Swimming And Diving Heads To Bard To Start 2026-27 Season

Brewers take on Raptors, New Paltz on Wednesday

Poughkeepsie, NY – Both the Vassar College Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving teams will open the 2026-27 season Wednesday evening with a double-dual meet at Bard. The Brewers will take on the host Raptors and fellow local rival New Paltz starting at 6:00 p.m.

The Schedule

Following the season opener at Bard, Vassar will open a three-meet homestand on October 24 against Brandies.
Vassar's homestand will also include meets with Montclair State (10/30) and Skidmore (11/7).
The Brewers will finish off the 2026 portion of the schedule with a road meet at RPI on November 13 before taking part in the Bomber Invitational hosted by Ithaca starting on December 3.
The New Year begins with back-to-back home meets Trinity (CT) visiting on January 13 and Union coming to Kresge Pool for Vassar's Senior Day meet on January 23.
After competing in the Skidmore Sprint Invitational on January 30, the Brewers will kick-off the four-day Liberty League Championship Meet on February 17.

Women's Team At A Glance

Vassar is coming off a 2025-26 season that saw it go 5-4 in dual meet competition and added a runner-up finish at the Vassar Sprint Invitational, fourth at the Bomber Invitational and fifth at the Liberty League Championship.
The Brewers closed out the 2026 Liberty League Championship meet with 11 top-eight performances and 29 scoring swims.
Vassar returns 11 from last season's roster, including a senior class that includes Vivien Li (Pittsburgh, PA), Anna Little (North Huntingdon, PA) and Gabriella Maniatis (Lafayette, PA).
Li closed out last season's championship with a runner-up finish for the Brewers in the 200-yard butterfly.
The junior class features Eva D'Addario (Baltimore, MD) and newcomer Kelly-Maren Parker (New Market, MD)
The sophomore class includes a strong returning group that includes Clare Baker (Lafayette, CA), Alaina Desautels (Arlington VA), Abigail Ford (Califon, NJ), Izzy Holmes (New York, NY), Graciela Leahy (Columbus, OH), Abigail Mirick (Stoneham, MA) and Stella Peterson (Hockessin, DE).
Baker turned in a strong league championship meet as a rookie a season ago, placing fifth in the 200-yard backstroke and 10^th in the 100-yard backstroke,
Ford claimed a 10^th place finish at the league meet last season in the 50-yard freestyle.
Newcomers Beatrix Bornholdt-Collins (Hanover, NH), Ella Finerty (Cross River, NY), Kenzie Lynders (Brooklyn, NY), Ingrid Merkner (Denver, CO), Piper Moede (Hartland, WI) and Liz Sponsler (Danielsville, PA) will look to make an immediate impact starting Wednesday.

Men's Team At A Glance

Vassar returns 17 student-athletes from last season's squad that finished seventh at the Liberty League Championship, including four who will return from study away for the second semester.
The Brewers posted 34 scoring swims at last season's championship meet and posted 17 personal best marks.
The 2025-26 team won the Vassar Sprint Invitational and added a fourth-place finish at the Bomber Invitational.
Daniel Furman (Secaucus, NJ) and Alex Graber (Harrison, NY) highlight the senior class for the Brewers in 2026-27.
John Gao (Ann Arbor, MI), Eli House (Oneonta, NY), Laszlo Lawless (Monterey, CA), Noah Rich (Dover, NH), Mike Seaton (Hoboken, NJ), Logan Seiss (Downingtown, PA) and Matthew Short (Sciuate, MA) return as a deep junior class for the Brewers.
Sophomore Kieran Lakhan (Kensington, MD) posted a ninth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the league championship meet as a rookie and joins Sebastian Chang-Leung (Silver Spring, MD), Elam Estella (Colorado Springs, CO), Jack Powers (Amherst, NY) and Vuk Usina (Tallahassee, FL).
Eli Goodman Lorber (Swampscott, MA), Jack Jung (Tyrone, GA), James Shirk (Pleasanton, CA), Tom Sparshott (Silver Spring, MD) and Alex Wang (Delmar, NY) highlight a talented group of newcomers for the upcoming season.

What's Next

Vassar swims at Kresge Pool for the first time and opens a three-meet homestand on October 24 against Brandeis.

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Players Mentioned

Sebastian Chang-Leung: BR; Sophomore; Breaststroke

Elam Estella: FLY; 5' 7"; Sophomore; Butterfly

Daniel Furman: FR/BR; 5' 8"; Senior; Freestyle/Breaststroke

John Gao: FR; Junior; Freestyle

Alex Graber: FR/Diving; 5' 9"; Senior; Freestyle/Diving

Eli House: FR/BR; 6' 1"; Junior; Freestyle/Breaststroke

Kieran Lakhan: BR; 5' 7"; Sophomore

Laszlo Lawless: Distance; 5' 8"; Junior

Jack Powers: FR; Sophomore; Freestyle

Noah Rich: FR/BR; 6' 0"; Junior; Freestyle/Breaststroke

Players Mentioned

Sebastian Chang-Leung
: Sophomore; Breaststroke
: BR

Elam Estella
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; Butterfly
: FLY

Daniel Furman
: 5' 8"; Senior; Freestyle/Breaststroke
: FR/BR

John Gao
: Junior; Freestyle
: FR

Alex Graber
: 5' 9"; Senior; Freestyle/Diving
: FR/Diving

Eli House
: 6' 1"; Junior; Freestyle/Breaststroke
: FR/BR

Kieran Lakhan
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: BR

Laszlo Lawless
: 5' 8"; Junior
: Distance

Jack Powers
: Sophomore; Freestyle
: FR

Noah Rich
: 6' 0"; Junior; Freestyle/Breaststroke
: FR/BR

Vassar College Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned