New season. New pool. New chance for glory.
On Saturday, Penn women’s swimming and diving is ready to take its marks and dive into a new season. After being relocated to West Philadelphia YMCA and Drexel pools last season, the Quakers return to the newly renovated Sheerr Pool on Saturday to open its season against Delaware.
Another new aspect of the season is qualification process for the NCAA Division I Championships. The previous procedure involved “A” and “B” standards, and all entries had to be allocated based on rankings and remaining spots. But at the beginning of October, the NCAA approved a win-and-in and time standard qualification procedure for the national championships. Any swimmer who wins their conference title and hits the national qualifying time standard in the conference final race will receive an automatic berth to NCAAs.
Last season, sophomore butterfly/freestyle specialist and reigning 2025 Ivy League champion in the 100-yard freestyle, Kayla Fu, notably did not qualify for NCAAs — but Fu would have competed at NCAAs under the new procedure.
Along with those new aspects of the season and similar to other Penn Athletics programs, the Red and Blue boast a new, highly experienced swimmer on the coaching staff — three-time NCAA champion and 2025 Texas alum Emma Sticklen.
“[At Penn,] I feel like I’d really be able to help more kids reach the NCAA qualifying level,” Sticklen told The Daily Pennsylvanian in September. “If there is a story or a moment where I see [where] one of my experiences fit, I will gladly share that experience with people.”
This year, Sticklen will not be the only one who can share experience from the NCAA stage. The Quakers return their two NCAA qualifiers from last season: seniors freestyle/individual medley specialist Anna Moehn and freestyle specialist Sydney Bergstrom. Last year, the duo continued the long-time legacy of dominance in distance freestyle events at Penn.
At the 2025 Ivy League championships, Moehn finished on the podium for the third-straight season in both the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyle events. Last year, the Alton, Ill. native also qualified for NCAAs for the second year in a row. Bergstrom broke out last season, winning her first medal at Ivies and making her first NCAA berth. The two will be big-time contributors to the point totals at 2026 Ivies.
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Another huge contributor will undoubtedly be Fu. The Sugar Land, Texas native looks to continue the momentum from a standout freshman year season that included a title in the 100-yard freestyle. Fu notably competed at Ivies with illness, so it will be exciting to see her ceiling in the spring at this year’s championships.
In the specialty events, the Red and Blue have some rebuilding to do with the graduation of butterfly specialists Joy Jiang and Vanessa Chong, and Izzy Pytel, the program record holder in both breaststroke events.
However, coach Mike Schnur will look to underclassmen and star rookies to step up.
One of those freshmen includes butterfly/backstroke specialist Brianna Cong. The Johnston, Iowa native attended Phillips Exeter Academy and ranked second in the state of New Hampshire. Cong’s best times in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke are 53.59 and 54.11, which would’ve placed 10th in both events at last year’s conference championships.
Other notable newcomers include freshmen backstroke specialist Connie Wang and butterfly specialist Caroline Cancelmo.
On the diving side, senior Sadie Howard returns. At the Ivies last year, Howard finished 13th in the three-meter dive. Joining the team on the board are freshman divers Caroline Holcomb, sister of junior breaststroke/individual medley specialist Meredith Holcomb, and Armina Li.
Overall, with newcomers and returning veterans, Penn women’s swimming and diving looks to level up and improve on its fifth-place team finish at the conference championships last year, amidst all the change within the team and the greater swimming stage.
