NAPERVILLE — The opening half of the 2025-26 women’s swimming & diving season has featured steady progression across the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW), with each program navigating a full slate of dual meets and invitational competition. Early returns include strong relay execution, emerging first-year performers, and notable contributions in distance, sprint, and individual medley events.
 
Multiple teams collected dual-meet victories and invitational titles during the fall portion of the schedule, while several student-athletes established leading marks on the conference performance lists. As programs prepare to resume competition in January, the league enters the stretch run toward the CCIW Championships with balanced depth and improving results across all event groups.
 
Vikings Lean on Balance Through Opening Meets
Augustana has produced a 3-2 record in dual meets while competing in multiple invitationals. The Vikings opened the year with a 182-31 victory over Loras on Oct. 11, later adding wins against Monmouth (134-50) on Oct. 24 and St. Ambrose (160.5-125.5) on Nov. 8. Augie also captured the team title at the IWU Halloween Invite on Oct. 25 and finished fifth at the eight-team Luther Invitational on Nov. 22. The Vikings are slated to host Coe on Jan. 10.
 
Much of Augustana’s early success has been driven by relay and distance results. The 400-yard medley relay quartet of Kylee Blaha, Ava Kauffeld, Savannah Shapley and Giselle Koonce recorded a time of 3:51.31 at the Luther Invitational, the fastest mark on the CCIW performance list this season. 
 
In individual events, Kendle Mihm picked up 100-yard freestyle wins against Loras (54.92) and St. Ambrose (54.83), while Savannah Shapley posted leading conference times in the 500-yard freestyle (5:20.10) and 1650-yard freestyle (18:26.09) and added victories in the 200-yard butterfly (2:21.82) and 400-yard individual medley (4:54.59) versus St. Ambrose.
 
Distance Depth Carries Carroll Through Early Season
Carroll has recorded dual-meet wins over MSOE (113-88) on Oct. 4 and Millikin (128-68) on Nov. 1 during the opening portion season, while also competing against Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Oct. 25, Lake Forest on Nov. 15 and Illinois Tech on Nov. 8, where the Pioneers closed the meet with a relay victory on Senior Day. Carroll also placed sixth at the Carthage Classic with 311 points on Dec. 6 and is scheduled to return to action Jan. 10 against Loras.
 
Carigan Tabor earned wins in the 1650-yard freestyle (20:12.51), 1000-yard freestyle (12:24.50) and 500-yard freestyle (6:04.83), and posted a season-best 19:17.63 in the 1650 at the Carthage Classic. Erin Fixen placed second in the 1000-yard freestyle against Illinois Tech (11:54.69) and won the 200-yard freestyle versus MSOE (2:08.81), while Kelly Gordon recorded times of 5:34.24 in the 500 freestyle, 2:26.66 in the 200 butterfly and 5:03.99 in the 400 individual medley. 
 
Clarissa Sharpe won the 50-yard freestyle (27.53) against Millikin and the 100 freestyle (1:00.38) versus MSOE. Kendal Richard claimed the 100 freestyle at Millikin (1:00.02), and Morgan Toupal won the 100 backstroke versus Millikin (1:07.54) and placed ninth at the Carthage Classic (1:04.41). Carroll also earned victories in the 200-yard freestyle relay against MSOE and Illinois Tech, and Alexandria Ostopowicz placed second on the one-meter board at Lake Forest.
 
Firebirds Build Strong First Half Behind Championship Performance
Carthage has assembled a strong first half to season, highlighted by a team championship at the Carthage Classic on Dec. 6 with a score of 1,215.5 points. The Firebirds opened the year with a 159.50-137.50 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater on Oct. 17 and later swept a home meet against MSOE (258.00-32.00) and Lake Forest (162.50-134.50) on Oct. 25. Additional results included a second-place finish at the Calvin Quad Invitational on Nov. 1, multiple top-five finishes at the Wisconsin Showcase on Oct. 18 and a dual-meet loss to Wheaton (189.50-142.50) on Nov. 15. Carthage is scheduled to return to competition Jan. 10 against Wisconsin=Oshkosh.
 
Brie Skalski placed second in the 500-yard freestyle (5:26.01) and 400-yard individual medley (4:54.93) and won the 1000-yard freestyle (11:11.22) against Wheaton, while earlier earning wins in the 1000-yard freestyle (11:14.51) and 200 individual medley (2:18.69) versus MSOE and Lake Forest. Lyndsey Hackman added results in the 200 individual medley, finishing second against Wheaton (2:19.41) and fourth at the Carthage Classic, while Jill Kane won the 200-yard breaststroke against both Wheaton (2:37.62) and MSOE/Lake Forest (2:34.96). 
 
On the boards, Kendall Leistico swept both diving events against Wheaton with scores of 180.05 on the 3-meter and 163.45 on the 1-meter. Sprint and relay production included Emily Belcik winning the 50-yard freestyle (25.39), Mikella Mesina posting wins in the 50-yard backstroke (29.64) and 100-yard backstroke (1:04.24), and a 200-yard freestyle relay victory against UW–Whitewater in 1:41.93.
 
Titans Establish Early Form During Fall Meets
Illinois Wesleyan has produced a strong first half to the campaign, headlined by success in invitational competition. The Titans opened the year with a second-place finish at the IWU Halloween Invite on Oct. 25, then posted a team victory at the Monmouth Invite on Nov. 1 with 266 points, recording 12 event wins. IWU also earned a 131–53 dual-meet victory over North Central on Nov. 8 before closing the fall semester with a team title at the Beloit Midseason Invitational on Nov. 22, totaling 758 points. The Titans concluded fall competition at the Wheaton Invitational last weekend.
 
Distance, sprint and individual medley events have anchored Illinois Wesleyan’s results. Natalie Porter recorded multiple early-season wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, later posting victories in the 500-yard freestyle (5:21.87) and 1650-yard freestyle (18:20.54) at the Beloit Invite. Abby Schnittker added sprint and butterfly production, earning her first collegiate win in the 100-yard freestyle at the Monmouth Invite (55.09) and recording times of 25.31 in the 50-yard freestyle at Beloit and 1:01.00 in the 100-yard butterfly at Wheaton.
 
Kayleigh Kuschewski contributed wins in the 400-yard individual medley at the Beloit Invite (4:54.27) and the 200-yard breaststroke at the IWU Halloween Invite (2:35.16), while Ellen Hoover won the 200-yard butterfly at Beloit (2:19.21) and the 100-yard butterfly at Monmouth (1:03.62). Additional scoring included a win by Claire Paule in the 1000-yard freestyle against North Central (11:34.79), a second-place finish in the 1650 freestyle at Beloit (18:54.06), and a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay at the Beloit Invite (3:47.69).
 
Young Lineup Shows Promise for Big Blue
Millikin has worked through a challenging first half of the season, earning a dual-meet victory while facing a full early schedule. The Big Blue picked up a home win against North Central on Oct. 18, while also competing against Illinois College, Carroll and Monmouth. Millikin additionally took part in the IWU Halloween Invite on Oct. 25 and the Wheaton Invitational last week. 
 
Relay execution factored into several meets, including a win in the 200-yard medley relay against North Central (2:02.99) and a closing victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay against Monmouth (1:48.51). Freshman Becka Dunakey has led Millikin across multiple events, posting the fastest time on the conference  list in the 100-yard individual medley (1:06.85) on Dec. 5. Dunakey also earned wins in the 200-yard individual medley (2:30.25) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.78) against Carroll, and won the 100-yard breaststroke versus North Central (1:14.95), while also ranking among the league leaders in the 50-yard freestyle (25.24) and 100-yard freestyle (55.91). 
 
Audrey Korniak added production in distance and butterfly events, winning the 500-yard freestyle against Carroll (5:50.53) and the 100-yard butterfly against both North Central and Illinois College, with season-best times of 1:02.31 in the 100 butterfly and 12:23.96 in the 1000 freestyle. Additional contributions came from Brenna Pacheco with wins in the 200-yard freestyle against North Central and Monmouth (2:09.51), Amy Moreno with a win in the 100-yard butterfly versus Monmouth (1:07.57), and relay victories involving Dunakey, Korniak, Pacheco and Moreno, including the 200-yard freestyle relay win on Senior Day (1:48.51).
 
Cardinals Tackle Challenging Fall Slate
North Central has faced a demanding early schedule during the first half of the season, competing in multiple triangulars and invitationals. The Cardinals opened the year at the Millikin Triangular on Oct. 18 and later placed second at the Beloit Double Dual on Nov. 15 with 356.4 points, finishing behind MSOE and ahead of Beloit. The Cardinals also placed sixth at the Monmouth Invite on Nov. 1 and are scheduled to return to competition Jan. 10 with a double dual against Illinois Tech and Lewis in Chicago.
 
Freshman Abigael Sheldon has led North Central’s individual results across multiple meets. At the Beloit Double Dual, Sheldon won the 100-yard freestyle (58.86), 200-yard individual medley (2:25.94) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:16.19), and added wins at the Illinois College Tri-Meet in the 100 freestyle (1:01.31) and 100 breaststroke (1:16.46). She also posted a season-best 2:25.73 in the 200 IM at the Olivet Nazarene Triangular. 
 
Celina McDaniel earned a win in the 100-yard butterfly at Beloit (1:07.61), placed second in the 200 IM at the Millikin Triangular (2:36.86), and recorded season-best times in the 50-yard butterfly (29.35) and 100-yard individual medley (1:13.95). Additional contributions included season-best distance times from Amelia Minarik in the 500-yard freestyle (6:25.35) and 1000-yard freestyle (12:57.85), season-best freestyle efforts from Victoria Robinson, a win in the 50-yard backstroke by Caitlin Suda (31.90) at Illinois College, and North Central’s top 200-yard medley relay time of 2:03.34 by Suda, Sheldon, McDaniel and Addison Bludgen.
 
Wheaton Navigates Fall Schedule with Solid Returns
Wheaton has recorded a strong first half of the season. The Thunder opened the year with a 177–99 win over Illinois Tech on Oct. 25 at the Chicagoland Triangular and later defeated Carthage in a two-day dual on Nov. 14-15, 189.50-142.50. Wheaton also competed in nonconference duals against Milwaukee and Calvin before closing the fall portion of the schedule with a runner-up finish at the Wheaton Invitational last week, scoring 737 points in the seven-team meet. The Thunder are scheduled to return to competition Jan. 17 at the Illinois–Michigan Quad.
 
Individual depth and record-setting performances have guided Wheaton’s results. Tess Boyer delivered multiple wins during the season, including victories in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.72) and 400-yard individual medley (4:23.23) at the Wheaton Invitational, along with wins in the 200 IM (2:06.91), 400 IM (4:28.98) and 100-yard freestyle (53.39) against Carthage. Boyer also added butterfly wins in the 200-yard butterfly (2:07.28) at the Wheaton Invite and the 100-yard butterfly (57.53) versus Calvin. 
 
Aubrey Swanson logged a 50-yard freestyle win at the Wheaton Invite (24.28), Allison Henschel scored victories in the 500-yard freestyle (5:10.68), 1000-yard freestyle (11:00.13) and a season-best 1650-yard freestyle (18:05.51), and Olivia Wiebe delivered wins in the 200-yard backstroke (2:15.29) and 1650-yard freestyle (18:05.51). Lydia Hansen added a win in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.98), Lara Stamp led the field in diving with scores of 313.90 on the 1-meter and 341.10 on the 3-meter at the Wheaton Invite, and the Thunder recorded relay victories in both the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:34.39) and 400-yard medley relay (3:58.62).