Swimming & Diving at Bentley
Friday, October 9 | 3 p.m.
Dana Center Pool | Waltham, Mass.
WHAT TO KNOW
• The Babson men's and women's swimming & diving teams open their dual meet schedule on Friday afternoon at Bentley.
LOOKING BACK ON 2025-26
• Under the direction of fifth-year head coach
Eric Thurston, the Babson women went 7-4-1 in dual-meet competition before recording the program's best finish (4th) and highest point total (530) at the NEWMAC Championships back in February.
• The Babson men finished 8-1 while recording their highest dual-meet winning percentage (.889) since the 1972-73 campaign and placed fourth for the third consecutive season with 692 points at the NEWMAC Championships last winter.
SERIES HISTORY
• The Babson men are 7-17 against Bentley going back to 2001 and have won two straight meets in the series after not defeating the Falcons from 2014-23.
• The Babson women narrowly missed earning their first win versus Bentley since 1999 last November after suffering their closest loss (153-140) against the Falcons back in 2024.
LAST MEETING
• Nine different competitors recorded a first-place finish to help the Babson men defeat Bentley 186-105, while the Babson women finished in a 140-140 deadlock against the Falcons on November 15, 2025, inside Morse Pool.
• Senior
Anthony Taslakov (200 free), juniors
Nathan Huynh (200 breaststroke),
William Iglar (200 IM) and
Thomas Ambelang (100 back), and sophomores
Evan Hong (100 free) and
Matthias McFarlane (100 breast) touched the wall first in the swimming events, while senior
David Krol (1-meter) and sophomore
Hadi AlDayaa (3-meter) swept the diving events for the Babson men.
• Juniors
Tuana Turhan (100 butterfly, 200 butterfly) and
Julia Netishen (100 free, 100 back) both won twice for the Babson women, while senior
Sylvie Racicot (50 free) and junior
Samantha Gilbert (200 free) each recorded one first-place finish.
ABOUT THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers return 13 swimmers from a team that achieved four individual program records and three more in the relay events last winter.
• Racicot swam 53.13 in the 100 free, Netishen posted a time of 23.86 in the 50 free to earn all-conference honors, and Turhan set a new mark of 57.35 in the 100 butterfly at the NEWMAC Championships in addition to her record of 2:06.72 in the 200 butterfly at the Fisher Invitational last November.
• Gilbert, Racicot, Netishen and sophomore
AJ Hallbert earned All-NEWMAC accolades with a school-record time of 1:35.98 in the 200 free relay, while Gilbert, Racicot and Netishen teamed with
Sophia Sznewajs '26 to claim all-conference honors in the 400 free relay with a program-record time of 3:32.96.
• Netishen, Turhan and Racicot also helped the Beavers set a school record in the 400 medley relay the 2025 conference meet.
ABOUT THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers bring back 19 swimmers and two divers after winning all but one dual meet and setting a pair of school records at the conference meet.
• McFarlane posted a time of 54.62 in the 100 breast and the 800 free relay team of Taslakov, Iglar, Hong and junior
Tommy Hannenian earned All-NEWMAC honors with a school-record time of 6:43.84 back in February.
• Krol also garnered all-conference honors for the second consecutive season on the 3-meter diving board in addition to earning All-NEWMAC laurels for the first time in the 1-meter diving event.
• Along with last year's records, Taslakov set the Beavers' top times in the 200 free (1:38.71), 200 IM (1:51.83) and 200 back (1:48.76) at the 2025 NEWMAC Championship, while Krol owns the program's top 6-dive marks on both the 1-meter (324.20) and 3-meter boards (348.60).
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKS
• Thurston and assistant coach
Ben Johnson have added 13 first-year swimmers, six men and seven women, to the roster for 2026-27.
• The 13 rookies hail from nine different states with two each coming from California, Florida, Illinois and Massachusetts, while Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York and Virginia are all represented.
UP NEXT
• The Beavers return to action on October 30 when they travel to Worcester for a multi-team meet against WPI, Brandeis, Coast Guard and Smith at 5 p.m. before welcoming Clark to Morse Pool for its home opener on October 31 at 2 p.m.
