2026 Summit League Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 18–Saturday, February 21
- Location: Campus Recreation & Wellness Center, Iowa City, IA
- Defending Champions: Denver women (11x); Denver men (10x)
- Teams: Denver, Eastern Illinois, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Indiana, St. Thomas
- Schedule of Events (PDF)
- Championship Central
- SwimSwam Fan Guide
- Live Results
- Live Video: Summit League Network
- Recaps
Day 3 Results
South Dakota’s Nick Rounds set another Summit League Meet Record en route to his event win in the men’s 100 backstroke on Friday, picking up another NCAA qualifying time and individual event.
The Denver men and women continue to top the leaderboard with just one day remaining.
Women’s Recap
The Denver women are almost unstoppable this year, and on Friday they won five of the six events.
They opened the meet with a win in the women’s 100 fly from freshman Julia Saxman, who touched in 52.86 to come in nearly two seconds ahead of SDSU’s Jenna Currier, who swam 54.83 for 2nd. This was a half-second drop for Saxman who came into the meet with her pre-college best time of 53.34 from November of 2024.
In the 400 IM, Denver junior Sabrina Rachjaibun swam the top time of 4:14.97, winning by a little more than four seconds over teammate Mina Ada Solaker, who swam 4:19.27 for 2nd. Denver also picked up the bronze with Lillian Zippel‘s 4:21.38 in 3rd. Rachjaibun was a tenth off her lifetime best 4:14.87 from January of this year.
The women’s 200 free went to Denver freshman Samantha Synsvoll in 1:48.33 as the only swimmer under 1:50 in the event. She dropped two hundredths from her previous best time of 1:48.35 that she set in January. She came into college at 1:49.37 from February of 2023.
Denver’s final individual event of the night went to senior Ali Beay in the 100 backstroke. Her swim of 54.42 eked out the top spot by just two hundredths over Saint Thomas sophomore Jordyn Davis, who swam 54.44. The two swimmers were separated by one hundredth at the 50-yard mark with Beay turning in 26.18 to Davis’ 26.19. They also were separated by just one hundredth on their 2nd 50s, Beay splitting 28.24 to Davis’ 28.25.
Denver wrapped up the women’s session with the top time in the 400 medley relay by about three seconds. The team of Beay (56.53), Tenaya Winter (1:00.93), Saxman (52.43), and Isabella Cardenas (50.45) swam 3:40.34 to come in ahead of the University of South Dakota’s 3:43.77.
USD won the only women’s event of the meet so far that didn’t go to Denver. Senior Taylor Buhr swam the top time in the women’s 100 breaststroke of 1:01.30, taking two tenths off her previous best of 1:01.47 from February of 2024. Her teammate Madilyn Gehrke finished 2nd in 1:02.08, just ahead of Denver’s Tenaya Winter, who swam 1:02.24 for 3rd.
Men’s Recap
For the 2nd day in a row, the highlight of the men’s meet was South Dakota sophomore Nick Rounds. He won the men’s 100 backstroke in 45.21, taking a second off the former Summit League Meet Record time of 46.25 from the 2020 championships.
Rounds came in a second-and-a-half ahead of teammate Joaquin Contreras-Fallico‘s 46.72 in 2nd, and he picked up his 2nd NCAA qualifying time. He is already in the meet as an auto qualifier based on his 50 freestyle from night one, but this swim came in about a second under the qualifying standard of 46.29, earning him a 2nd individual event. He also came in under the 2025 Invite Time of 45.26 in the event.
USD also won the men’s 400 medley relay with their team of Contreras-Fallico (46.66), Brock Russell (53.46), Dylan Alt (46.70), and Rounds (42.26) swimming 3:09.08. They beat the Denver team of Quinlan Collins (48.09), Kito Campbell (52.48), Hamish McLellan (46.23), and Matija Pantic (43.28) by exactly a second.
The remaining five events went to the Denver men, who maintained their lead through night three.
They opened the session with the top time in the 100 fly courtesy of sophomore McLellan, who touched in 46.53 to beat USD’s Alt, who swam 47.06, by half-a-second. McLellan dropped four tenths from the 46.92 mark he set in December.
The 400 IM went to Denver junior Nicolas Morton in 3:49.45, two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. This was a two second drop from his 3:51.27 that he swam at this meet last year.
Denver freshman Pierce Bickerton won the 200 free in 1:37.69, touching just two tenths ahead of teammate Dylan Mes‘s 1:37.90. Bickerton was about a second off his lifetime best 1:36.90 from January.
Junior Kito Campbell won the 100 breaststroke for Denver in a personal best time of 52.61. He took three tenths off the 52.91 he swam in December. He just missed the NCAA qualifying standard of 52.58 by three hundredths.
The final individual event of the evening, the men’s 3-meter diving went to Denver’s Colin Breuer with a score of 335.00. He beat Omaha’s Owen Kipp, who scored 323.80, by just over 10 points.
Team Scores After Day 3
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Rounds to the tanning center