BOSTON – The 2025 America East Swimming & Diving Championship begins on Wednesday, with teams traveling south to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) to compete in the four-day event.
 
VMI is an associate conference member in the sport and this year’s championship will mark the second time since 2013 that the #AEASD Championship will be held on a member campus with fans allowed to be in attendance.
 
For information on tickets and VMI’s clear bag policy, as well as links to live stats and video visit #AESD Championship Central.

LAST TIME OUT
Last year, the Vermont Catamount women claimed their first #AESD Championship in program history; while Binghamton won for the second time in the last four years to cap a thrilling #AESD Championship held at Goodall Pool on the campus of Virginia Military Institute.
 
Vermont posted a score of 683 points behind a total team effort and just edged out New Hampshire who finished with 671 total points. Bryant was close behind in third with 635.5 points. UMBC was fourth with 466 points.

The Bearcats paced their way to a score of 795.5 points, capturing its first championship since 202. The Bulldogs earned their first runner-up finish with 709.5 points, while UMBC took third with 518 and NJIT was fourth with 514.5.

Women’s Athletes to Watch:
Bruna de Padua, UMBC: de Padua enters the meet as the defending 200 Free champion after earning the gold last year. The junior Retriever holds the fastest time this season in the 200 Free heading into the meet as the only athlete under 1:50 with her season best 1:49.78

Ashley Gutshall, UMBC: Gutshall, the 2024 #AESD Championship Rookie of the Meet, is the defending 50 Free champion after touching the wall first in 2024. The sophomore Retriever currently holds the league's fastest mark in the 50 Free this season and the second fastest time in the 100 Free.
 
Lydia Hart, UNH: Wildcat first-year Lydia Hart is making her America East Championship debut this week. Hart enters the meet with the top time in the 500 Free, 1000 Free and 1650 Free.

Audrey Mahoney, UNH: Mahoney comes into the meet as the defending 100 Free champion and 50 Free runner-up. She touched the wall first in the 50 Free in 2023 and grabbed the silver medal in the 100 Free that year.  She holds the league’s fastest time in the 100 Free heading into the championship. 

Ember Stennett, UMBC: Stennett earned Diver of the Meet honors at the 2024 Championship meet. The sophomore Retriever earned the silver medal in the 1-meter board before grabbing gold in the 3-meter, breaking a 12-year old #AESD record with her score of 292.35.

Amanda Witkus, Bryant: Witkus is making her America East Championship debut this week. The Sophomore Bulldog placed 1st in the 200 Fly at the 2023 FGC Senior Championships and is the only swimmer in the league under the 2 minute mark in the 200 Fly this season with a time of 1:58.48

Men’s Athletes to Watch:
Christopher Buonocore, Bryant: The 2024 America East Championship Male diver of the meet took home gold in both the 1M and 3M and will look to defend his titles this year.

Ilias Elfallaki Elachrafi, NJIT: The freshman olympian from Spain is looking to make waves in his first championship. He currently has the second-best conference time in the 500 free, 1000 free, and the 1650 free.

Oliver Gassmann, UMBC: Gassmann has collected 6 individual gold medals at the America East Championship meet over the past 3 seasons. He has won three-straight 100 Fly titles and will be looking to compete for his fourth title.

Eli Lanfear, Binghamton: At last year's championship Lanfear touched the wall first in the 50 Free and 100 Free, and this season he holds the top time in both events. He’ll be looking to win his third-straight 100 Free.
 
Leo Luna, Bryant: Luna has won two consecutive 1650 free titles and is going into the meet as the defending 500 free champion. The senior from Bryant holds the league's fastest 1000 free time this season.
 
Boris Milev, UMBC: The graduated student will be making his first America East championship appearance this week. Milev ranks first in the 200 Free, second in the 100 Free. Milev placed 5th in the 100 Free at the Bulgarian Championships last season.
 
The four-day event will be streamed live on AmericaEast.tv starting Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. with the women's one-meter and men's three-meter diving prelims. The evening session starts at 5:30 p.m. For the full schedule, live streaming links, and more visit #AESD Championship Central.
Follow @AmericaEast on X to get the real-time championship updates. Use #AESD to join the conversation.