2026 America East Fan Guide: Bryant Women, UMBC Men Vie To Upend Defending Champions ...Middle East

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

2026 America East Swimming & Diving Championships

SCHEDULE

Wednesday (2/18)

Thursday (2/19)

Friday (2/20)

Saturday (2/21)

WOMEN’S PREVIEW

The New Hampshire women won their fifth America East title in the last six years last season, thanks in part to a pair of standout performances from first-year swimmers Lydia Hart and Amelia Labno, who combined for five individual victories and 112 points at the 2025 championships at VMI.

The Wildcats also claimed two relay titles and Grace Blume topped the 1-meter diving podium as the team finished 96 points clear of runner-up Bryant.

After UNH won four straight conference titles from 2020 to 2023, Vermont ended the streak and edged them out in 2024 by 12 points. Last season, the Catamounts wound up 3rd, 49 points back of Bryant.

Looking forward to this year’s championship meet, Bryant is currently projected to come out on top based on Swimulator scoring (using 2025-26 season-bests), with Queens transfer and graduate senior Katherine Bailey playing a major role.

Bailey, a Scottish native who placed 3rd in the women’s 1650 free at the ASUN Championships last season with Queens, leads the America East so far this season in the 200 free (1:50.81), 500 free (4:54.27) and 1650 free (16:53.29), giving her a perfect 60 points on paper.

However, the swimmer who won all three of those events last season was UNH’s Hart, who owns significantly faster best times than Bailey. Hart’s PBs stand at 1:46.74 in the 200 free, 4:42.12 in the 500 free and 16:14.71 in the 1650 free, all set at the 2025 America East Championships. Bailey’s best times in the 500 free (4:51.09) and 1650 free (16:48.33) are slightly quicker than her season-bests, both set in 2023, but they’re still well shy of what Hart is capable of.

So while Bailey’s 60 projected points are optimistic, Bryant’s two other swimmers in position to score 45+ points look realistic.

Ruby Tonelli-Smith, a sophomore, is the defending champion in the 100 fly (53.88) and owns the top time in the conference this season by a wide margin in 53.12. She also ranks 1st this season in the 200 fly (1:57.68) and 2nd in the 200 IM (2:03.72) after placing 4th and 9th in the two events last year, respectively.

Bryant junior Amanda Witkus is the defending champion in the 400 IM (4:21.04) and currently ranks 4th in the conference this season (4:24.34) while also sitting 2nd in the 200 fly, 3rd in the 100 fly and 5th in the 200 IM. The Swimulator automatically has slotted her in the 100 fly over the 400 IM due to her ranking being one spot higher in the 100 fly, but she’ll most likely be racing the 400 IM.

For the defending champion Wildcats, Labno will be another key player after she won the 100 back (55.55) and 200 back (1:59.56) last year and also made the ‘A’ final of the 200 free. She hasn’t been near her best times yet this season, but she showed in her freshman year that she’s a taper swimmer.

Another key swimmer for UNH will be senior Audrey Mahoney, who won the 100 free (49.32) and placed 3rd in both the 50 (22.94) and 200 free (1:50.25) last season. She currently ranks 1st in the 100 free (50.01), 2nd in the 200 free (1:50.82) and 3rd in the 50 free (22.98) this season.

Vermont, currently ranked 2nd in Swimulator scoring, will be relying heavily on its relays, coming in as defending champs in the 200 free and 400 medley, though only returning half of their rosters in each. The Catamounts’ only individual defending champion will be Ellie Fazio, who ranks 5th in the 100 breast this season after winning it one year ago.

Two names to watch for UMBC will be junior Ashley Gutshall, the defending champion in the 50 free, and grad transfer Alice Marini, who is currently projected to score the maximum 96 points as the conference’s top swimmer in the 200 back (1:59.38), 200 IM (2:02.27) and 400 IM (4:22.96).

RACES TO WATCH

100 Breaststroke

The 100 breast will feature the defending champion, Ellie Fazio, along with a pair of underclassmen who currently hold the top two times in the conference.

Bryant sophomore Jocie Niemczyk leads the America East after clocking a personal best of 1:02.51 at the Terrer Invite in November, while Binghamton freshman Julia Iwanow sits a close 2nd at 1:02.53, a time she produced at the Bucknell Fall Invite in October.

Last season, Fazio won the title in a lifetime best of 1:01.82, while Niemczyk, competing as a freshman, topped the consolation final in 1:03.05 to place 9th overall–though she would’ve been 3rd in the ‘A’ final with that time.

Fazio is beginning to round into form this season, having been 1:03.46 at the Harold Anderson Invite in November and then setting a new season-best of 1:03.16 during a dual in January.

Other factors in the race will be UNH’s Emily Wright, who has been 1:02.97 this season and was 7th last season, and Binghamton’s Maria Pignatelli, who set a PB of 1:03.11 at the Magnus Cup in November and placed 4th last year.

100 Freestyle

The 100 free will be an exciting head-to-head showdown between Audrey Mahoney and Ashley Gutshall after they finished within six one-hundredths of one another last year.

UNH’s Mahoney claimed the 2025 title in a time of 49.32, while UMBC’s Gutshall was close behind in 49.38, with both swimmers setting new best times. So far this season, Mahoney leads the conference at 50.01, while Gutshall sits 3rd at 50.81.

Also going sub-51 so far this season are UMBC’s Erma Duratovic (50.80), who was 31st last year in 52.91, and Binghamton’s Maria Pignatelli (50.98), who was 5th in the 2025 final and is the third-highest returner from that race with the 3rd and 4th-place finishers having graduated.

But the expectation is that, like last year, Mahoney and Gutshall will be the only swimmers under 50 seconds and will be going toe-to-toe on the final night of racing.

400 IM

The 400 IM figures to be an exciting race because the top six finishers from last year are returning and the fastest swimmer in the conference this season is a newcomer.

UMBC’s Alice Marini could end up dominating the race, given her personal best time of 4:15.39, but that was set in 2022 and so far this season, her fastest swim has been 4:22.96, produced at the Bucknell Invitational in November.

The defending champion in the event is Bryant junior Amanda Witkus, who owns a season-best of 4:24.34, ranking her 4th in the conference, after she won the 2025 title in a best time of 4:21.04.

In addition to Marini and Witkus, the Vermont duo of Jocelyn Legere and Emma Freer should also factor prominently in the race, ranking 2-3 in the conference this season with times of 4:23.23 and 4:24.29, respectively. Freer was the runner-up last season in 4:22.69, while Legere was 10th in what was a PB at the time of 4:28.96. UNH’s Lily Jackson-Oates will also be back after taking 3rd last year in 4:23.86.

2025 RESULTS

SWIMSWAM PREDICTIONS

It ultimately comes down to what you trust more: seasonal rankings and what the swimmers have done since October, or what they were able to do at last year’s championships?

Using the Swimulator, Bryant wins a theoretical swimming-only championship based on season-best times with 672 points, with Vermont (643) 2nd and New Hampshire (572) a distant 3rd.

However, there are three key swimmers for UNH we need to focus on. Lydia Hart, Amelia Labno and Lily Jackson-Oates combined for 152 individual points at the 2025 America East Championships. Based on the times they’ve done this season, they combine for just 59 individual points in the Swimulator, with 44 of those coming from Hart.

So if these three, and Labno and Jackson-Oates in particular, are able to perform at a level similar to the one they showed last year, as opposed to their in-season form, then the Wildcats have a legitimate chance to repeat.

They also return their top-scoring diver, Grace Blume, who scored 37 points in 2025.

The Bryant women have a very good chance of winning their first America East title since joining the league in 2021, however, with Tonelli-Smith, Witkus, Niemczyk, Bailey and Makayla Pearce all projected to score big points.

The Bulldogs are currently penciled in for 180 relay points, ranking no worse than 3rd in any of the five team events, and upholding that standing may be the biggest factor in their run for the title.

Vermont looks like a good bet for 3rd heading into the meet, and it seems more likely they’ll upend Bryant or UNH for the runner-up spot than they’ll fall out of the top three.

MEN’S PREVIEW

The Binghamton men rolled to a successful title defense last season thanks in large part to having seven men score 40 or more individual points, and with five of them returning, they’ve got a great chance of pulling off a three-peat.

The Bearcats won five individual events last season, and it was five different swimmers claiming victory. They’ve lost Eli Lanfear, who won the 50 free, scored 52 points and was a key relay piece in 2025, but the other four winners will be back to defend their titles.

That includes Evan Peters in the 200 free, Max Kaback in the 100 back, Cam Stetzer in the 200 IM and Harrison Lambert in the 400 IM.

Peters led the team in scoring as a freshman, setting new best times en route to winning the 200 free (1:35.90) and placing 2nd in both the 500 free (4:22.74) and 200 back (1:46.90) for 54 points.

Stetzer, also a sophomore this season, put up 49 points in his debut conference meet, highlighted by a win in the 200 IM, while Lambert scored 48 as a sophomore, including a victory in the 400 IM.

Kaback won the 100 back and played a key role as the lead-off swimmer on both medley relays, where the Bearcats placed 2nd behind UMBC.

The Retrievers were the runners-up last year with 722.5 points, 52.5 back of Binghamton, and they’ll be the biggest challengers to the defending champions this year.

However, UMBC has lost both of its individual winners from last season, Oliver Gassmann and Christian Coleman, along with five of the six men who contributed to their sweep of the medley relays.

But they’ve done a good job of recruiting in recent years, as evidenced by having three underclassmen seeded to score 50+ points based on Swimulator scoring.

Freshman Quinn Marchionini leads the conference this season in the 100 back (47.86) by more than a second and also sits 2nd in the 200 IM (1:48.86) and 3rd in the 200 back (1:48.07), while fellow first-year Stefano Perez leads the 50 free (20.14) and also ranks 2nd in the 100 fly (47.74) and 5th in the 100 back (49.97).

Sophomore Sean Neils, who anchored the victorious 200 medley relay last season, leads the America East in the 100 free (44.17) and sits 2nd in the 100 breast (55.08) and 4th in the 50 free (20.41).

UMBC has five more swimmers seeded to score 40+ points, and three of them are freshmen, showing how they’ve replenished the cupboards well after so many key losses in the offseason. The team also leads the conference in all five relay events this season.

Other key names to watch for include NJIT’s Borys Endle, Bryant’s Aidan Trenery, and Maine’s Joey Stauss.

Beyond Binghamton’s quartet of Peters, Kaback, Stetzer and Lambert, Endle is the only other defending individual swimming champion in the field, having won the 2025 title in the 200 breast while also taking 2nd in the 400 IM.

This season, the German native looks like a slam-dunk to defend his title in the 200 breast as the only man sub-2:00 this season in 1:56.97, and he’s also ranked 2nd in the 400 IM (3:58.56) and 6th in the 200 IM (1:50.69).

Trenery, whose top finish last season was 4th in the 200 breast, leads the conference this season in the 400 IM (3:56.79) and also ranks 3rd in the 200 breast (2:01.87) and 200 IM (1:49.17).

Stauss, the 2025 runner-up in the 200 IM and 3rd-place finisher in the 100 fly, ranks 1st in the 100 fly (47.15), 2nd in the 200 fly (1:48.80) and 4th in the 200 IM (1:49.53) this season.

RACES TO WATCH

400 IM

The 400 IM could be a barn burner with defending champion Harrison Lambert coming in as the favorite, though he only ranks 5th in the conference this season.

Lambert has been 4:00.41 so far in 2025-26, but set a PB of 3:56.18 en route to winning last year’s title.

Leading the America East this season is Bryant senior Aidan Trenery, who set a lifetime best of 3:56.79 in November after he was only 16th last year in 4:09.48.

NJIT’s Borys Endle (3:58.56) and the UMBC duo of Felipe Taveira Lira (3:58.91) and James Tao (3:59.56) have also been sub-4:00 this season, something only four swimmers were able to do in last year’s conference final. Among those was Endle, who was the runner-up in 3:57.90, while Binghamton’s Cam Stetzer was 3rd but has not raced the event this season so it seems his focus will turn towards the 100 breast.

100 Breaststroke

The 100 breast title is up for grabs, with the top two finishers from last season having graduated.

Maine senior Jesse Lower, who did not compete last season and was previously with St. Thomas University (Florida) in 2023-24, leads the conference this season after setting a personal best of 54.72 in November.

UMBC’s Sean Neils (55.08) and the Binghamton trio of Tyler Schultz (55.18), Amir Sadykov (55.31) and Cam Stetzer (55.46) are all within striking distance with sub-56 swims under their belt this season.

In last year’s final, Schultz clocked 54.82 to place 3rd, while Neils was 4th in 55.34, and Sadykov was 7th in 56.13. All three set personal bests in the final, and Neils and Sadykov have both improved those times this season.

200 Butterfly

The top three finishers from last season’s final are no longer in the field, setting up an exciting showdown in the 200 fly with three men coming in as the frontrunners.

Bryant’s Tim Andrews, 4th last year, leads the conference at 1:48.51 this season, with Maine’s Joey Stauss (1:48.80) and NJIT’s Pawel Drzymala (1:48.90) close behind.

It’s important to note that all three of their swims from this season were personal bests, and Drzymala’s came just last month during a dual meet, indicating he may have the upper hand if he hits his taper right, though last season he added a second in the 200 fly at the conference championships (while dropping in his other two races).

A dark horse could be Binghamton’s Harrison Lambert, who ranks 5th in the conference this season at 3:50.10, but it’s more likely he opts to race the 1650 free on the last day.

2025 RESULTS

SWIMSWAM PREDICTIONS

Both Binghamton and UMBC lost several key contributors from their 1st and 2nd-place finishes last season, and the question will be who has been able to replenish on the fly and pick up some recruits who are able to step in and make an impact right away.

From the outside looking in, Binghamton returns more stars, namely four individual defending champions, but UMBC’s depth is hard to ignore. The impact of their freshman class can’t be understated, and the fact that they lead the conference in all five relays is impressive.

If the underclassmen deliver and the relays hold their form from midseason, the Retrievers will be hard to deny the title. Binghamton has more experience and proven clutch performers, so they’ve definitely got a chance, but we’re giving the edge to UMBC.

The Retrievers also bring back sophomore diver Kaleb Cave, who scored 28 points as a freshman and will help fill in the gaps with the top-scoring diver from last year, UMBC’s Isaac Poole, graduating.

If the Retrievers win, it will be their first title since 2023.

Bryant and NJIT look destined to finish 3rd and 4th, like they did last year, while Maine has a shot to snag 5th and push VMI down to 6th.

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