In the early morning darkness of a New Hampshire winter, the Dartmouth swimming and diving teams have been rewriting their story, one record at a time.
Four years after the program was cut and subsequently reinstated, the Big Green is experiencing its most successful season in recent memory. At the Golden Grizzly Classic, held at Oakland University in December, the women’s team finished first place and the men a close second. Both squads have shattered long-standing program records, signaling a dramatic shift in the program’s competitive trajectory.
Further, the team has set six new pool records, eight team records and 52 all-time top-10 program performances so far this season. Six divers have already qualified for NCAA Zones, the first round of the NCAA championship meet, which will take place March 11-13.
“This is the first year both sides of our program have had a normal-sized roster,” said captain Lane Murray ’26. “With the increased depth to our team and an incredible freshman class, we have propelled ourselves into a higher level of competition with higher expectations.”
Competing against Oakland, Grand Canyon University, Eastern Michigan University and Wayne State University at the Golden Grizzly Classic, head coach Milana Socha said that the Big Green delivered “a big cornering moment for the program.”
“Going into our mid-season meet, our women were not ranked in the top 50 major programs,” Socha said. “They swam really well. We had a couple of pool records set, a couple of team records, numerous all-time top-10 program performances and lifetime bests. They were able to win our midseason meet, beating two teams that were ranked in the top 50.”
The women’s team now sits at No. 43 on the top-50 mid-majors list, while the men have climbed to No. 26 according to swimcloud.
Carinn Bethea ’27, who captains the women’s team alongside Murray, said she was “most proud” of the “whole team’s performance” at the meet.
Among the standout performances was Bethea’s own program record in the 100-yard freestyle. She finished with a time of 49.86 seconds, making her the first Dartmouth woman to break the 50-second barrier in the event.
“Setting a school record was a goal I had from the moment I started college swimming, so to have achieved that in the 100[-yard] freestyle this season feels really special,” Bethea said.
The men’s side similarly excelled. Jacob Turner ’28 set three pool records in the 200 individual medley, 400 IM and 200 IM again at a subsequent home meet. Turner currently ranks in the top eight in the Ivy League in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 fly. Andrew Chou ’29 broke team records in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, while Jagger Stachtiaris ’28 became the first Dartmouth man to break the 47-second barrier in the 100 butterfly.
Perhaps most symbolically, the men’s 200 medley relay team — Chou, David Kushnirsky ’29, Turner and William McClelland ’27 — broke a program record that had stood since 2013, when the program’s most recent All-American, Nejc Zupan ’14, was on the team.
“It’s been incredible to watch us rise to the occasion and meet these higher expectations in stride,” Murray said.
Despite the historic progress, the season hasn’t been without its disappointments. Both the men’s dual meets against Cornell and Brown came down to the final relay.
“Our biggest challenge thus far has been persevering after a few disappointing endings to our meets,” men’s captain McClelland said. “We lost against Brown in the final relay by about a second. We lost against Cornell in the final relay by about half a second to a second.”
McClelland, who swims the 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly, emphasized that those close losses have only strengthened the team’s resolve.
“The team has regrouped and kept finding ways to push ourselves and make ourselves better,” he said. “It’s been almost like a proof of the work we put in. ”
Socha, in her fourth season as head coach after serving as an assistant from 2017 to 2020, attributes the turnaround to a cultural shift within the program.
“I think over the past three seasons that I’ve been here as the head coach, we’ve been trying to rebuild and help continue to build the culture that we know is going to help us become a championship program down the line,” Socha said. “You’re going to have a championship culture before you start winning championships.”
The diving contingent has been integral to the program’s resurgence. Lambdin ranks in the top eight in the Ivy League on the 3-meter board, while McCoy Lyman ’28 set a team record on 3-meter with a score of 393.05, breaking a mark previously held by Justin Sodokoff ’21, who qualified for NCAA Championships in 2020. Everett Tai ’26 has qualified for zones in all three diving events: 3-meter, 1-meter and platform.
The team returned from a week-long training trip in Florida over winter break and is now setting its sights on the season’s final stretch. The next major test will come at the Tate Ramsden Invitational on Jan. 16-17, the team’s last home meet and senior meet.
As the Big Green prepares for championship season, Socha sees a program that has finally turned a corner, one built not just on talent, but on the daily habits and collective belief that define championship programs.
“We’ve got a team that is excited for what’s in store for the rest of our season,” Socha said. “We’re holding the thread, knowing and celebrating the progress that we’ve made and being in a position that this men’s team hasn’t been in at least a decade. While still being hungry, definitely not satisfied that we came so close and just haven’t sealed the deal yet.”
For a program that was nearly lost four years ago, the pool records and national rankings represent more than athletic achievement.
“I am really excited about the direction we’re heading this season,” Bethea said. “After a promising midseason performance, followed by a tough training block on our training trip in Florida, I think we’re in a great spot heading into championships.”
