Akron, Ohio– The No. 4 Denison women's swimming and diving team opened the 2026-27 season at the annual Akron Zips Classic. After day one of the two-day meet, the Big Red are in fifth place with 73 points. In this year's meet, Denison is competing against the University of Akron, Cleveland State, The Ohio State, Xavier, and Youngstown State. Only Akron, Cleveland State, The Ohio State, and Youngstown State competed in diving events. On day one, women dove off the 1-meter board and then competed in the 400 Medley Relay, 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, and 800 Free Relay.

Diving

First-years Sarah Willoughby and Blythe Duley represented the Denison women's diving team inside Ocasek Natatorium. The two divers dove off the 1-meter board on day one, performing six dives. Willoughby finished the afternoon in 12th place with an overall score of 204.25. Her best dive of the day was a forward 2 somersault pike, earning her a score of 40.25. Duley finished 16th with an overall score of 176.80. Her best dive came in the fourth round, where she performed an inward 1½ somersault tuck for 31.90 points.

Swimming

Though the Big Red had a rocky start to the day, with no top-10 finishes, Denison finished strong with a fifth-place finish in the 800 free relay. Elina Eko, Ollie Morse, Avery Anderson, and Reilly O'Hara swam the relay in 7:40.37

Other Notable Performances

11th- 400 Medley Relay- 3:51.02 - Caroline Ramirez, Gwen Bakker, Elina Eko, Ollie Morse 

12th- 800 Free Relay- 7:51.16 - Erika Schraber, Maddy Dawidian, Desiree Blute, Jena Lawlor

13th- 400 Medley Relay- 3:53.67- Avery Anderson, Riley Tofflemire, Hailey Kaminski, Maddie Schaefer

15th- 500 Free- 5:03.27 - Reilly O'Hara

16th- 50 Free- 23.84- Elina Eko