ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's and women's swimming and diving teams are coming off a record-setting season and are aiming for even better results in the 2025-26 campaign.
The Redhawks, who return three student-athletes – swimmer
Antonie Pieterse and divers
Emma Dicob and
Sidney Simmons - that qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships last season, open their season on Saturday at Union College.
"I cannot wait to see how they do this year," Roberts head coach
Sara Smith said. "All of the stats and all of the data tell me that we are stronger than ever before. Their training has been remarkable, and we have had so many fast swims in practice which is just great to see this early in the season."
Here are five things to know about the Redhawks:
ANTONIE THE ALL-AMERICAN
Pieterse, who hails from South Africa, set 14 school records (10 individual, 4 relays) en route to finishing sixth in the 100-yard butterfly at nationals and becoming Roberts' first All-American.
Pieterse has made his mark on the NCAA Division II scene and will be looking to break through on the national and international levels. He has qualified for the U.S. Open in Texas where he will look to perform well enough to represent South Africa on the international level next season.
DIVERS AIM TO TAKE NEXT STEP
Dicob, a senior, and Simmons, a junior, have advanced to nationals each of the last two seasons and hope to extend their seasons even further this season.
Dicob owns the women's record in the 3-meter for both six and 11 dives and the 1-meter standard for 11 dives. Simmons holds the women's 1-meter mark for six dives.
NEWCOMERS IN MIX FOR MEN
Freshmen
Raphael Weber and
Leu Cabanayan have had strong preseasons for the men.
Weber has been posting personal best times and Cabanayan could make an early run at school records in the breaststroke.
FIRST-YEAR SWIMMERS BOLSTER WOMEN'S ROSTER
With a roster of 13, the women will be counting on their freshmen to contribute.
Teagan Lewis and
Skye Micklethwaite add versatility to the lineup while
Emily Bub and
Grace Brady will provide depth in the freestyle events.
Ellie Herbert joins Dicob and Simmons on the diving squad.
GOING THE DISTANCE
With a roster of 16, the men's team has more depth than it has in the past.
The Redhawks should be particularly strong in distance events and relays.
"With all of the new adds, we have so much depth," Smith said. "We have a quality distance crew and I am excited to see how that depth fares against other stronger, well-established teams. I am also looking forward to how the relays do with so much speed and depth."
