Purple Knights Make History on Opening Night of NE10 Swimming & Diving Championships
UB's men lead the field after capturing a pair of NE10 titles; Women sit in fifth place in team standings.
WORCESTER, Mass. – Highlighted by capturing a pair of conference titles, the University of Bridgeport's men's and women's swimming and diving teams put together a sensational start to the 2026 NE10 Championships on Thursday night in Worcester, Mass.
UB's men's squad surged out to an early lead in their first-ever NE10 Championships, sitting in first place through five events after opening the meet with a historic victory in the 800-free relay.
The Purple Knight quartet of Sultanbek Azat, Pacome Sidelski, Matt Burrows and Ignacy Olownia captured the program's first-ever NE10 title in dominant fashion, winning by more than eight seconds while setting a new championship record with a time of 6:40.55.
Azat continued his outstanding night by claiming gold in the 1000 free, posting a championship-record time of 9:19.71 to become the fastest swimmer in event history at the NE10 meet.
Ryan Wall followed behind Azat to complete a 1-2 finish for UB, touching second in 9:35.88. Henry Klode and Dillan Salgado also supplied points for the Purple Knights in the 1000 free, placing ninth and 12th respectively.
In the diving portion of the session, Juan David Urrea Vargas advanced to the three-meter finals after recording a score of 352.50 in the preliminary round and will compete for a podium spot on Friday night.
On the women's side, the Purple Knights currently stand fifth through five events.
UB's 800-free relay team of Luca Olsen, Pierina Ferraresi, Patricia Torviso and Anna Forlani placed fifth overall with a time of 7:55.59, while Olsen added the team's top individual result of the session by finishing 10th in the 1000 free in 11:01.16.
UP NEXT
Day Two of the NE10 Championships will begin tomorrow at 10:15 a.m.