Not only did the Villanova women’s swimming and diving secure its 12th-straight Big East Championship in Geneva, OH on Thursday, Feb. 27, but it made history in the process. The team’s 1,588 points were the most the program has ever recorded.
The men finished fourth, with a total of 588 points and seven medals. The Villanova men still brought home hardware on day three of the Big East Championships, securing three bronze medals.
The women brought in eight medals on Thursday to bring the weekend’s total to 16.
Junior Alexa Fegley set the tone for the day by setting a program record of 287.00 in the 3-meter dive preliminary round. Sophomore Meghan Scott scored 285.60 for the bronze in the 3-meter final, while Fegley finished fourth.
In the 200-yard backstroke, freshman Alana Leen clocked in at 1:57.26 to achieve the gold.
Sophomore Anna Farley finished second in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall at 1:58.37. In the 1650-yard freestyle, junior Katie White also earned a silver medal with a personal best time of 16:31.93.
Finally, the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Carlota Colomer, Farley, sophomore Riley Kudlac and graduate Lexi Elkovitch finished with the bronze in a time of 3:21.23.
On the men’s side, sophomore Josh Seidman took third place in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:48.19.
Sophomore Justin Nowicki, who set back-to-back personal bests the previous day, continued his success. Nowicki earned the bronze in the 200-yard butterfly, touching the wall at 1:47.01.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the men’s squad of senior Patrick Hemingway, junior Sam Randall, freshman Gavin Peck and junior Mikey Thurk took another bronze medal. Their time of 3:00.04 was just 0.04 seconds behind the 1997 program record.
The men’s and women’s teams will now wait to see who is selected for the 2025 NCAA National Swimming and Diving Championships in Seattle. The women’s championships will take place March 19 to March 22 and the men will compete from March 26 to March 29.
