Men’s Swimmer of the Week
Juan Nunez, Saint Peter's
Jr., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
Colegio Arroyo Hondo
Juan Nunez led Saint Peter’s with nine total medals at WPI’s Gompei Invitational, including six golds (four individual, two relays) and three relay silvers. Nunez dominated across the mid-distance and distance spectrum, winning the 200 backstroke (1:50.14), 400 IM (4:03.83), 500 freestyle (4:40.41), and the “pool’s mile,” the 1650 freestyle by over 18 seconds (16:06.94). He led off every relay he swam, powering the 200 medley (24.04 split, 1:32.38) and 400 medley (51.37 split, 3:24.98) relays to first-place finishes, and helping the 800 freestyle (1:45.26 split, 7:04.16), mixed 200 medley (24.08 split, 1:41.92), and mixed 400 medley (51.54 split, 3:47.20) teams earn second place. Nunez posted a personal or season best in every event he entered (8 PBs, 7 SBs), finished top-six or better across the board, and recorded four new top-ten times in program history: 200 medley relay (5th), 400 medley relay (5th), 200 back (3rd), and 1650 free (3rd). His performance helped the Saint Peter’s men’s team rack up 19 total podium finishes, including 12 golds, 4 silvers, and 3 bronzes, contributing to the Peacocks’ 35 podium finishes overall at the meet. His weekend stands as one of the most statistically dominant performances in program history.
Men’s Diver of the Week
Stavros Xantheas, Rider
Jr., West Orange, NJ, West Orange
Xantheas won both boards for Rider at the tri-meet with Drexel and Lehigh. Xantheas scored a 267.20 on the 1-meter and 282.90 on the 3-meter in the pair of victories.
Men’s Rookie of the Week
Todor Gospodinov, Mount St. Mary's
Fr., Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, Farlingaye High School
This past weekend at the ECAC Winter championships, Gospodinov recorded three individual wins for the Mountaineers in the men's 200-Yard IM, 100-Yard Backstroke, and the 200-Yard Backstroke, placing first in the 200-Yard IM finals with a time of 1:49.21, dropping 2.31 seconds off of his previous time. Gospodinov was also a part of the men's 200-Yard Medley Relay team that placed second with a time of 1:29.16 as well as placing second in the men's 400-Yard Medley Relay team with a team time f 3:16.50.
Women’s Swimmer of the Week
Carmen Del Aguila, Mount St. Mary's
So., Granada, Spain
Del Aguila recorded six race wins at this past weekend's ECAC Winter championships while outright winning the women's 500-Yard Freestyle final, 400-Yard Medley Relay final, 400-Yard IM final, and 400-Yard Freestyle Relay final. In the Women's 400-Yard IM, Del Aguila won the event with a time of 4:24.51, dropping 5.16 from her previous time. In her participation with the women's 400-Yard Freestyle Relay team, she dropped 4.95 seconds off of her previous time, helping the team to record a winning time of 3:26.18.
Women’s Diver of the Week
Ryleigh Mahoney, Sacred Heart
FY., Salem, NH, Salem
Ryleigh Mahoney was named Diver of the Meet at the ECAC Winter Championships. Mahoney delivered a standout performance throughout the weekend, winning the 1M on day one with a score of 283.35. She continued her momentum on day two, taking first in the 3M prelims (278.20) and first again in the 3M finals (264.60).
Women’s Rookie of the Week
Clara Samko, Siena
Fr., Stone Ridge, NY, Rondout Valley
Clara Samko clocked three top ten performance times over the three-day ECAC Winter Championships this past weekend. Her first came in the 50 free, where she finished in 23.86 for fourth all time, as well as fifth in the event. She then took 10th in the 100 fly in 58.68—good enough for eighth on the list. Her final top ten time came on Sunday in the 100 free, where she clocked 52.79 in the prelims before finishing 11th in 52.86. Samko went on to also clock 1:58.31 in the 200 free finals (21st). She also aided in a fourth-place 400 free relay team (3:31.51), a fifth-place 200 free relay team (1:37.09) with the fastest split (23.66), a sixth place 200 medley relay team (1:47.31), and a seventh-place 400 medley relay team (3:56.78).
The 2026 MAAC Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships is a four-day meet that will take place February 11-14, 2026, and will be hosted at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio. 2026 will mark the third straight year the championships are hosted at SPIRE. For all information regarding the 2026 MAAC Men's & Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships, please visit
maacsports.com/swim.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 45th year of competition during the 2025-26 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena University.
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