Rutgers Swimming and Diving Sends Seven to Finals of Big Ten Championships
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights swimming and diving reached new heights this past week. The team, together, wrapped up a four-day marathon at the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships. They did it with a performance that felt like a turning point.
By the time the final splash echoed Saturday night, the Scarlet Knights had piled up 379.5 team points. They even earned an 11th-place finish in a loaded 14-team field. And with that, they also finished ahead of Iowa, Penn State, and Illinois.
Rutgers Swimming and Diving Program Reaches Historic Mark
Rutgers secured six podium finishes, the program’s highest total since 2023. Excluding relays, the six individual podium spots marked the team’s best output since 2019. Records fell. Personal bests dropped. Divers soared. Swimmers surged. It was the kind of week that reshapes expectations.
The final day of action at the @bigten Championships is in the books!
— RU Swimming & Diving (@RUSwimDive) February 22, 2026
Saturday featured:
⚔️6th podium finish of the Championships
⚔️School Record in 100 Free
⚔️7 Finalists (5 Swimmers, 2 Divers)
⚔️3 total top-10 times in program history
Recap: https://t.co/1gr6GyKh1l pic.twitter.com/gWBwsYuJdc
Rutgers collected five diving podium finishes, the most top-eight finishes in a single Big Ten Championship since joining the conference. On the platform, Sephora Ford set the tone Saturday. She qualified with a 289.30 in prelims before finishing sixth in the finals with a 256.90. Katerina Hoffman added depth by placing 13th overall after reaching the consolation finals.
The 3-meter board brought even more fireworks. Hoffman claimed seventh place with a 315.65, while Ford followed in eighth. Bailee Sturgill delivered a strong showing as well, taking 12th overall after scoring 282.10 in the consolation finals.
The week’s momentum actually began on the 1-meter board. Sturgill secured seventh place, and Hoffman finished eighth. That gave Rutgers two early podium finishes and a surge of confidence that carried through the meet. Three different divers contributed to the podium haul.
While the divers were stacking up points, Anna Vlachou was busy rewriting the record books. Her defining moment came in the 100 Freestyle on Saturday. In the morning prelims, Vlachou touched in 48.73. She set a new school record and qualified for the B final. That alone would have been headline-worthy. But she was not done.
In the evening session, she lowered her own mark to 48.53, finishing 12th overall and earning an NCAA qualifying time. Her excellence extended beyond the freestyle. Vlachou reached the podium with an eighth-place finish in the 100 Butterfly earlier in the meet.
In the 50 freestyle, her prelim time of 22.37 became the second-fastest in program history. Freshman Emilianna Gonzalez made waves in that same 50 Free. She clocked 22.42 to move into third on Rutgers’ all-time list.
A Foundation Built for the Future
Angelica Bath delivered a standout week in the backstroke events. In the 200 backstroke prelims, she swam 1:55.95, the sixth-fastest time in program history, earning 13th place entering finals. She followed that with a 1:57.61 in the B Final to finish 15th overall.
Bath also recorded a personal best in the 100 backstroke with a 54.09, the ninth-fastest time ever at Rutgers. She narrowly missed the C Final as the top alternate. However, her presence on the all-time list signals continued growth.
Ana Hazlehurst carved out her own moment in the individual medley. Her 200 IM prelim time of 1:59.81 ranked second-fastest in school history. She then improved to 1:59.33 in the C Final, finishing 18th overall.
Hazlehurst’s versatility extended to the 200 Butterfly C Final, where she competed alongside Blanka Berecz. Berecz finished 22nd, while Hazlehurst placed 24th. Distance specialist Megan Fox added to the collective effort with a 22nd-place finish in the grueling 1650 Freestyle, touching in 16:52.21.
In the 400 Yard Medley Relay, Bath, Hazlehurst, Vlachou, and Gonzalez combined for a 3:38.94, finishing 13th. It was a snapshot of the program’s balance, blending backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle talent into one cohesive push.
The final team standings underscored the bigger picture. Scoring 379.5 points in one of the deepest conferences in college swimming is no small feat. The strongest individual podium output since 2019. School records are falling in real time. An NCAA-qualifying swim anchored the week.
Momentum is not always visible in standings alone. Sometimes it is found in record boards that suddenly look different. Sometimes it is freshmen climbing into all-time lists. Sometimes it is in diverse steps, stepping onto podiums again and again.
Led by Anna Vlachou’s record-breaking swims and a diving corps that delivered historic results, Rutgers leaves the championships with more than points. It leaves with proof.
Proof that the Scarlet Knights can stack up against the best in the Big Ten. Proof that depth and star power can coexist. And proof that the next chapter for Rutgers Swimming and Diving might be even louder than the splash that closed this one.
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Shayni Maitra is a sports girl through and through writing about everything from locker room drama to game-day legends in the NFL and NBA. She’s covered the action for outlets like College Sports Network, Sportskeeda, EssentiallySports, NB Media, and PinkVilla, blending sharp takes with a deep love for storytelling. Whether it’s college football rivalries, Olympic gold-chasers, or the off-field chaos that keeps Twitter alive, Shayni brings the heat with heart—and just the right amount of humor.