The University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s swim and dive teams completed their Big Ten Championship meets over the past couple weeks.
The women’s team competed at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center Feb. 18-21, finishing in fourth place for the fifth consecutive year. The men’s team hosted the meet at the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center Feb. 26-28, finishing fifth, one place up from last year.
Women’s swim and dive:
The Badger women had yet another successful season, finishing 8-1. At the Big Ten Championships, they scored 893 points, earning them fourth place behind Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State. The meet saw multiple personal bests, three school records and four individual podium finishes.
Wisconsin had success early on with the 200 meter medley relay, with the team of sophomore Maggie Wanezek (backstroke), freshman Brooke Corrigan (breaststroke), junior Hailey Tierney (butterfly) and senior Abby Wanezek (freestyle) finishing in second place. They reached the podium in the 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay as well, with teams of Tierney, Abby Wanezek, Maggie Wanezek and senior Blair Stoneburg, and Maggie Wanezek, Corrigan, Tierney and Stoneburg. The 800 Freestyle relay finished fifth and the 400 freestyle relay finished eighth.
Some of the top individual performances came from Maggie Wanezek and Corrigan. Maggie Wanezek swept the backstroke events, following in the steps of now-graduated Phoebe Bacon from the past few years, as well as finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle. Corrigan finished second in the 200 breaststroke and fourth in 100 breaststroke, setting school records in both of 2:07.29 and 59.01, respectively.
The other top three and school record performance came from redshirt freshman Lucie Delmas, who finished third in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:54.07.
Other top eight swims included: sophomore Stella Chapman finishing seventh in the 400 individual medley, Stoneburg finishing eighth in the 200 freestyle, senior Hazal Ozkan finishing seventh in the 100 breaststroke and sixth in the 200 breaststroke, sophomore Catherine Hughes finishing eighth in the 200 breaststroke, Stoneburg finishing sixth in the 500 freestyle and junior Maddie Waggoner finishing eighth in the 1650 freestyle.
In diving, junior Ryane Neal had an impressive performance on the 10 meter platform, finishing 14th.
The Badgers had multiple all-Big Ten honorees to close out an impressive meet. Maggie Wanezek earned first team honors, while Abby Wanezek, Tierney and Corrigan followed, earning second team honors. Corrigan also earned all-freshman team honors, along with Lucie Delmas and redshirt freshman Justine Delmas.
Men’s swim and dive:
The men’s team finished the season 5-2, but had an impressive Big Ten Championship meet at home, with many significant time drops, four school records broken and an individual podium finish. They scored 832.5 to finish in fifth behind Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Northwestern.
The team of junior Luukas Vainio, freshman Enzo Solitario, sophomore Yoav Romano and senior Dominik Mark Torok took silver in the 800 freestyle relay, setting a new school record of 6:08.87. The 400 medley relay team of junior Nathan Welker (backstroke), freshman Drew Gaerthofner (breaststroke), senior Charlie Jones (butterfly) and redshirt senior Ben Wiegand (freestyle) also set a new school record, finishing in fifth place with a time of 3:05.09. The 400 and 200 freestyle relays both finished in sixth while the 200 medley relay finished in seventh.
The only Badger to finish on the podium at this meet, Solitario, earned a bronze medal in the 200 freestyle. He also finished sixth in the 500 freestyle and seventh in the 200 butterfly. Wiegand finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke, breaking his own school record with a 51.77, as well as finishing sixth in the 50 freestyle and eighth in the 100 freestyle.
Welker set the school record for the 100 backstroke three times in one day at this meet — prelims, finals and on the relay — finishing in 10th and lowering his time to 45.36. He also finished seventh in the 200 backstroke.
Other top eight swims included: Mark Torok finished fifth in the 400 individual medley, sixth in the 200 butterfly and seventh in the 200 breaststroke, Vainio finished sixth in the 200 freestyle, Gaerthofner finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke and senior Cooper Scharff tied for seventh in the 50 freestyle.
The men’s team also had multiple Big Ten honorees. Romano, Vainio, Solitario and Mark Torok earned second team honors, and Solitario, Gaerthofner, freshman Adam Graham and freshman Miles Crastenberg earned all freshman team honors.
12 Badgers have qualified for the NCAA National Championship team so far, led by Maggie Wanezek, who looks to follow in Bacon’s footsteps again and become a national champion. The women’s team consists of Chapman, Corrigan, Lucie Delmas, freshman Andrea Dworak (relay), junior Isabella Enz (relay), Ozkan, Stoneburg, Tierney, Waggoner, Abby Wanezek, Maggie Wanezek and freshman Arianna Zelen (relay). The men’s team will be released next week.
Wisconsin will be heading to Atlanta to the McAuley Aquatic Center for the National Championship meet, March 18-21 for the women and March 25-28 for the men. The women are seeded in the top ten two times (Maggie Wanezek in the 100 and 200 backstroke).
In 2025, the women’s team finished in 12th place, and the men’s team finished in 22nd — both teams’ best finish in multiple years. The team rallied behind standout performances from Bacon and Mark Torok, along with impressive relay placements and multiple new team records. The Badgers will look to build on this performance this year, under the direction of their new head coach, Jack Brown.
