Dunn Wins 1650 Freestyle, Earns Swimmer of the Year as Jumbos Place 2nd at NESCAC's

MIDDLETOWN, CT (February 15, 2026) - Tufts University senior Madeleine Dunn won the 1650 freestyle for her third title of the meet and was named Swimmer of the Year as the 2026 NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships finished on Sunday at Wesleyan University.

Tufts placed second out of 11 teams overall in a tight competition against Williams College. The Jumbos compiled a team score of 1640.5 points, while the Ephs accumulated a 1725.5 total. Colby College took third place with a 1274 score.

Dunn, who won the 500 and 1000 freestyle races earlier in the meet, swept the distance freestyles by setting a school record of 16:47.11 to win the 1650 today. She broke her own school record of 16:49.78 from 2024 with today's mark, which improves her NCAA B qualifying time that ranks second nationally. Dunn's three titles at the meet give her six for her career at the conference championship.

Tufts' first-ever NESCAC Swimmer of the Year, Dunn also earned the conference's Career High-Points Swimmer Award today for the 355 points she totaled at four NESCAC meets. Tufts senior Quinci Wheeler was third for the Career High-Points Swimmer Award with 320 points. Senior Malia Leung won the Career High-Points Diver Award with 193 points, while Tufts' Brad Snodgrass earned NESCAC Diving Coach of the Year for the third time.

Joining Dunn to help the Jumbos score big points in the 1650 freestyle on Sunday were first-year Cloe Nader and sophomore Allli Brown. Nader's 17:10.17 mark was third at the meet and an NCAA B cut, while Brown finished ninth with a 17:43,34 lifetime best. Nader's time is just outside the top 10 nationally.

The Jumbos had five swimmers score in the 100 freestyle tonight, led by first-year Alec Lazorisak. After swimming a 51.79 PR in the morning preliminaries, she lowered it to 51.33 for sixth-place in the final. It's an NCAA B mark which ranks her seventh at Tufts all-time. Also in the prelims, Wheeler swam a 51.04 for her career-best, Tufts' best time of the season and a #4 ranking at Tufts. She was eighth in the final (51.50). Senior Isa Chambers scored 12th (52.02), sophomore Sweeney Su was 13th (52.24) and sophomore Sophia Knight touched 16th with her lifetime best of 52.30 seconds. In a non-scoring role, junior Sydney Statsz timed 51.21 in the event for a lifetime best and NCAA B cut.

Three Jumbos made the championship final in the 200 backstroke. Both sophomore Noa Chambers, who was fourth in the final (2:02.28), and senior Madison Hagberg, who placed fifth (2:02.66), recorded NCAA B marks. Sophomore Olivia Pettit added a seventh-place 2:03.97 time.

The meet closed with Tufts earning another pair of relay NCAA B qualifying spots with their 400 freestyle foursomes. Lazorisak, Wheeler, senior Katharine Skelly and Stasz combined for a 3:24.63 mark that was third at the meet, ranks ninth nationally and is sixth-fastest at Tufts. The B relay of Su, Knight, Noa Chambers and Isa Chambers swam 3:27.72, with Su leading off with a 51.79 PR in the 100 free.

For the 200 butterfly, sophomore Lila Strober led Tufts and was 12th overall with a 2:006.58 time. Junior Elena Harrison (2:09.17) in 16th, first-year Megan Treglia (2:06.35) in 17th and sophomore Angelina Sagaow (2:08.47) in 20th all scored for Tufts.

First-year Emma Shane's 2:26.43 led Tufts in the 200 breaststroke, where she was 13th in the event. Sophomore Clara Behling had a 2:29.52 for 22nd place.

Skelly also swam a 50 butterfly time trial today, recording a 24.95 mark that was just 0.03 off the school record and ranks her third all-time at Tufts.

The Tufts women will have another chance to improve or earn national qualifying times at the NESCAC Invitational held during the men's Championship at Colby College next Sunday.