This past weekend, the Kenyon men and women’s swimming and diving team dove back into the water for a double header against Ohio Wesleyan University and Denison University. The men swam to victory in both meets, while the women went 1-1. 

Men: The men’s team started out its weekend with a dominant performance over Ohio Wesleyan on Friday evening, taking down the Battling Bishops 220-30. Kenyon won all 14 events and packed the podium in all but two of the races. Six Owls, including NCAC Athlete of the Week Marko Krtinic ’24, took home both individual and relay top finishes for the team. Yurii Kosian ’24 earned two individual victories in ​​the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke, setting a new pool record at Ohio Wesleyan with a time of 49.67 in the backstroke. 

The Owls also saw great success in the relay events, winning both races handily over the Battling Bishops. Noah Hargrove ’24, Philip Howard ’25, Teo Jaworski ’26 and Ethan Manske ’26 opened up the meet swimming the 800-yard medley relay and dominated the pool, taking first by a margin of over 17 seconds at 7:43.28. Kenyon also saw great success in the second relay, the last event of the evening. The quartet of Daniel Brooks ’24, Djordje Dragojlovic ’26, Aleksa Dobric ’25 and Krtinic, who all also took home individual wins, finished off the night by winning the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.98.

Coming off of the great momentum from Friday, Kenyon was back in action early Saturday morning in Granville, Ohio, to take on Denison. All eyes were on Kenyon as the Owls took on the Big Red in a repeat of last year’s NCAC Championship. Kenyon secured first-place finishes in 10 of the 16 events, and narrowly won the meet 151-147. 

Dobric was a standout for Kenyon, winning two individual events and contributing to both of the Owls’ relay wins. He took first place in both freestyle races for the day, winning the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle with times of 20.61 and 45.94, respectively. Dobric also swam in the Owls’ two relay victories of the day. To start the meet, Dobric, Kosian, Krtinic and Noel Tumbasz ’27 posted a time of 1:32.52 in the 200-yard medley relay, beating the Big Red second-place finishers by under a second. Dobric also closed out the meet for the Owls in the 400-yard freestyle relay alongside Brooks, Dragojlovic and Krtinic. Together, they posted a time of 3:02.92, winning by a margin of almost five seconds.

Other notable performers for the Owls on Saturday included Hargrove, who also secured two top finishes in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:42.05 and the 400-yard individual medley at 4:04.28. The other Owls who took home individual first-place finishes included Dragojlovic in the 100-yard backstroke, Kosian in the 200-yard backstroke and Krtinic in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 

On the diving board for the Owls, Israel Zavaleta ’24 was also dominant, securing two more victories and adding 18 points to Kenyon’s overall score. The senior was triumphant on both the one-meter board, scoring 375 points, and the three-meter board, scoring 340.58 points. Zavaleta’s margin of victory was over 60 points on both boards.

Women: In their first meet away from home, the Owls brought home a big Friday victory against Ohio Wesleyan, besting the Battling Bishops in all 14 events to win 218-36. Ten different Owls accounted for the victories in all 12 of the individual events. Bengisu Caymaz ’27 and Celia Ford ’25 both picked up a pair of wins. Ford took first in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 28.04 before claiming another first-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 26.54. Caymaz clocked the team’s first individual win in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:12.44, before grabbing her second win in the team’s last individual event of the day: the 200-yard individual medley with a finishing time of 2:08.23. First-years continued to show out on Friday, as Kate Bogan ’27 and Julia McGovern ’27 gained wins in their individual events as well.

Then in the relay events, the Owls continued their strong road performances. Sofia Giordano ’27, Jordan Herrera ’25, Sydney Buchman ’24 and Gwen Eisenbeis ’26 won the 800-yard medley, clocking in at 8:44.06, while Jennah Fadely ’25, Sydney Geboy ’25, Nikola Kovacova ’25 and Sydney Srnka ’25 took home first place in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:37.60. 

While the swimmers raced through the water, the divers achieved their own success at home in the split meet. Katarina Ilic ’24 took home wins on both boards, with a score of 279.65 on the one-meter and a score of 511.75 on the three-meter. Two Kenyon divers, Claire Fergusson ’24 and Olive O’Dorisio ’27, followed Ilic in second and third place.

After their success on Friday, the Owls headed to Granville to compete against the Denison Big Red in a rematch of last season’s NCAC Championship meet. Going head-to-head on Saturday, the Big Red emerged with a 167-133 win on the day. 

The teams split their wins right down the middle, with the Owls and Big Red each taking home eight victories. Kenyon and Denison split the relay events as well, while Denison won both diving events.

Denison opened the meet with a win, but Kenyon quickly responded with a win from Caymaz in the 200-yard freestyle. With three more wins in the next four events, the Owls took a 66-65 lead. Denison took home the diving events and the 200-yard backstroke before Geboy won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.80.

Trading the lead throughout the meet, Kenyon took home its last win of the day in the 400-yard freestyle from the quartet of Lisa Torrecillas-Jouault ’26, Molly Haag ’26, Geboy and Caymaz, clocking in at 53.08, 10 milliseconds less than Denison’s premier relay team.

Both the men and women’s teams get a quick break before jumping back into the pool when they host their annual, three-day Total Performance Invitational from Nov. 16-18. The men’s team goes into the invitational 2-1 (2-0 NCAC) and the women go in 1-2 (1-1 NCAC).