Yale Athletics

After four intensive days in the pool in Princeton, New Jersey, the women’s swim and dive crew earned the bronze medal at the 2025 Ivy Championship last week. Their score of 1090.50 prevailed over all other teams except for Harvard (1287.50) and Princeton, who took the championship with 1479 points. 

Before the meet, team members underwent a taper, training less than their usual six-day and 15 to 20-hour weeks to allow their bodies to rest before the meet. Fully rested and with hundreds of hours of practice under their belts, the Bulldogs shattered several team and personal records once they arrived in New Jersey. 

Being the only meet in the year with eight participating schools and four days, the event was split into preliminary and final rounds, allowing swimmers and divers several chances to display their best performances. 

One of the most notable showings was Mabel Koff’s ’28 electrifying swims in the 200-yard backstroke. Koff first broke the team record in the preliminary swims with 1:54.93. Her A final time of 1:54.79 was enough to break the team record a second time and clinch third place. 

“Breaking the record was one of my goals going into the meet, so I was really excited. I knew I put in the work, so I felt like the time would come,” Koff told the News. 

The dynamic quartet of Quinn Murphy ’25, Jessey Li ’26, Alex Massey ’25 and Sara Plunkett ’27 also set a new team record. Their 200-yard medley time of 1:37.19 won third place overall and started the first day with a bang. 

Seniors, for whom it was their last meet, gave it their all, putting up several fast times. After being part of two A final bronze quartets, Murphy also made a new personal best in the 200 backstroke, her time of 1:56.28 earning fifth in the A final. 

“I was feeling very emotional after my 200 back on Saturday, my last race, but I guess it hasn’t completely set in yet,” Murphy told the News. “I’m just really grateful that I got to be a part of Yale swim and dive and got to finish off my last meet with best times.”

Hayden Henderson ’25, who topped several diving events in previous meets, continued her strong performance, placing third in the 1-meter dive with 284.35 and fourth in the 3-meter B final with 264.95. 

Massey also ended the season on a high note. Her dominant performances and several new personal bests earned her the prestigious Ivy League Career High Point Award, awarded to the senior across all the Ivies with the highest points scored over all four years. 

“I had a suspicion that I was in the running for the award based on my past performances, but it didn’t hit me how real it would be until my coach called me aside and told me after the 200 fly,” Massey told the News.  

A series of excellent dives on the second day of the championships sent three Bulldogs to the diving A finals. Henderson (284.35), Lily Horenkamp ’26 (283.35) and Paige Lai ’28 (280.35) all made the cut, placing third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 1-meter preliminary dive. 

Riding the momentum from their opening 200-yard medley, the swim team continued showing strength in relays, with Li, Éle Donegan ’25, Caroline McCurdy ’26 and Massey taking bronze in the 200 yd freestyle relay with 1:31.20. Koff, McCurdy, Devyn Sargent ’28 and Junseo Kim ’25 finished the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:17.49, enough for fourth place. 

The third day saw several strong individual performances, including medal finishes from Massey and Li. Massey’s 52.82 in the 100-yard fly secured bronze in the A finals, while Li clinched silver in the 100-yard breaststroke A final with a 1:00.49. In the 400-yard individual medley, it was Eunice Lee ’28 who finished fifth in the A final with 4:13.84, while Caroline Riggs ’27 (4:18.58) and Kim (4:19.71) took fifth and sixth places in the B final, respectively. 

Even after three days of all-out racing and diving, the Bulldogs showed their resilience and strength on the last day, bringing out their absolute best in the finals. In the 3-meter diving B final, Mariana Huang ’28 (237.85) placed eighth place, Henderson (264.95) took fourth and Lai (304.70) broke the 300 mark to take silver in the event. 

In the swimming events, Massey (1:59.17) and Kim (1:59.86) both broke two minutes in the 200-yard fly to earn them fifth and sixth place in the A final, respectively, while Lilly Derivaux’s ’26 2:00.01 was enough for seventh place. 

The 400-meter freestyle relay of Li, Plunkett, McCurdy and Koff took fifth in the A final with 3:32.72, while Riggs (16:26.44), Derivaux (16:46.03) and Morgan Cady ’28 (16:47.02) all swam just over a mile in under 17 minutes to win fourth, eighth and ninth in the 1,650-yard freestyle, respectively. 

With the season concluding, the swimmers and divers will have two weeks of rest, with more time to pursue out-of-pool ventures. 

Although it’s the last ever meet for the seniors, their lasting impact and inspiration on the team will live way beyond graduation. 

“Coming back to a locker room where the seniors aren’t in their spots will definitely hit hard for me,” Li told the News. “I know those relationships will last when the seniors graduate, but it will definitely be difficult to not have so many daily moments together,” Li said. 

There are seven seniors on the 2024-25 Yale women’s swim and dive roster.