2025 NEC Swimming and Diving Championships
- Feb 19-22, 2025
- SPIRE Aquatic Center, Geneva, OH
- SCY
- Defending Champions
- Women: Central Connecticut (2x)
- Men: Wagner (1X)
- Championship Central – Women
- Championship Central – Men
- Fan Guide
- Live Results
- Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap
After leading the competition wire-to-wire, the Central Connecticut State (CCSU) women walked away with their 3rd-consecutive NEC title, scoring 726.5 points to easily lead the field. With their win, the CCSU women extended their lead over the conference record books with their 9th overall title, the most in NEC history.
On the men’s side, the meet came down to a photo finish on the final relay with Howard (883) just edging out defending champs Wagner (876) for the title. With their win, the Howard men marked their 2nd conference title in program history, winning 2 of the last 3 seasons.
Final Team Scores – Women
- CCSU – 726.5
- Howard – 683.5
- St. Francis – 579.5
- Wagner – 540
- LIU – 454
- Le Moyne – 191.5
- Stonehill – 179
Final Team Scores – Men
- Howard – 883
- Wagner – 876
- LIU – 566
- Le Moyne – 552
Final Day Recap
Opening the night, LIU freshman Finn Drysdale blew away the meet record in the men’s 1650 freestyle, touching in a time of 15:37.88 to take 9 seconds off of the meet record in the event en route to his third gold medal of the meet. Notably, all three members of the podium finished under the previous record of 15:47.56 as runner-up Ben McLaughlin of Wagner touched in a time of 15:38.41, while teammate Ruben Van Gool finished behind in a 15:44.30. After the meet, Drysdale was named the NEC’s Most Outstanding Swimmer and Most Outstanding Freshman for his efforts throughout the meet.
In the women’s 1650 free a major upset occured as two-time defending champion Abbey Keane of CCSU was out-touched by St. Francis’ Aurem Pifarre Planes for the gold on the final 25 of the race. Planes hit the wall in a time of 17:08.09, with Keane’s CCSU teammate Maggie Rutledge also making a late push to take the silver (17:08.50). Keane ultimately settled for the bronze in a time of 17:10.69.
Howard proved dominant in both the women’s 100 freestyle and 200 backstroke. In the 200 backstroke, Chanice Posada took home her third individual gold of the meet, touching in a time of 2:01.41. Then, in the 100 freestyle, Zuzu Nwaeze threw down an impressive performance with a time of 49.71. Earlier in the meet, Nwaeze became the first female swimmer from an HBCU to hit an NCAA ‘B’ cut time, and only the 2nd HBCU swimmer in history to do so. Nwaeze won all three sprint freestyle events en route to claiming the Most Outstanding Women’s Swimmer award for the 2nd straight year.
The men’s 200 backstroke was a strong performance for Howard’s Tristan Stevens, who touched in a time of 1:47.19 to win the race by a half-second.
After an extremely tight race in the men’s 100 freestyle, the race ultimately went to LIU’s Alejandro Pascual Del Cid as he touched in a time of 44.90, accelerating ahead of the field at the wall. He held off Wagner’s Senan Noonan by about .2 for the title.
Both of last year’s 200 breaststroke champions repeated, with the Wagner pair of Rebekka Luoto (2:16.27) and Adrian Andres Moreno (1:59.02) claiming victory on the women’s and men’s sides, respectively.
The final individual event of the meet was the 200 butterfly. Wagner freshman Gaya Savran captured her first conference title on the women’s side, leading the field in a time of 2:01.30. On the men’s side, Wagner posted a huge 1-3 finish behind Nikko Carrillo (1:48.23) and Manuel Villalpando (1:50.96) to pull their squad within 1 point of Howard for the lead.
With the meet on the line for their men’s team, the Howard women built momentum in the 400 freestyle relay to close out their night. The Bison’s squad of Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson, Jasmine Morgan, Chanice Posada, and Zuzu Nwaeze captured gold in 3:23.12, coming in only a half second ahead of Wagner’s team.
Riding that energy, the men’s 400 freestyle relay proved to be an electric event to close out the meet. Howard took out the relay fast and never looked back, with the squad of Tai Afrik, Tristan Stevens, Taj Benton, and Mason Greenholding-off a fast-closing LIU squad for the win to mark their 2nd conference title in a time of 2:59.62.
Major Award Winners – Women
Outstanding Swimmer: Zuzu Nwaeze, HU
(200 free, 100 free, 50 free)
Women’s Outstanding Diver: Kaitlyn Carroll, CCSU
(1st on 3M board; 1st on 1M board)
Women’s Rookie of the Meet: Gaya Savran, WC
(200 fly, 200 back, 100 fly)
Women’s Outstanding Dive Staff: Kim Caruso, CCSU
Women’s Swim Staff: Central Connecticut (Head Coach Bill Ball, Head Diving Coach Kim Caruso)
Major Award Winners – Men
Outstanding Swimmer: Finn Drysdale, LIU
(1650 free, 500 free, 200 free)
Men’s Outstanding Diver: Zay Swilley, HU
(1st on 3M board; 1st on 1M board)
Men’s Rookie of the Meet: Finn Drysdale, LIU
(1650 free, 500 free, 200 free)
Men’s Outstanding Dive Staff: Courtenay Miller, HU
Men’s Swim Staff: Howard (Head Coach Nicholas Askew, Assistants Salim King & Courtenay Miller)
