Princeton vs Rutgers
- November 15, 2025
- DeNunzio Pool, Princeton, New Jersey
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Full Meet Results
- Scores: Princeton 212.5–87.5 Rutgers
The Princeton women’s swimming and diving team picked up a win in their home opener, downing their New Jersey rivals, Rutgers University, by a margin of 212.5 to 87.5. It was the Tigers’ fifth consecutive win in the six-year-old “Battle for the Cannon Trophy.”
Princeton (3-0, 2-0 Ivy) came into the meet with a 2-0 record on the road, having swept Ivy League foes Brown and Dartmouth at a double dual meet in Hanover, New Hampshire, last weekend.
Rutgers (2-3) arrived with a 2-2 record, having beaten St. Bonaventure and Fordham and lost to Arkansas and Miami (FL), all in October.
Meet Recap
Princeton first-years continued to make their presence known, a week after having won multiple events and broken pool records at Dartmouth. Delaney Herr (24.74 back) and Sophia Sunwoo (22.42 free) swam legs on Princeton’s ‘A’ 200 medley relay, helping seniors Eliza Brown (28.07 breast) and Sabrina Johnston (23.48 fly) secure a 1:38.71 win ahead of teammates Edie Simecek, Heidi Smithwick, Savannah Skow, and Veronique Rossouw (1:39.58). Rutgers came in 3rd with Goksu Dogan, Sofia Bartoloni, Anna Vlachou, and Emilianna Gonzalez (1:40.47).
Herr won the 100 back (53.48), .63 faster than her winning time a week ago. Classmate Skow was also faster than a week ago, taking 1st in the 100 fly with 52.81. Another freshman, Chloe Kim, won the 500 free (4:47.75) and 200 fly (1:57.07).
Rutgers freshman Gonzalez was one of two event winners for the Scarlet Knights. She was first to the wall in the 50 free with 22.90. Princeton’s Sunwoo was runner-up (23.15), while Simecek clocked a lifetime-best 23.30 to edge Rutgers’ Chiara Alberti (23.45) for 3rd.
Princeton sophomore Natalie Farquhar was runner-up in the 100 back (55.63) and 500 free (4:56.17).
Juniors and All-Americans Dakota Tucker and Eleanor Sun won a combined 4 individual events for Princeton. Tucker went 9:54.39 to claim the 1000 free title and 1:58.98 to win the 200 IM. She was 2nd to Sun in the 200 breast (2:14.23). Sun’s 2:13.46 in that event gave the Tigers a 1-2-3 sweep, as freshman Katherine Sanders edged Rutgers’ Bartoloni, 2:18.67 to 2:18.72, for 3rd.
Sun also won the 200 free (1:47.19), coming to the wall 2 body lengths ahead of the Scarlet Knights’ Ana Hazlehurst (1:49.72) and Princeton sophomore Jenna Walters (1:49.99), and the 200 fly (1:57.07). Teammates Heidi Smithwick (1:58.03) and Skow (1:59.40) were 2nd and 3rd.
Their classmate Grace Black (2:00.05) came from behind to snatch the 200 back title away from freshman Sophie Segerson (2:00.08); Black outsplit Segerson by 1.2 seconds over the second half to get the win. Princeton freshman Natalie Mak touched 3rd with 2:01.44.
Johnston won her only individual event, the 100 free (48.80). Brown went 1:01.95 to win the 100 breast by a full body ahead of Segerson (1:03.16) and Rutgers junior Bartoloni (1:03.26). Segerson got her revenge in the 200 IM, where she edged Brown for 2nd place, 2:01.73 to 2:01.85.
Rutgers sophomore Bailee Sturgill provided the second event win for the Scarlet Knights. She scored 337.73 points to win 3m diving in a 1-2-3 Rutgers sweep. Senior Sephora Ford (323.10) and junior Amelia Scott (316.65) kept Princeton off the podium. Princeton senior Charlotte Martinkus won on the 1m board with 304.28 points. Ford was 2nd (296.18), while Princeton sophomore Charlotte Norman beat Rutgers sophomore Katerina Hoffman (285.65) and Sturgill (286.20) for 3rd place. Rutgers was ranked 6th in the nation in the latest PDCA Coaches Poll, with Scott, Hoffman, and Sturgill all featured among the top 8. Hoffman was 10th in the 1m rankings.
Rutgers women had several key swims for podium spots: junior Vlachou was runner-up in the 100 free (49.95), senior Cameron Kuriger edged Princeton’s Herr, 54.10 to 54.45 to place 2nd in the 100 fly (Hazlehurst and Simecek tied for 4th with 54.75), and Dogan was 3rd by a tick in the 100 back (55.99). Gonzalez (22.99), Vlachou (22.30), Alberti (23.31), and Brooke Thompson (22.87) combined for 1:31.47 to place 2nd in the 200 free relay.
The Tigers ‘A’ relay finished the meet with a 1st in the 4×50 free, narrowly beating both Rutgers and their own ‘B’ relay. Johnston (22.49), Herr (22.64), Sun (23.23), and Smithwick (22.68) won with 1:31.04, while Sunwoo (22.91), Rossouw (22.97), Simecek (22.72), and Nicole De Pree (23.21) took 3rd with 1:31.81.
Up Next
- Princeton women travel to Ithaca, New York, for a double dual meet with Cornell and Penn. Diving takes place on Friday, November 21. Swimming events take place on Saturday, November 22.
- Rutgers women head to Annapolis, Maryland, for the Naval Academy Invite from November 20-22.
Background on the Battle for the Cannon Trophy from the Rutgers press release:
Battle for the Cannon Trophy
- Rutgers and Princeton will be swimming and diving for the Cannon Trophy, named in honor of the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War.
- The origin of the Rutgers-Princeton Cannon War dates to 1777 when two cannons from the British army were left on the campus of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) after the battle of Princeton during the Revolutionary War.
- The cannons remained near the campus until the larger of the two was put to use during the War of 1812 and moved to New Brunswick to protect the city.
- A dispute over cannon ownership ensued at some point, and the cannon eventually wound up back in Princeton, where it was placed, in the ground, on Princeton’s campus on the site that is now called “Cannon Green.”
- On the night of April 25, 1875, ten members of the Rutgers Class of 1877 set out to steal back “Big Cannon” from Princeton. However, they were unable to move it, so instead they returned to New Brunswick with “Little Cannon.”
- Eventually, a joint committee settled the matter, and “Little Cannon” was returned to Princeton; however, Rutgers students have been known to travel the 17 miles to the Princeton campus to paint the cannon red.
Battle for the Cannon Trophy Results
- 2019 – Rutgers – 163-137
- 2021 – Princeton – 186-114
- 2022 – Princeton – 159.5-140.5
- 2023 – Princeton – 191.5-108.5
- 2024 – Princeton – 176-124
- 2025 – Princeton – 212.5-87.5
Re the Cannon War: I swam at Princeton 1968 to 1971. In 1969 Princeton and Rutgers played football on the 100th anniversary of the first intercollegiate football contest, held between the two schools. The morning of the big game, which Rutgers won handily by the way, the Princeton campus awoke to find no cannons on Cannon Green. All that could be seen were two holes in the ground and next to each was a big pile of dirt. Nobody could figure out how Rutgers has carried away those very, very heavy cannons. Finally the cannons were found – right where they had always been – under those piles of dirt. it was a great prank!
Them Princeton Lady Swimmers took the pile o dirt and heaped in onto them Ruggers folk GO TIGGERETTS!