School Record, Two Golds For Swimming & Diving On Opening Night Of NEC Championships

The Central Connecticut swimming and diving team opened its defense of three consecutive NEC championships on Monday at the 2026 NEC Swimming and Diving Championship. The first night of four days of competition saw the Blue Devils tally 141 points and are atop the team standings. 

The Blue Devils accumulated 67 points on the 3-meter board, with all four divers finishing within the top five spots. Kaitlyn Carroll scored 49.2 points on her final dive to take the top spot. It marks the second straight season that the Blue Devils swept the top-three spots on the 3-meter board. 

The Blue Devils 800 freestyle relay ended the opening night with a school record, winning the event in a time of 7:23.65. The prior mark was set in 2016 at 7:24.89.

Howard is in second place in the team standings, with 107 points, while Le Moyne is third at 77 points 

DAY ONE RESULTS 

RELAYS 

• The Blue Devils 800 free relay led from start to finish, seven seconds clear of the runner-up, Howard 

• Leading by 1.31 seconds when she entered the water on the third leg, Addison Kenney split 1:50.51 to open a more than four second lead when she exited the pool 

• Megan Dunnigan opened the 800 free relay, splitting 1:49.81 and was followed by Gabby Spaciano at 1:52.01, and Maggie Rutledge anchored the win at 1:51.32 

• The Blue Devils opened with a come from behind silver medal in the 200-medley relay. In fourth place as she entered the pool, Grace M. Young split 22.53 to pass two foes so secure the second-place finish. 

• Kenney opened the relay with a 25.12 split and was followed by Grace Young (29.89) and Lauryn Cowing (25.51) as the Blue Devils went 1:43.05 

DIVING 

• Carroll scored 262.65 points to take the top spot as she defended her 2025 gold 

• Jewelle Maziarz earned silver Monday night, scoring 258.7 points, with Rachel Giroux capturing bronze with 235.5 points 

• Adriana Waton finished if fifth place, moving up a spot following the fifth round and holding onto the spot with a 42-point effort in the final round, finishing with 211.4 points 

NEXT UP 

• Preliminaries on day two begin at 10:00 with qualifying heats of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, and 50-freestyle. Finals begin at 6:00 pm, with the top-16 qualifiers and the 200-freestyle relay