Men's Swimming and Diving 10/9/2026 4:39:00 PM

Swimming and Diving Begins 2026-27 Season with Away Dual-Meet at Iona

Saturday, October 11, 2025
Rider Broncs at Iona Gaels
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Start Time: 11:00 AM
WATCH

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University men's and women's swimming and diving teams open their 2026-27 campaign with an away dual-meet against Iona in New Rochelle on Saturday, October 10 in new Rochelle.

MEET FACTS

The Broncs will open their season against the Gaels in New Rochelle at the Hynes Center Pool on Saturday while Iona have already begun their meet schedule for 2026, with the men's team falling to NJIT by a score of 126-165. Iona's women's team rounded out 164-134 win against Iona on the same day against Siena.
Rider's men's swimming and diving team were ranked fifth in the 2026 Metro Conference poll while the women's swimming and diving team were ranked seventh in the poll.
The reigning MAAC Most Outstanding Diver, Stavros Xantheas returns for his senior year in Lawrenceville. Xantheas won the men's 3-Meter Diving event and the men's 1-Meter Diving event at the 2026 MAAC Championships. Steven Figueroa also returns for the Broncs after a 2026 Conference Championships meet where the junior from Whittier, California placed 3^rd in the 1-Meter finals and 4^th in the 3-Meter finals.
In the pool, Lea Opdyke, Sonya Mishakova, and Casey McLaughlin return, with Opdyke recording a time of 1:54.29, Mishakova recording a time 1:56.0, and McLaughlin recording a time of 1:56.56 in the 200 Free at the 2026 MAAC Championships. Megan Smith recorded a time of 5:07.48 at championships in the 500 Free while Rachel Hutchins recorded a time of 27.23 at championships in the 50 Fly.
Dawid Turos recorded a time of 45.49 in the men's 100 Free at championships while Riley Rowan recorded a time of 49.19 at MAAC's in the 100 back. Maxwell Connelly recorded a time of 25.28 in the 50 Breast at conferences and Tivon Benjamin recorded a time of 22.9 in the 50 Fly at MAAC's.
During last years meet against the Gaels, the women's team fell by a score of 180-117 while the men beat Iona by a score of 176.5-119.5.
In Lawrenceville last year against Iona, Benjamin recorded a time of 50.29 in the 100-Yard Fly while Connelly recorded a time of 57.92 in the 100-Yard Breast. Filippo Sala recorded a time of 10:09.04 in the 1000-Yard Free and Rowan recorded a time of 51.44 in the 100-Yard Back against the Gaels.
Against Iona last year, McLaughlin recorded times of 5:17.98 and 10:51.06 in the women's 500-Yard Free and the 1000-Yard Free respectively while Mishakova recorded a time of 54.46 in the 100-Yard Free. Mishakova also recorded a time of 24.92 in the 50-yard Free. Casey Morgan recorded a time of 2:10.28 in the 200-Yard Back.
The Broncs are 15-0 against the Gaels on the men's side of the meet while the women have a record of 14-1, having lost last year's dual-meet against Iona. At the 2026 MAAC Championships, Rider's men's program finished the conference meet in fifth place with a score of 633.5 while Iona finished in fourth with a score of 651.83. On the women's side of the conference meet, the Broncs finished in seventh with a points tally of 417 while the Gaels finished in fifth with a tally of 485.