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HOUSTON, Texas — Hawai'i took home both the men's and women's titles at the 2026 Big West Swimming & Diving Championships after four days of fierce competition from the CRWC Natatorium. This marks the men's first Big West title while the women earned the crown once before, back in 1986. 

The men amassed 780 points with GCU turning in a second-place finish with 728 points, followed by UC San Diego's 571. On the women's side, the Rainbow Wahine finished with 798 points, over 100 clear of their closest competitors from UC Davis (692), with defending champion UC Santa Barbara capturing third with 660 points. 

The day started off with the distance swimmers taking to the pool for the 1650 freestyle with Jacob Pins from GCU claiming the event title with a time of 15:17.54, followed by Cal State Bakersfield's Karsten Eichler at 15:22.75. UC San Diego freshman Landon Egeland finished third, clocking in at 15:24.33. For the women's 1650, San Diego's Sydney Wilson placed first with a time of 16:36.45, with teammate Skylar Bruner landing in third as UC San Diego's Sophia Bell registered second in 16:41.00. 

Luigi Franco of UC San Diego won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.19. The 100-yard freestyle saw Karol Ostrowski of UH finishing first at 42.41 to defend the event title and best The Big West record. GCU's Carter Dooling secured first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:54.56, with Cal State Bakersfield's Vili Sivec doubling up to claim a record and an event win in the 200-yard butterfly after touching in 1:42.37. 

For the women, the UC San Diego pairing of Eva Boehlke and Chloe Braun both took home first as Boehlke swam the 200 back in 1:56.37 for record pace and Braun's 200 breaststroke clocked in at 2:12.19. UC Santa Barbara's Samantha Banos repeated as champion in the 200-yard butterfly after swimming a 1:56.44. Thursday's fastest woman in the 50 free, Holly Nelson, earned the win in the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.67.

In the platform diving events, GCU's Omar Elsayed achieved first place with a score of 395.75, with 2025 champion Juan Esteban Ramirez Tamayo taking runner-up with a score of 390.20 and UH teammate Olly Wignall rounding out the podium at 354.50. The Hawai'i women went 1-2 from the platform, with Lovisa Gusstavson registering 269.70 points, with Kiera Chandler in second with 244.05.

The night of racing ended with the 400-meter freestyle relays, and both the men's and women's victors clocked record times. On the women's side, the top four finishers bested the previous Big West benchmark, but UC Santa Barbara's quartet of Miranda Stevenson, Gretta Callison, Eugenie Lanilis, and Banos were first to finish at 3:18.32. Second went to Hawai'i in 3:18.14 with UC Davis touching in 3:18.74 and UC San Diego finishing the race in 3:19.29.

In the men's 400-yard freestyle relay, the Hawai'i team claimed victory with a time of 2:52.19, narrowly edging out GCU, which finished at 2:52.48. Finn Brophy, Tom Thalau, Victor Dagenais, and Ostrowski's finish was good for a new Big West record in the event. 

The 2026 trophies will be the last of the swimming and diving variety, as UH is moving to the Mountain West in July 2026 for most sports. This is the fifth consecutive contested Big West swimming and diving championship where one school has taken home both titles.


Overall Team Scores - Women  
1. Hawai'i - 798  
2. UC Davis - 692  
3. UC Santa Barbara - 660  
4. UC San Diego - 644  
5. San Diego - 350  
6. Cal State Bakersfield - 172
7. Seattle U - 157

Overall Team Scores - Men  
1. Hawai'i - 780  
2. GCU - 728  
3. UC San Diego - 571  
4. UC Santa Barbara - 568  
5. Cal State Bakersfield - 379.5  
6. Seattle U - 273.5