COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's and women's swimming & diving teams conclude their 2025-26 seasons at this week's four-day Northeast-10 Conference Championship, which begins on Thursday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts. Purple Knights earned 15 top-10 seeds in events for the meet.
 
Both Purple Knight teams are under their 16th year of guidance by head coach Eileen Hall, the winningest head coach in the history of both programs. In addition to each team posting 8-3 dual marks, both programs won the mid-season North Country Invitational in late November. The men set a school record for dual victories, while the women turned in their best dual mark since the 1995-96 season.
 
Senior Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State), the 500-yard freestyle runner-up at the past two NE10 Championships, enters the meet seeded fifth in the 1,000 free and eighth in the 500. He will also swim the 1,650 free, an event in which he set a school record in November. Kowal broke the program mark for career individual wins (63) in just his third season on the squad while tying another mark with 23 solo victories this winter, adding four relay wins.
 
Sophomore Lucas Haynes (Holliston, Mass./Holliston) is sixth in the 1,000 free, ninth in the 500 free and 12th in the 200 free. He took 19 individual wins and 25 total triumphs this season. Junior Hunter Daily (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) broke the program's 200-yard breaststroke record in November and is seeded 14th in that event and 17th in the 100 breast. Senior Alex Meek (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) stands 12th in the 100-yard backstroke and 15th in the 200 back.
 
Senior Sebastian Revesz (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) is one of seven divers slated to compete in the three-meter event, while he and classmate Thorlief Prior (Luxembourg, Luxembourg/International School of Luxembourg) are among 10 one-meter competitors. On the women's side, senior Ashley Silveira (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) is one of five scheduled to take part in the 3M event, and she and junior Nicole Garcia (Rochester, N.Y./Great Valley) will compete in a nine-woman 1M field. Silveira collected nine victories this season from the boards.
 
Junior Madeline Waldt (Abingdon, Md./The Catholic High School of Baltimore) won 25 events this year and holds the No. 12 seed in the 500 free and No. 14 seed in the 1,000 free while also among 1,650 free competitors. First-year Olivia Larsen (Riverview, New Brunswick/Riverview) is 15th in the 200 breast, 16th in the 100 breast, and 19th in both the 100 back and 200-yard individual medley after earning 20 wins as a rookie. Junior Hannah Steen (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), who claimed 14 of her 21 wins as part of a relay, is 13th in the 100 free and 14th in the 100-yard butterfly.
 
Junior Ayden Walsh (Tallahassee, Fla./Creekside) stands 16th in the 200 IM and 17th in the 200 free, sophomore Sydney McSweeney (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) is 18th in the 50 free and 19th in the 100 free, and classmate Mary Mongelli (Rockville, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) earned the No. 18 seed in the 200 fly and No. 20 seed in the 100 fly. McSweeney tied a school record with 15 relay wins this winter.
 
The NE10 Championship begins with an evening session on Thursday before the following three days feature both morning and evening events. The men were chosen sixth in a pre-championship coaches' poll, while the women were slotted eighth. Qualifiers for the March 10-14 NCAA Championship head to Evansville, Ind.