The 2026 U.S. Collegiate National Championship took place on March 27 and 28 at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatics Center in Stanford, California.
In front of the home crowd, Stanford University successfully defended its title, capturing a second consecutive national crown.
Powered by a pair of decisive victories on the final day of competition, the Cardinal sealed the overall win and secured the program’s first back-to-back championships since its dominant four-year run from 2005 – 2008.
On Friday, routine competition began with the women’s and men’s solo events.
In the former, sophomore Marloes Steenbeek of the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) became national solo champion for the second year in a row thanks to a score of 236.4675. Steenbeek has continued to represent the Netherlands internationally during her collegiate run, notably competing at the European and World Championships in 2025.
The Ohio State University’s Ruby Remati and Scarlett Finn, both 2024 Olympians for the U.S. and Canada respectively, earned silver and bronze.
On the men’s side, freshman Eldar Blazh, representing Wheaton College, took his first gold of the day in the solo event with a score of 160.1913. He also clinched the mixed duet title alongside freshman Ava Salamone.
Later that day, Remati, in her senior season, paired up with sophomore Keana Hunter to win the duet event for the Buckeyes, securing the highest artistic impression score and completing the second-highest Degree of Difficulty (DD) in the competition.
The pair, who swam together on the U.S.’ silver medal-winning team at the Paris Olympic Games, delivered on all fronts to achieve their championship score of 264.0933.
Both of Stanford University’s duets rounded out the podium, with Calista Liu and Audrey Kwon clinching silver, and Danielle Ovadia swimming with Megumi Field for the bronze. All four are sophomores, with Kwon and Field also contributing to the U.S Olympic team performance at the 2024 Games.
Host team Stanford University swept the top spots on Saturday, finishing first and second in both the trio and team events.
Senior Yara Elian joined Kwon and Liu to claim gold in trio, completing the highest DD for a score of 239.7192, while teammates Field, Ovadia, and freshman Karen Xue took silver.
UIW’s Steenbeek, junior Maria Bofill, and freshman Xenia De La Puente earned bronze after achieving the second-highest artistic impression score, which was just 0.35 points behind Elian, Kwon, and Liu’s.
The Cardinal then brought the two highest DDs to the team event, the final one of the competition, with two basemark-free swims securing another 1-2 finish on home turf.
Both squads swam with power and precision, with just 2.500 points subtracted for synchronization errors for the gold medalists and only 1.600 points off for the second place team.
The top squad, made of Miko Begossi, Ivy Davis, Yara Elian, Megumi Field, Audrey Kwon, Calista Liu, Dalia Ovadia and Karen Xue, clinched gold with 234.9200.
The runner-up spot went to the team made of Elisa Brunel, Yujin Chang, Emily Ding, Yanna Hauck, Atira O’Neil, Manu Pindi, Simone Radom and Ella Rau with a score of 230.7211.
The Ohio State came in third and sixth for the team event, with UIW taking fourth and fifth place.
Remati also claimed the top spot in the A Figures competition for tOSU with a total of 84.6860. Nadia Crits of Texas Woman’s University came out on top in the B Figures, while teammate Jerusalem Temple claimed the C Figures win. Wheaton College’s Autumn Vang earned the title in the D Figures.
After all scores had been tallied, Stanford University came out on top as the 2026 Collegiate High Point Team with a total of 98 points. UIW finished second overall with 83 points, and the Ohio State followed just behind in third with 82 points.
Remati and Field shared the title of 2026 Collegiate High Point Athlete, and Stanford’s Elvira Khasyanova, in her first year as head coach, was presented with the 2026 Coach of the Year award.
ARTICLE BY MARI FLORES
Cover photo: USA Artistic Swimming
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