Women's Swimming and Diving 10/29/2025 4:53:00 PM

Women’s Swimming and Diving Opens Season on Friday vs. Brown, Hosts Breast Cancer Awareness Meet

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Women's Swimming and Diving will begin its 2025-26 campaign on Friday by playing host to Brown. The Crimson's annual Breast Cancer Awareness Meet is set for a 4 p.m. start at Blodgett Pool and will air live on ESPN+.

What to Know

Harvard and Brown will both lift the lid on their seasons on Friday. The Crimson is coming off an Ivy League dual-meet championship (first since 2015) after going 7-0 against conference foes in 2024-25. The Bears, meanwhile, went 4-3 in league action.
The Crimson went 10-0 overall last season, marking the first time it accomplished the feat since 2006. Included in its run to 10-0 was a sweep of the annual HYP meet, its first since 2014.
Harvard, which sent multiple athletes to the 2025 NCAA Championship, will be led by team captains Isabella Alas (free), Tabitha Chen-Fiske (diving) and Stephanie Iannaccone (breast/fly).
Harvard is returning five of its seven individual Ivy League champions from a year ago. Alexandra Bastone won the conference crown in the 200 free, 500 free and 1,650 free. Anya Mostek won the 100 back for the third straight season and will be in search of a four-year sweep, which would be an Ivy first since Kate Conroy (Princeton) in 1999-2002. Sydney Lu, meanwhile, is the returning champion in the 100 fly. The Crimson also returns three-fourths of its title-winning 200 medley relay (Mostek, Lu, Blythe Wieclawek) and half of its 400 medley relay (Mostek, Lu).
Bastone later went on to compete at the NCAA Championships where she finished 18^th in the 500 free and 20^th in the 1,650 free. She also swam in the 200 free. Joining the Greenwich, Connecticut, native at NCAAs was Nina Janmyr, who competed on the 1-meter springboard.
The Crimson comes into the lidlifter having won four straight season-opening meets, with the last two victories coming against Brown.
Harvard leads the all-time series with Brown, 38-9, and has won 22 straight dual meets vs. the Bears, with 14 coming at Blodgett Pool.
The Crimson participated in a scrimmage last Friday at MIT with Northeastern. Harvard won 15 of 16 events and swept both the Engineers and Huskies. The final score vs. MIT was 238-61, and 223-75 vs. Northeastern.
As part of its Breast Cancer Awareness Meet, Harvard is bringing awareness to the work being done by the ESSCO-MGH Breast Cancer Research Fund, the Harvard Chapter of Camp Kesem and the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. Those interested in donating can do so at Blodgett Pool on Friday or by visiting each organization's website.