerable despite returning Jessey Li (59 points), Mabel Koff (58 points), Caroline Riggs (55 points) and Eunice Lee (65 points). Brown return the majority of their stars, with the return of Morgan Lukinac after she missed last season coming as the biggest gain for them as she is seeded for 83 points, having scored 86 points in 2024. Crystal Yuen (73 points) is their highest returning points scorer last year, but they have added 2025 DIII champion Natalie Garre and freshman Isabella Dieffenthaller who should be big scorers this year.

Event Schedule

Wednesday

• 200 medley relay
• 800 free relay

Thursday

• 500 free
• 200 IM
• 50 free
• 1-meter diving
• 200 free relay

Friday

• 100 fly
• 400 IM
• 200 free
• 100 breast
• 100 back
• 3-meter diving
• 400 medley relay

Saturday

• 1650 free
• 200 back
• 100 free
• 200 breast
• 200 fly
• 3-meter diving
• 400 free relay

2025 Final Standings

1. Princeton University 1479
2. Harvard University 1287.5
3. Yale University 1090.5
4. Brown University 998.5
5. University of Pennsylvania 990.5
6. Columbia University 622
7. Dartmouth College Swimming 526
8. Cornell University 404

Brown: Crystal Yuen (So-Free), Morgan Lukinac (Sr-Free), Natalie Garre (So-Free/IM), Isabella Dieffenthaller(Fr-Free)

Lukinac’s return after missing last season is big for the Bears, as she ranks 5th on the 50 free, 1st on the 100 free, and 4th on the 200 free. She scored 86 points two years ago and is in line for a similar haul in 2026. Yuen is Brown’s top returning scorer and comes in 6th in the 50 free, 5th in the 100 free, 3rd in the 200 free, and 7th in the 1650 free, where she has dropped over 10 seconds from the best time she set season. Dieffenthaller adds yet more freestyle strength as she is the top seed in the 200 free and the 7th seed in the 100 free in her freshman season. Garre is 3rd on both the 500 free and 1650 free, and ranks 11th in the 400 IM. She was the DIII NCAA champion in both the 500 free and mile last season.

Columbia: Ashley Hong (So-Breast/IM), Shaelyn Shields (Fr-IM/Back), Jilly MacNamara (So-Back), Natalia Diaz (Jr-Breast), Lindsey Orringer-Hau (Sr-Free)

Hong is seeded 10th in the 200 breast, 16th in the 100 breast, and 19th in the 200 IM. She was 11th on both the 100 breast and 200 breast last year, tying with teammate Natalia Diaz in the former. Diaz is 16th in the 200 breast and 17th in the 100 breast this year, after finishing 10th and 11th last season. Shields is 15th in the 200 back, 17th in the 200 IM, and 14th in the 400 IM. McNamara is 7th in the 200 back, where she was 9th last year, and 22nd in the 100 back. Orringer-Hau is seeded 14th in the mile and 18th in the 500 free, but placed 7th in both events last year.

Cornell: Erin DeHollander (Jr-Free/Breast), Hojung Yoon (Jr-IM/Back), Rosalee Springer (So-Back/Free), Audrey Holden (Sr-Breast), Katie Yee(Jr-Fly)

DeHollander is the #11 seed in the mile, an event in which she placed 16th last year, and is 16th in the 200 free and 19th in the 500 free. Yoon is the #8 seed in the 200 back, where she finished 11th last year, and is 9th on the 100 back and 12th on the 400 IM. Springer is 8th in the 100 back and 11th in the 200 back, moving up from her 12th and 18th place finishes last year. Holden is 8th in the 100 breast and 17th in the 200 breast, but was only 14th and 21st last year so also looks on the rise. Yee is 12th in the 100 fly and 11th in the 200 fly, after making a pair of ‘C’ finals last year.

Dartmouth: Carinn Bethea (Jr-Free), Izzy Mundee(So-Free), Erika Ilkiu (Fr-Breast), Sena Bozkurt (Fr-Fly/Back/IM), Maggie Lambdin (Jr-Diving)

Bethea ranks 10th in the 100 free, 9th in the 200 free, and 12th in the mile, and will be a welcome returner for Dartmouth after missing the 2024-25 season. She placed 5th on the 200 free in 2024, so has pedigree behind her. Mundee is 9th in the mile and 7th in the 400 free, having dropped 16 seconds and eight seconds respectively on each event. Ilkiu ranks 8th on the 100 breast and 11th on the 200 breast in her freshman season, and strengthens a key area for the relays. Bozkurt is ranked 10th on the 100 fly, 17th on the 200 IM and 18th on the 100 back. Lambdin was 4th on the 3-meter last year and her diving points will be key for the Big Green.

Harvard: Kiley Wilhelm(So-Fly/IM), Anya Mostek (Sr-Back/Free), Aliana Marakovic(Fr-Breast/IM), Alexandra Bastone (Jr-Free), Carolina Daher(Fr-Free), Sydney Lu (Sr-Fly/Free), Nina Janmyr(Sr-Diving), Samantha Holtz (So-Diving)

Kiley Wilhelm is in line for huge points this year, ranking 1st in the 100 fly, 1st in the 200 fly, and 2nd in the 200 IM. She scored just 22 points last year, making the ‘B’ final in the 200 fly and the ‘C’ final in the 100 fly, but has been on fire this season and could well qualify for NCAAs. Anya Mostek swept the backstroke events in 2025 and comes in as the top seed in both, as well as the 2nd seed in the 50 free. She also ranks 6th in the 100 free. Aliana Marakovic is ranked 2nd in both the 100 breast and 200 breast and will aim to fill the hole left by Aleksandra Denisenko‘s graduation, and ranks 6th in the 200 IM. Alexandra Bastone is the defending champion in the 500 but is just the #2 seed this year, also sitting at #5 in both the 200 free and 1650 free. She won all three events last year, so watch out for her to move up from the psych sheets. Lu sits 2nd in the 100 fly behind her teammate Wilhelm and 3rd in the 200 fly, but only 9th in the 50 free after finishing 4th last year. She sits also 7th in the 200 free. Daher ranks 10th in the 200 free,  6th in the 1650 free, and 1st in the 500 free ahead of Bastone. Janmyr looks back in top form after finishing 5th on 1-meter and 24th on 3-meter last year, and placed 1st and 2nd in those events respectively at the H-Y-P meet. Holtz is another who looks like moving up the diving ranks, placing 3rd at H-Y-P on the 3-meter.

Penn: Anna Moehn (Sr-Free), Kayla Fu (So-Fly/Free/IM), Sydney Bergstrom (Sr-Free), Katya Eruslanova (Jr-Back/Free/IM), Amy Qin (So-Free/Back/Fly), Kate Levensten (Jr-Fly/Back), Brianna Cong(Fr-Back/Fly)

Anna Moehn had two 2nd-place finishes last year, in the 500 free and 1650 free, and ranks 5th and 2nd in those events this season. She also ranks 8th in the 500 free, and will look to repeat her three-‘A’ final exploits from last year. Kayla Fu remains one of the best sprint fly/free swimmers in the league and is ranked 4th in the 50 free, 3rd in the 100 free, and 3rd in the 100 fly, as well as 12th in the 200 free. Bergstrom was 4th in the 500 free and 3rd in the 1650 free in 2025 and ranks highly again, coming in 6th in the 500 and as the top seed in the mile, just two seconds off her time from last year. She also ranks 18th in the 400 IM. Eruslanova is 6th in the 200 back, 5th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 400 IM, after placing 15th, 6th, and 6th respectively last year. Qin ranks 8th in the 50 free, 8th in the 100 free, and 6th in the 100 back, higher than she came into the meet last year in all three events. Levensten was 8th in the 200 back, 10th in the 100 back and 11th in the 100 fly a year ago, but ranks 3rd, 3rd, and 6th respectively after setting best times in all three events this season. Cong ranks just ahead of her teammate on the 200 back, entered 2nd fastest, and also ranks 8th in the 100 fly and 7th in the 100 back.

Princeton: Sabrina Johnston (Sr-Free/Back), Eleanor Sun (Jr-IM/Fly/Breast),  Heidi Smithwick (Sr-Free/Fly), Chloe Kim (Fr-Free/IM), Savannah Skow (Fr-Free/Fly), Sophia Sunwoo (Fr-Free/Back), Sophie Segerson (Fr-Breast/IM), Charlotte Martinkus (Sr-Diving), Charlotte Norman (So-Diving)

Johnston won the 50/100 free for the second year in a row last year, and is seeded 1st in the 50 free, 2nd in the 100 free, and 4th in the 100 back this season. Sun, who swept the IMs in 2024 and won the 200 fly, is the top ranked swimmer in the 200 fly, 200 breast, and 200 IM, and is ranked 2nd in the 400 IM. Kim is the top seed in that 400 IM in her freshman season and is ranked 4th in both the 200 fly and 1650 free. She also ranks 7th in the 500 free and 12th in the 200 IM, while her best times would rank her highly in the 200 back and 200 free as well. Smithwick was the runner-up in both fly events last season after winning the 200 fly in 2024, is 2nd in the 200 fly and 5th in the 100 fly, as well as 16th in the 200 IM and 15th in the 200 free. She has not swum the 500 free, where she placed 5th last year, nor the 400 IM so far this season. Skow ranks 2nd in the 200 free, 3rd in the 100 fly, 5th in the 500 free, and 7th in the 200 fly, in line to fight for titles in her freshman season, and swam best times in both free events at the recent H-Y-P meet. Sunwoo ranks 3rd in the 50 free and 4th in the 100 free, as well as 9th in the 100 back, giving the Tigers a strong 1-2 punch in sprint free along with Johnston. Segerson is 3rd in the 400 IM and 4th in the 400 IM, giving Princeton three of the top four seeds in both IM events, and is also 11th in the 100 breast. Defending diving champion Charlotte Martinkus will be another big scorer on the boards, while Charlotte Norman looks set to score highly in both events after placing 9th on 1-meter and 7th on 3-meter last year.

Yale: Jessey Li (Sr-Breast/IM), Mabel Koff (So-Back/Free), Caroline Riggs (JR-Free/IM), Devyn Sargent (So-Back/Breast), Paige Lai (Sr-Diving), Lily Horenkamp (SR-Diving)

Li placed 2nd in the 100 breast last season for her third top-two finish in a row, but is seeded top in the league this season in addition to ranking 5th in the 200 breast and 10th in the 200 IM. She swam the 50 free instead of the IM last year, but is just 20th in the 50 free this season. Mabel Koff is 5th in the 200 back, having placed 3rd last year, and ranks 13th in the 200 free and 14th in the 200 IM. She has been a little off her times from last year this season, so could have some time to drop this week. Caroline Riggs is seeded in the top 8 in the 500 free (8th), 1650 free (8th), and 400 IM (7th), and will be aiming to turn at least one of her ‘B’ final appearances last year in the 500 free and 400 IM into an ‘A’ final this time. Devyn Sargent is the 4th seed in the 200 back and the 3rd seed in the 100 breast, as well as the 15th seed in the 200 IM. Paige Lai will be big on the boards again after scoring 41 points last year, and has already scored higher on the 1-meter this season than she did at Ivy’s last year. Lily Horenkamp was an NCAA qualifier on the 1-meter last year, and is another to have already scored higher this year in that event than she did last season.

SHOWDOWNS

200 Free:

The 200 free is given some extra spice this year by the automatic NCAA qualification time of 1:45.53, which falls in between the top four seeds who are separated by just six-tenths of a second. Neither of the top two seeds, Brown’s Isabella Dieffenthaller (1:45.39) and Princeton’s Savannah Skow (1:45.71), were at the meet last year, while 2025 champion Alexandra Bastone is seeded down in 5th. All of the top five seeds will believe they have what it takes to both win the event and dip below that automatic qualification mark – this has the makings of a clash which will either turn into a PB-fest or a match race.

500 Free:

Penn won three 500 free titles between 2022 and 2024, but Harvard’s Alexandra Bastone broke that streak with a dominant win last year, touching in 4:38.75. This year the field looks far tighter with the top four seeds separated by just over half a second, and the automatic qualification is again within reach as all four have a season best under that mark of 4:43.70. Three of the top five seeds are new to the conference in Harvard’s Caroline Daher (4:42.98), Brown’s Natalie Garre (4:43.34) and Princeton’s Savannah Skow (4:44.20), while the other two are the top two finishers from 2025 in Bastone and Penn’s Anna Moehn. The first individual event of the championships should be cracking race.

200 Medley Relay:

Harvard are the defending champions, and did get the better of their fellow top-three finishers Princeton (1:38.21) and Yale (1:38.75) in 1:37.77 at the H-Y-P meet at the end of January. The podium was separated by just 0.36 seconds last year, but all graduated at least one leg in the summer and the battle could be just as close this time around. Whichever one of Harvard’s Aliana Marakovic and Princeton’s Heidi Smithwick get closest to the splits each school had on the breaststroke leg last year could be key for the event win, while Yale will need a big swim from Éle Donegan on fly to stay with the front two. The first swimming event will set the tone for the week – a commanding win for Harvard could sow some doubt in Princeton’s minds.

Diving:

The Ivy League roster for each team is capped at 18, but the diver/swimmer ratio is weighted a little differently to other conferences – divers count for 1/3 of a spot rather than 1/2. For teams such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, who all have depth on the boards, a squad with a 16-6 or 15-9 split has been the way to go and is the recipe all three will almost certainly go for again this year. That tactic pays off – last year Harvard’s divers made 6 ‘A’ finals and 5 ‘B’ finals, Princeton’s 6 ‘A’ finals and 3 ‘B’ finals, and Yale’s had 3 ‘A’ finals and 4 ‘B’ finals.

Princeton’s Charlotte Martinkus swept the boards last year, but Nina Janmyr, the woman who did the same in 2024, is back in form after placing 5th and 24th last season. The two split the diving events at the recent H-Y-P meet, Janmyr winning the 3-meter by 15.75 points and Martinkus winning the 1-meter by an almost-identical 15.90 points. Princeton return more of their diving points than Harvard do and have Charlotte Norman looking like a title contender in the 3-meter, but Janmyr’s resurgence is huge for the Crimson. With big performances on the boards required for both teams, both to outduel the other and to stay ahead of Penn, the one which best stacks the ‘A’ finals will have a significant edge.

SwimSwam Picks

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Penn
4. Yale
5. Brown
6. Columbia
7. Dartmouth
8. Cornell

Princeton won the Ivy League dual meet crown this year, reclaiming it from Harvard as they went undefeated in the regular season, and have enough depth to overcome the big loss of Dakota Tucker to a medical redshirt. Their divers showed up big last year, closing a 177 point gap on the boards in 2024 to just a 14 point deficit in 2025, and the difference between the two schools will again be far more akin to the latter than the former in 2026. The relays should be a little more of a toss-up than they were last year, with Harvard (200 free, 200 medley, 800 free) and Princeton (400 free, 400 medley) splitting the top seeds, but Princeton should have a slight edge in the individual events.

Being a wash on the boards should see Princeton take the win again, but likely not with the 200 point margin they enjoyed last year. Both schools should have enough to stay ahead of Penn, who will score big in the pool but miss out on the diving points they need to be in the title race. The Quakers should have enough to leapfrog Yale for a spot on the podium though, while the Bulldogs’ divers and historic overperformance at Ivies should then be enough to see them edge Brown out for fourth place.