ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul swimming and diving team is set to open the 2026 campaign at home, hosting MSU Moorhead this weekend in a dual meet at the Two Rivers Aquatic Center in Mendota Heights, Minn.

The Golden Bears will face the Dragons on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. before returning to action Oct. 17 at the Southwest Minnesota State & Minnesota State Double-Dual in Marshall, Minn.

PRESEASON UPDATE
With a strong camp in the books, the Golden Bears look to hit the ground running and continue building the program upward.

When asked about the team's preseason status, Head Coach Rachel Busch stated, "The team has been practicing with a lot of joy, both in the pool, with swimmers and divers combined, and then in the weight room. They are such a wonderful group. I'm so proud of them."

Busch added, "They work hard, they support one another well, and we are really focusing on the encouragement aspect at practice. They've been responding really well to that and supporting one another." She continued, "They're just having so much fun, and they work so hard. Every year we bring in a group of newcomers, and we want to make them feel very welcomed early on. Our returners have done an excellent job of that."

CULTURE BUILDING
The team has also focused on building a strong team culture through a variety of activities and competitions throughout the preseason. Team activities have included a trip to the Mall of America, incorporating different sports into practice during Homecoming Week and the annual Navy and Gold Week, where the team competes against each other in various events throughout the week.

When asked about the team's focus on building team culture, Busch stated, "Culture is very important to us and we're very intentional about the opportunities we provide for our athletes." 

"Even simply at practices, at the pool and dry land, we're intentionally mixing up who is working with who, who's in the lane next to each other and who's on deck next to each other for warmups, mixing in the divers with the swimmers." She added, "We're taking a lot of intentional steps to make sure everyone is talking to everyone else, and that has gone really well."

Busch also highlighted the team's bonding activities, including a trip to the Mall of America. "It was so much fun, lots of laughter," she said. "One of the things that we are very excited about is a fun tradition we've done called Navy versus Gold Week. A lot of teams have an intrasquad. We make ours into an entire week's competition."

SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
The Golden Bears will begin the season with four out of five meets in the Twin Cities area, starting with their season opener against MSU Moorhead at Two Rivers Aquatic Center on Oct. 3.

When asked about the team's schedule outlook, Busch stated, "We have a lot of local meets this year, so we're hosting three meets, which is really fun. We also have an additional four days of competition in St. Paul, so we're at St. Thomas for a night and then three days at St. Kate's." She added, "That's fun because we get a lot of local support here from staff, faculty and students at CSP. They'll come out whether we're here or at St. Thomas or St. Kate's."

Busch also highlighted the team's trip to Florida for the FIU Sprint Invite. "We're always excited about our meet in Florida," she said. "This will be another fun meet for us in Florida." Looking ahead to the postseason, Busch added, "We're really pumped for midseason and conference, where we rest out at midseason and suit up, and then we do a full taper at the conference meet and suit up. Energy is always really high and a little more nerve-wracking for them, but we talk a lot about how to work through that."

NSIC PREVIEW
CSP is coming off a fifth-place finish at the 2025-26 NSIC Swimming & Diving Championships, totaling 432 points.

The Golden Bears were picked to finish sixth in the 2026-27 NSIC preseason coaches' poll with 42 points. Minnesota State tops the poll after winning the NSIC championship last season, earning 81 points and nine first-place votes.

CSP swimming and diving will open the season at home against NSIC oppenent MSU Moorhead on Oct. 3. The Golden Bears are still seeking their first dual-meet win over the Dragons under Head Coach Rachel Busch.

Looking ahead to the season opener, Busch said, "The team is in really good spirits about getting to that meet and putting forth their best effort and determined to show up with a lot of grit and fierce competition." 
She added, "We haven't beat Moorhead in a dual meet yet, and so that is something we are working hard to make happen. Regardless, we're focusing on the process and the long-term goal is how we compete at the end of the season."

Talking about the quality of competition within the NSIC, Busch stated, "The NSIC is no joke when it comes to Division II swimming. We send a lot of women to the NCAA Championships at the end of the year, and so it makes for really good competition both in swimming and diving throughout the year." 

Busch added, "Our team goal is finishing in the top four at our conference meet, which would be our highest finish that we've had, and they're putting in the work to get there."

The 2026-27 NSIC Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Feb. 10-13 in West Fargo, N.D. CSP will look to build throughout the season and make a run at its highest conference finish to date.

RETURNERS
The Golden Bears return 17 swimmers this season, including seniors Rebecca Hildebrand, Marianna Perna and Sierra Sherry.

Talking about the team's upperclassmen leadership, Busch stated, "They are such quality leaders and have been really tremendous examples for our newcomers that have come in, both by example and by verbal encouragement and just making sure they're all welcome."

Busch added, "It's really extra fun to see our upperclassmen really drive the culture. When I started with the program, we were brand new and establishing our norms, culture and traditions. Now, they're becoming cemented. It's really cool to hear juniors, seniors and sophomores say, 'This is what we do as Golden Bears,' instead of being like, 'We're still figuring this out.' They run the show with that, and so that's really been a highlight of mine."

NEWCOMERS
The Golden Bears welcome seven incoming freshmen this season, including six swimmers and one diver.
 
When asked about the team's newcomers, Coach Busch said, "The seven of them, including one diver, Ellie, and six swimmers, have all been working really hard and have seamlessly joined our program. They're a very talented group and have been pushing themselves and their teammates at practice. I'm excited to see how they perform this year."

"With newcomers, there's always a little bit of the unknown, so we're still figuring out where they might surprise us in the lineup and which four events will be their best by the end of the season."

FINAL WORDS FROM COACH BUSCH
"We really love the support of our faculty, administration and staff here at CSP. Please come watch us compete and cheer us on at a home meet or a local meet. I couldn't be more proud of our women and my staff. Coach Nachmias and Coach Lombardi are within their first few months on our staff and have totally been crushing it. It's been a really, really fun start to the season as a staff and as a whole team, and we're really excited to see these women go after their goals."