ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul women's swimming and diving team is set for the 2025-26 NSIC Swimming and Diving Championships to begin on Wednesday at the Hulbert Aquatic Center in West Fargo, N.D.
On the NSIC Championships, head coach Rachel Busch stated, "I am feeling ecstatic and very hopeful for fast swims and high dive scores. It is an especially fun time of the season where we strategically lighten up the workload to help our squad be at peak performance for the championships."
Busch added, "I am really proud of the women for their focus, hard work, and support for one another. It's going to be a tremendous week."
This year's NSIC Championships are set to take place Feb. 11-14 with the schedule as follows:
Wednesday
Prelims: 200 IM, 50 Free, 1000 Free
Finals: 200 Medley Relay, 1000 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, 800 Free Relay
Thursday
Prelims: 3-Meter Dive, 100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free
Finals: 100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free, 3-Meter Dive, 400 Medley Relay
Friday
Prelims: 500 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Fly
Finals: 500 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Fly, 200 Free Relay
Saturday
Prelims: 1-Meter Dive, 100 IM, 100 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 1650 Free
Finals: 1650 Free, 100 IM, 100 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 1-Meter Dive, 400 Free Relay
Each day will be divided into two sessions with preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.
For more event information and ticketing options, please visit the following link.
LAST TIME OUT
SCSU Diving Invite & Dual vs. UMary
At the SCSU Diving Invite the Golden Bears tallied six top-10 placements and nine top-12 finishes with Mina Dahl seeing the squad's highest finish. She placed fifth in the 3-meter dive with a score of 402.95 points.
In their dual with UMary, it was Sophie Leo that led the Navy and Gold, tallying three top-finishes to extend her season win total to 15. She found herself on the top of the podium in the 50-yard free, 100-yard free and the 50-yard backstroke.
Chloe Rihon kept her win streak going with a first-place finish in the 400-yard IM, finishing with a time of 4:43.95. Rihon is now up to six wins this season.
On the diving board, sophomore Mina Dahl was the star of the show, finishing first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives for her first sweep of her collegiate career.
As a team, Concordia tallied 49 top-five placements.
HISTORY AT THE NSIC CHAMPIONSHIPS
This year marks the sixth time in program history that the Golden Bears will compete at the NSIC Championships. Since their debut in 2021, CSP has increased their team score each year.
At last year's NSIC Championships, CSP placed fifth for the second consecutive year but increased their score by 46.5 points. Farida Maher and Caitlyn Greenwalt led the Navy and Gold effort, each earning All-Conference honors and an NSIC title.
Maher finished first in both the 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle, while Greenwalt became the program's first diver to earn a title. She took home the top-finish in the 3-meter dive.
Sophie Leo saw four finals point performances including two four-place finishes in both the 100-Yard Backstroke and 100-Yard Freestyle. She earned 43 individual points to add to the team total.
Chloe Rihon also tallied four finals point performances including a sixth-place finish in the 400-Yard IM. She recorded 38.5 individual points for the team tally.
Rounding out the top placements was diver Chloe Jones who became the second diver to make a finals appearance. She finished eighth in the 3-meter dive to earn the team 11 points.
At the 2023-24 NSIC Championships, Maher became the first conference champion in school history finishing first in both the 1000 yard freestyle and breaking the conference record in the 200 yard freestyle to bring home two conference titles. Maher's elite conference appearance led her to be named the NSIC Swimmer of the Year for the first time in school history.
Sophie Leo was named the NSIC Freshman of the Year after finishing with an NSIC All-Conference finish in the 50 yard freestyle and reaching the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
Greenwalt earned two NSIC All-Conference honors finishing the meet with two second place finishes in both diving events and punched her ticket to the NCAA Prequalification Meet. Greenwalt made history as the first diver to compete and be named All-Conference for the Golden Bears.
At the 2022-23 championships, Maher tallied 63 of the team's 89 points including a pair of All-Conference honors in the 200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle and she was named the NSIC Freshman of the Year.
Maher recorded four All-Conference finishes with help from Charly Horn and Vekony to finish the 2022-23 NSIC Championships with 131 points.
In previous appearances, Sydney Fleming and Laura Vekony were the first swimmers for CSP to compete at the conference meet in 2021. Vekony was the first swimmer to record points at the meet after a 14th-place finish in the 200 yard butterfly.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS OUTLOOK FOR SURGING SOPHIE
Junior Sophie Leo has hit two NCAA B-Cuts in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle. She is currently sitting in an NCAA spot with hopes to move her times up to earn herself an invite to the NCAA Championships.
