The women’s swimming and diving team made waves at the Ivy League Championships last week, totaling 998.50 points and splashing into a fourth-place finish. Over the course of the four-day meet, the Bears blew five school records out of the water.
But falling just shy of the podium for the third year in a row, the Bears are still trying to pull into the top three.
“Harvard, Yale and Princeton have dominated Ivy League swimming,” Jenna Reznicek ’25 wrote in a message to The Herald. “However, for the past couple of years, our team has been pushing to break up the longstanding HYP trio.”
On Wednesday, Bruno came out hot, placing second in the 800-meter freestyle relay with a time of 7:09.54 and fourth in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:39.76. By the end of the first night, Bruno was in second place with 108 points, only trailing behind Princeton’s 120.
But the next day, the Bears sunk into fifth place, even with Anna Podurgiel’s ’25 new program record in the prelims of the 200-meter individual medley. Also competing on Thursday were Crystal Yuen ’28, who finished sixth overall in the 500-meter freestyle, and Lily Klinginsmith ’26, who secured 10th place in the 50-meter freestyle.
On Friday, the Bears flip-turned back, climbing up to the fourth overall spot. Sumner Chmielewski ’26 started the night off with a bang, finishing third in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:12.97, shattering her own program record. Reznicek followed Chmielewski’s record-breaking time with one of her own, blazing through the 100-meter backstroke with a program-record time of 52.25 seconds for a second-place finish.
“My adrenaline is high whenever I race the 100 backstroke, but the extra component of the emotional drive of knowing it was my last opportunity surely contributed to giving me that extra push,” Reznicek wrote. “There is also an energy at the Ivy Championship Meet — the roaring cheering, full stands and the presence of all eight Ivy teams, that gives you a rush like no other meet during the season and breeds fast swims.”
The people around Reznicek were “instrumental in achieving this milestone,” she wrote. “I could not have gone that time without the unwavering support of Coach Kate (Kovenock), Coach Niko (Fantakis), and my teammates.”
Reznicek was also crucial to another record-setting performance on Friday, as she partnered with Ellie Brault ’25, Klinginsmith and Yuen to finish the 400-meter medley relay with a time of 3:36.64, another program record. Klinginsmith added a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter butterfly.
On the diving board, Elena Yeh ’26 led the way for Brown, placing 14th in the 3-meter dive with a score of 245.75.
On Saturday, Bruno had one more record-breaking swim in store: Kelly Dolce ’26, Zehra Bilgin ’25, Yuen and Klinginsmith teamed up for a second-place showing in the 400-meter freestyle relay, finishing in 3:17.16.
The tournament marked the last Ivy League championships for this year’s graduating class.
“For too long, I was consumed by the need to consistently improve and live up to self-imposed expectations, which created constant pressure,” Reznicek wrote. “When I really flipped the switch, to focus less on the times, and to embrace gratitude, being present and prioritizing my teammates, that’s when I discovered the deeper joy in the sport.”
She’s confident that even after she’s gone, the Bears will continue their push to break into the Harvard-Yale-Princeton trio.
“During my time at Brown, this team has nearly rewritten the entire record board,” she wrote. “We are on the rise, and I have tremendous faith in our direction.”
“Brown women’s swim and dive is the most gritty, persevering and dedicated group of women I have ever known, and I know the hard work put in day in and day out will pay off,” she added. “Embrace the process, and your performances will naturally follow.”
Gus Bailey is a senior staff writer covering the sports beat. He is a sophomore studying applied math-economics. His interests include data analytics, marketing, social media and of course, sports.
