NU Opens 2026-27 Campaign with Sweep over Miami (OH)

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern swimming and diving kicked off its 2026-27 season with a sweep of Miami (Ohio), with the men’s and women’s teams picking up their fifth consecutive dual-meet wins against the RedHawks on Saturday.

The women won 216-82, while the men put up a score of 187-130.

“I think the level of the team from the top to bottom is really exciting,” head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills said. “We just had a lot of individuals who contributed, and that’s what we always hope for at this first meet.”

For the women, Zoe Nordmann, Margaret Papanicholas and Flawia Kamzol all won multiple races. Nordmann swept the mid-distance freestyle races with wins in the 200 and 500 Free, while Papanicholas won the 100 and 200 Breaststroke events. In her first collegiate meet, Kamzol impressed with wins in the 100 Backstroke and Butterfly, as well as the fastest 50 freestyle split in the 200 Free Relay field.

Stuart Seymour and Oli Kos produced standout performances on the men’s side. Seymour clocked a 45.71 in the 100 Backstroke to make him amongst the fastest swimmers in the NCAA this season, while Kos won his 200 Backstroke race by over three seconds.

“They are very driven as to the goals they have for this season,” Director of Swimming & Diving Rachel Stratton-Mills said of Kos and Seymour’s performances. “It’s great to see as a coach, but we still have a long way to go till we get to the end of the season.

In diving, Chloe Sharpe won the women’s one- and three-meter events, while Kyle Ly won the men’s edition of the events.

The Wildcats swept all the relays and won all but eight individual events. 

How it Happened

The Wildcats kicked off the meet by sweeping the 200 Medley Relays. Grey Davis, Papanicholas, Kamzol and Amy Pan won the women’s relay (1:39.81), while Seymour, Joshua Staples, Connor Schuster and Kos took home the men’s relay (1:25.42) by over two seconds.

Lila Bleakney captured Northwestern’s first individual event win, clocking a 1:48.31 in the 200 Freestyle, a 1.7-second drop from her personal best time. Caleb Romero followed with a win on the men’s side, going 1:38.26 in his first collegiate individual swim. 

The first-year momentum continued into the 100 Backstroke, as Kamzol picked up a win in the women’s edition of the race with a 53.71.

“She not only is swimming fast, but she brings so much joy to it,” Stratton-Mills said of Kamzol. “She’s just constantly lifting up this team in every way possible, and she’s an example to everyone that you can race fast and have a really good time.”

Seymour, Northwestern’s program record-holder in the 100 Back, won the men’s race in 45.71 seconds — his fastest season-opener time ever. Papanicholas (1:01.61) and Staples (54.00) swept the 100 Breaststroke events, before Nordmann won the 200 Butterfly (2:00.49). 

Powered by a 21.86 split from Kamzol, the ‘Cats won the women’s 200 Free Relay with the Polish first-year, Pan, Davis and Sophie Martin at the helm (1:32.10). Seymour, Kos, Brandon He and Cade Duncan then won the men’s event to keep NU’s perfect relay streak alive (1:20.51). By the first meet break, the ‘Cats were up by over 30 points on both sides against the RedHawks.

Northwestern picked up its fourth individual event sweep in the 100 Free, with Bri Deierlein (50.41) and Duncan (43.65) emerging victorious. Kos then won the 200 back by nearly three seconds, with his 1:42.24 time being his fastest performance ever in a dual meet.

Papanicholas picked up a second event win in the 200 breast (2:15.05), becoming NU’s first multi-individual event winner of the day. Nordmann became the second, winning the 500 Free in a time of 4:51.05.

Kamzol picked up her second individual win in the 100 Fly (52.76), just 0.52 seconds off the pool record.

Northwestern swept diving, with Chloe Sharpe picking up victories in the women’s one-meter (261.10) and three-meter (280.05) events. Kyle Ly won the men’s one-meter (350.10) and three-meter (376.85).

The ‘Cats concluded their meet with perfect showings in the 400 Free Relay. Bleakney, Sydney Smith, Bella Teply and Isabella Chow won the women’s relay (3:22.65), while the men won their race in a time of 2:53.23 with a margin of over four seconds.

Final Scores
Women: Northwestern 230 - Miami (Ohio) 87
Men: Northwestern 187 - Miami (Ohio) 130

Up Next

The Wildcats head to Bloomington, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 9 to open Big Ten competition for 2026-27 against Indiana. The Hoosiers are the defending Big Ten Champions on the men’s side and ranked No. 2 in the CSCAA coaches poll, while the women are ranked No. 5 overall and coming off a top-10 finish at the 2026 NCAA Championships. Meanwhile, the Longhorns are the reigning NCAA champions on the men’s side and the current No. 1 ranked team, while the women are ranked No. 3.

“Indiana and Texas is going to be quite a meet,” Stratton-Mills said. “We always want opportunities to race against the very best, and that’s what we’re doing. We have athletes with big goals and ambitions of what they want to do in NCAAs, so we want to put them in front of the best in the country so they can see what that’s going to take.”