Duquesne @ Richmond Invitational
Friday, October 9 | 5:00 p.m.
Hampton Virginia Aquaplex | Hampton, Va.
Duquesne @ Richmond Duals
Saturday, October 10 | 10:00 a.m.
Hampton Virginia Aquaplex | Hampton, Va.
2026-27 Roster | 2026-27 Schedule | 2026-27 Swim Cloud Team Page
From The Blocks To The Boards
- The Duquesne swimming and diving team hits the road this weekend, traveling to Hampton, Va., to compete at the Richmond Invitational on Friday, Oct. 9, before taking part in the Richmond Duals on Saturday, Oct. 10, inside the Hampton Virginia Aquaplex. The Dukes will compete against George Mason, Davidson and host Richmond.
- On Friday, all events will be conducted as timed finals, meaning swimmers will compete once and their final time will determine their place in the event. Each swimmer may compete in up to four events, with no more than three of those being individual events. For Saturday, all four teams will compete at the same time, with results scored as separate head-to-head dual meets between each pair of universities. Davidson will compete in lanes 1 and 5, Duquesne in lanes 2 and 6, George Mason in lanes 3 and 7, and Richmond in lanes 4 and 8. For the women's events, there will be two heats per event, with the fastest swimmers competing in the second heat. The women's mile will feature a single heat.
- The Dukes opened its 2026-27 season last week at the CMU Relays, hosted by Carnegie Mellon, competing alongside the host Tartans and Pitt. The Dukes turned in nine top-three finishes, highlighted by one first-place finish, five runner-ups, and three third-place tallies.
- Duquesne earned its first victory of the season in the 3x100-yard breaststroke, as junior
Jess Burns, freshman
Lainey Sheets and junior
Surrena Luna combined to post a winning time of 3:18.20. The Dukes also added a third-place finish in the event, with sophomore
Kira Schrecongost, freshman
Caitlin Goff and sophomore
Emily Kyre clocking in at 3:25.72.
- The meet opened with the 200-yard medley relay, where the Dukes secured a runner-up finish in 1:44.77. Junior
Ashley Freel, Burns, junior
Rachel Howard and sophomore
Lucy Backus teamed up to finish second, while sophomore
Norah Kotnik, Luna, Sheets and junior
Kaitlyn Connors placed fourth with a time of 1:48.09. Off the diving boards, sophomore
Anna Klotz paced Duquesne with a third-place finish in the one-meter dive.
- The Dukes added another runner-up finish in the 500-yard freestyle relay, as Backus, Freel, Sheets and Connors combined for a time of 4:29.79. Sheets, Howard and Freel followed with another second-place finish in the 3x100-yard butterfly, touching the wall in 2:48.81.
- Duquesne also earned a runner-up finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with Connors, Burns, Howard and Backus teaming up to post a time of 1:36.26. The Dukes added a fourth-place finish in the event, as Kyre, Sheets, senior
Julia Sobun and Freel finished in 1:39.02. The 3x100-yard backstroke team of Freel, Kotnik and Sheets rounded out Duquesne's top-three finishes, earning bronze with a time of 2:51.91.
Back in Virginia – This weekend marks the fifth straight season Duquesne will compete at the Richmond Duals. Last season, the Dukes opened with 800.50 points and 17 medals to lead the standings after day one, ahead of host Richmond (638), Davidson (559) and George Mason (404.50).
Ashley Freel led Duquesne with three gold medals, winning the 400 IM (4:24.20), 50-yard backstroke (26.30) and 200-yard butterfly (2:05.10).
Lucy Backus added two golds, winning the 50-yard freestyle (23.58) and 100-yard freestyle (52.13) while anchoring the winning 400-yard medley relay (3:48.41).
Sierra Snow collected four medals, including golds in the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.82) and 500-yard freestyle (5:05.28), along with a silver in the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.89). She also led off the winning 400-yard medley relay.
The Dukes continued their momentum on day two, collecting 26 medals - including seven golds, 11 silvers and eight bronzes - while earning a hard-fought 151-148 victory over host Richmond in head-to-head action. Duquesne opened with a runner-up finish in the 200-yard medley relay, as
Ashley Freel,
Sydney Severini,
Rachel Howard and
Lucy Backus finished in 1:45.63. A second Duquesne relay team placed third in 1:47.95.
Aislinn Mooney added a silver in the 1,650-yard freestyle (17:55.86), while Lexie Sundgren (1:53.79) and Freel (1:54.80) placed second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle. Freel later captured gold in the 100-yard butterfly (55.92) and added a silver in the 200 IM (2:07.60). The Duquesne divers dominated the boards, sweeping the top three spots in both the one-meter and three-meter dives.
Lola Dragosavac,
Ashley Felitsky and
Brianne Dempsey went 1-2-3 on the one-meter, while Felitsky, Dempsey and Dragosavac followed with a 1-2-3 finish on the three-meter.
A10 Poll - According to a poll of Atlantic 10 coaches, the Duquesne swimming & diving team has been selected to finish third in the conference during the 2026-27 season. The Dukes collected 85 points in the preseason poll, including two first-place votes. Defending A10 champion Richmond was tabbed as the preseason favorite with eight first-place votes and 94 total points, while George Washington was picked second with 87 points. Duquesne, Fordham (66) and La Salle (53) rounded out the top five. George Mason was selected sixth with 43 points, followed by St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Davidson, and Saint Louis.
FOLLOW THE DUKES
For the latest Duquesne Swimming & Diving news and updates, follow the Dukes on social media on Twitter (X) and Instagram.
