Williams Leads NESCAC Conference Championships After Day 2

2025 Men’s New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships

• Dates: Thursday, February 20–Sunday, February 23
• Location: Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
• Defending Champions: Williams (5x)
• Live Results
• Live Video: NESCAC Network
• Championship Central
• Teams: Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, Williams

Courtesy: NESCAC

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – After the first full day of competition at the 2025 NESCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships at Middlebury College, the Williams Ephs built a 191-point lead on the field. Williams won three events that bolstered its advantage.

The Ephs’ point total stands at 788.5 points. Tufts trails in second place with 597.5 points, and Amherst sits third (498.5 points). Bates (425.5 points) and Bowdoin (425 points) are separated by half a point to round out the top five teams.

200 Freestyle Relay
The Bates 200 freestyle relay squad kicked off the evening session with the Bobcats’ first win in the event since 2001. The foursome of Max Cory, Nate Oppenheim, John Weigel, and Marrich Somridhivej posted a pool record time of 1:20.56 to claim the NESCAC title. Williams and Bowdoin finished 2-3 with NCAA B-cut times of 1:20.91 and 1:21.53, respectively.

50 Breaststroke
Bowdoin’s Alexandre Grand’Pierre won the NESCAC 50 breaststroke title for the fourth year in a row and is the second NESCAC swimmer to claim four straight conference titles in the event since 2016. Grand’Pierre, the NESCAC and NESCAC Meet record holder in the event, posted a winning time of 24.91. The win marked the seventh time the Polar Bears have claimed the victory in the event. Tufts senior Emmett Adams placed second (24.96), and Williams junior Michael Grover finished third (24.99).

50 Butterfly
Jack Tran’s win in the 50 butterfly gave the Polar Bears victories in back-to-back events. Tran set a pool record with his swim of 21.67. The junior is the first Bowdoin swimmer to win the 50 butterfly since Mac Routh won it in 2010 and 2012. Tran and Routh are the only two Polar Bears to win a NESCAC title in the event. Seniors Jaden Olson of Amherst and Barrett Heritage of Williams finished 2-3 with times of 21.74 and 21.81, respectively.

500 Freestyle
Williams won its first event of the evening with Ryan Nunez’s NESCAC Meet record performance in the 500 freestyle. Nunez touched the wall in a time of 4:23.18 to break the record set by Conn. College’s Justin Finkel at last year’s championship. Fellow Eph Carter Anderson was second (4:26.38 NCAA B-cut) while Finkel finished third (4:26.44 NCAA B-cut). Nunez is the 13th Williams swimmer to earn the NESCAC title in the event.

50 Backstroke
The Tufts Jumbos earned their first win of the evening with Eric Lundgren’s victory in the 50 backstroke. Lundgren won the race with a time of 22.36 and is the first Tufts swimmer to earn the NESCAC title in the event since Kingsley Bowen won the crown in 2018 and 2019. Lundgren is the second Jumbo in program history to capture the title. Williams senior Charlie Venci (22.48) finished as the runner-up, and Colby junior Brandon Xiong was third (22.53).

200 IM
Williams senior Oliver Schalet became the first NESCAC swimmer to win the 200 IM at four consecutive championships. Schalet beat the field with a pool record time of 1:47.98, and his win marked the 15th time Williams claimed victory in the event. Eph sophomore Colin Kavanagh finished second (1:49.15 NCAA B-cut), and Amherst senior Tor Metelmann placed third (1:49.65 NCAA B-cut).

50 Freestyle
Bates earned its second NESCAC title of the evening session, as junior Max Cory was the only swimmer to post a sub-20 second time in the 50 freestyle. Cory’s NCAA B-cut of 19.81 led the field, and he is the second Bobcat to win the event in program history since 2001, joining Theodore Pender in 2016. Hamilton sophomore Nathaniel Taft placed second (20.22 NCAA B-cut), and Soeren Euvrard of Tufts finished third (20.32 NCAA B-cut).

1-Meter Diving
The Williams tandem of sophomore Haochen Liu (476.20 points) and first-year Calder Biondi (465.30 points) finished 1-2 in the 1-meter diving event, while sophomore Cam Bizjak of Conn. College rounded out the All-NESCAC performers with a third-place finish (411.00 points). Liu is the second Eph to win the NESCAC title on the 1-meter board, joining Kobe Tray, who won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

400 Medley Relay
The Tufts Jumbos closed out the evening session with its second win of the night. The 400 medley relay of Eric Lundgren, Emmett Adams, Ethan Schreier, and Soeren Euvrard posted a pool record time of 3:13.81. It marks the second time in three championships Tufts has won the event. Bates finished second with a time of 3:14.37, while the Williams relay placed third (3:14.72).

The NESCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships continue on Saturday. The morning prelim swims begin at 10 a.m. followed by the diving trials at 2 p.m. The evening finals are set to begin at 5:45 p.m. with a Senior Ceremony.

HOW TO WATCH
A live webcast will be available at NESCAC.com on computers and mobile devices. The webcast can also watched using the NESCAC Network app for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku & Android TV. Search for NESCAC Network and download the channel. Click here for more information. Live results are available via the Championship Central page.