WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College swimming & diving started off the 2026-27 season by earning an emphatic 218-80 win against Wheaton College on Friday night at Chandler Pool.

Wellesley opened the meet by taking the top two places in the 200 Medley Relay. Junior Lily Fender (Burnsville, N.C.) and sophomores Lana Richard (Oakland, Calif.), Lucy Choe (Ellicott City, Md.) and Alexis Kung (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.) led the way with a time of 1:49.08. In second place at 1:54.35 was sophomore Sophia Owen (Honolulu, Hawaii), first-year Mina Chung (Southborough, Mass.), senior Chelsea Park (Long Beach, Calif.) and first-year Martina Dong (Beijing, China). 

Kung was the champion in the 200 Free event, pacing the competition with a 1:58.91 performance. Dong finished second with a strong 2:01.57 showing while senior Chloe Weingarten (Rochester, Minn.) rounded out the podium with a 2:06.05 time. 

Kung added first in the 50 free, blitzing out to a 24.81 performance. First-year Natasha Ackerstein (Santa Cruz, Calif.) added points by swimming a 25.71 and taking third. Kung made it a trio of wins in the 200 Back with a 2:10.57 time. Fender took home silver at 2:15.42.

Dong earned a first place finish in the 100 Free, clocking in at 55.77. Sophomore Adilene Dela Cruz (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) scooped up third place by touching at 57.79.

Richard collected gold in the 100 Breaststroke with a 1:07.85 first-place finish. Chung's first 100 Breaststroke race for the Blue netted third with a time of 1:12.85. Richard also won the 200 Breaststroke, breaking the 2:30 mark by whisker with a 2:29.99 time. Chung's time of 2:34.87 scored another bronze.

Richard and Chung were the top two in the 200 IM, giving 2:18.34 and 2:20.29 performances to boost Wellesley's commanding lead.

Fender's 1:01.05 time topped the 100 Back competition. Choe (1:02.44) and Owen (1:03.48) claimed second and third respectively in the event.

First-year Julia Shang (Mercer Island, Wash.) gave Wellesley another first place finish, this time in the 200 Fly. Shang's time of 2:21.17 was followed by classmate Evelyn Allen (Edina, Minn.) in third place at 2:31.75 and sophomore Margaret Lockman (West Windsor, N.J.) in fourth with a 2:31.92 time.

Choe added to the Blue's winning ways by putting up a 59.55 in the 100 Fly to snag first. Park grabbed second by recording a 1:03.41 time. 

Junior Samara Burstein (New York, N.Y.) sat atop the 1-Meter Diving scoreboard with 229.65 points. First-year Katharine Tan (Wayland, Mass.) (187.30), sophomore Vicki Huang (San Diego, Calif.) (156.90) and first-year Kimberly Lee (Rockville, Md.) earned third, fourth and fifth respectively. 

Burstein also won 3-Meter Diving with a 238.20 score. Tan (179.85) and Huang (144.35) took third and fourth.

The Blue earned silver and bronze in the 1000 Free. Sophomore Hannah Machleidt (Middleton, Wis.) was the event's runner-up, hitting the wall at 11:25.08. First-year Lisa Schroeder (Honolulu, Hawaii) debuted in third place, completing the race at 11:33.14.

Machleidt and Schroeder went 2-3 again in the 500 Free, with respective times of 5:34.97 and 5:38.12.

The night ended with Choe, Dela Cruz, Fender and Dong being crowned 200 Free Relay champs, ending the race with a time of 1:43.14.

Next up, the Blue will welcome Merrimack College to Chandler Pool on Saturday, November 7 at noon.