CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Eph women traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts today to compete against the 2025 NCAA Champions Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and runner-up New York University. This was an exceptionally fast tri-meet for Division III, making for some close races and fast times. The women fell to MIT 121-177, and fell to NYU 116-182.
The meet opened with the 400 Medley Relay, which is an event that isn't typically contested in dual meets. Williams had a very strong relay, falling to MIT by less than a second. The Ephs finished ahead of NYU in third.
Irene Yang opened in a 56.99, dipping under the 57 second barrier.
Anna Doherty took the pool next, posting a 1:05.12. They were followed by
Esme Van Orden who split a 56.80 in the butterfly leg, and
Sophie Phelps who brought it home in a quick 51.28.
Lily Codd had an outstanding mile performance, winning the event in 16:48.54. This is her fastest performance since the NCAA Championships in 2024, which is exciting for Codd heading into NESCACs and NCAAs this year. Teammate
Gracie O'Connell also had a great race, posting her best time since arriving at Williams.
Esme Van Orden had a strong 200 freestyle, taking fourth place with a 1:54.14. She also finished 4th in the 100 freestyle with a quick 52.55. The sprint freestyle events were exceptionally fast across the three teams today. Van Orden concluded her events with a 2nd place finish in the 100 butterfly, dipping under the 57 second barrier. She was followed by
Clare McDermott,
Maggie Farley,
Ruby Groves and
Annie McLean who all posted 58 seconds.
Irene Yang took 3rd place in the 100 backstroke, but followed that up with a victory in the 200 with a 2:02.35. Teammate
Alden White was just behind Yang, with a 4th place finish in the 100 and a 3rd place finish in the 200.
In a nail biting race,
Anna Doherty stormed to 2nd place in the 100 breastroke. The top 3 finishers, one from each school, were separated by only .21 seconds. Doherty posted a 1:05.88, an impressive time for the freshman. She followed up this performance with another 2nd place finish in the 200 breastroke.
On the boards, Junior
Ashley Loh had herself an exceptional meet. She was 3rd on 3M and 4th on 1M against exceptional Division III competition. She scored over 40 points on every dive this meet and remained consistent from start to finish.
Sophie Phelps had the highest finish for Williams in the 500 freestyle, taking 3rd place. Phelps went a 5:03.79, which was highlighted by a strong opening 100 and an exceptional last 100. Phelps came home in a 59.15, helping her take 3rd decisively.
Codd took 2nd in the 200 butterfly with a 2:04.17, one of her fastest performances in the event. She also captured gold in the 400 IM with a 4:27.77 to conclude her trio of events for the day. Each of her splits were impressive as she swam a consistent race across the board. Teammate
Sophie Phelps took 2nd to Codd in the 400 IM just barely with a 4:28.10.
The Williams A relay took 3rd place in the 200 freestyle relay to round off the day of racing. The team of
Maggie Farley,
Emma Dimter,
Clare McDermott and
Irene Yang raced hard with strong splits across the board. A particular highlight of the relay was a 23.77 split from McDermott.
Assistant Coach
James Singewald had a few remarks about the afternoon: "The Eph Women came out today looking to fulfill more than just fast swimming. They were looking to execute race plans and strategies and I felt we did a good job doing so. I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend competing."
The Ephs take the pool again tomorrow, 1/24, as they head to Hamilton College to compete against Hamilton and Middlebury in the last dual meet of the season.
