Middlebury, VT – The 2025 NESCAC Men's Swimming and Diving Championship Meet kicked off tonight with the 800 freestyle relay. The Ephs dominated the event, starting off the weekend with victorious A- and B-relays to accumulate an early 12 point lead over the Tufts Jumbos in 2
nd.
The Williams team has won 22 of the last 24 NESCAC Championships. Their most recent loss came in 2018 to Tufts, who have been the runner-up for the last six years and are expected to pose a significant challenge to Williams this weekend. Tonight's relay wins provide Williams with important points as the team aims to defend the title.
The Ephs have a particularly strong legacy in the 800-freestyle relay, having won the event at the past 6 NESCAC Championships. Last season, the relay team of
Oliver Schalet '25,
Carter Anderson '25,
Ryan Nunez '27, and
Alex Atherton '24 claimed first place at NESCACs by over 4 seconds to set a new NESCAC record of 6:29.14. The team went on to win the event at the NCAA Championship in March, marking the first relay win at NCAA Championships in program history for the Ephmen.
The Williams B-relay of Nye Hanan '28,
Kevin Whitworth '26,
Zach Houlton '25, and
Nathaniel Tunggal '25 were first to dive in for the Ephs. Nye Hanan '28 led off with an exceptional performance, touching the wall first at 1:39.23 and earning a new best time.
Kevin Whitworth '26 followed, extending the lead over Tufts to 4 seconds and splitting a 1:38.28.
Zach Houlton '25 maintained the advantage and finished the third leg in 1:40.51 before
Nathaniel Tunggal '25 anchored the race with an impressive 1:40.80. The relay's overall time of 6:40.31 was well ahead of Tufts in 2
nd.
Two heats later, the Eph A-relay stepped up to the block.
Oliver Schalet '25 set the tone with a stunning lead-off leg of 1:37.15, a new best time for the senior. His co-captain
Carter Anderson '25 dove in 1.5 seconds behind the Conn relay in first, but out split the competition by 2.5 seconds in the final 50 to close the gap with a 1:38.28.
Harrison Williams '26 sped to an incredible split of 1:39.19 to build a lead of more than 2 seconds. Finally,
Ryan Nunez '27 sealed the victory with a stellar split of 1:37.31. The final time of 6:31.93 was over 3 seconds ahead of the Tufts relay in 2
nd, and 6 seconds ahead of Conn in 3
rd.
With these relay victories, Williams begins the competition with strong momentum, looking to build on this success throughout the remainder of the meet. Tomorrow's events will continue with prelims at 10:00 AM, 1-meter diving at 2:00 PM, and finals at 6:00 PM.
