Loyola Swimming and Diving Opens Season With Strong Showing at Charm City Relays
By Brian Hradsky
Loyola University Maryland swimming and diving opened the 2026-27 season with an impressive performance at the Charm City Relays on Saturday at the Mangione Aquatic Center in Baltimore. The Greyhounds collected victories throughout the women’s and men’s competition while frequently placing multiple relay teams near the top of the standings.
The season-opening meet featured Loyola, Johns Hopkins, Mount St. Mary’s and Bryn Mawr. Rather than a traditional dual-meet format, the Charm City Relays gave the Greyhounds an early opportunity to test their depth across a variety of relay combinations before moving into the heart of their schedule.
Greyhounds Start Fast
Loyola immediately established itself in the 200-yard medley relay.
Maeve Brandenburg, Meghan Donovan, Christine Datovech and Haley Robinson won the women’s event in 1:43.71. Teammates Kelly Bruen, Bryce Gold, Natalie Lomonosov and Donja Tripp followed in second at 1:44.76, giving the Greyhounds the top two positions.
The Loyola men duplicated that result. Joe Hayburn, Brennan Coyle, Liam Schindler and Derek Feldman captured first place in 1:29.85, while JD Moyer, Jack Hamilton, Grant Haley and Gavin Abelende finished second in 1:33.16. It was an early indication of just how much depth Loyola brought into its season opener.
Loyola Women Dominate 800 Freestyle Relay
The Greyhounds continued their strong start in the women’s 800-yard freestyle relay.
Riley Fried, Cecilia Van Lierop, Lauren Lane and Kellie Kincaid won the event in 7:48.85. Kate O’Brien, Elsie Bredbenner, Madison Testa and Ellie Davis took second in 8:08.09, producing another Loyola one-two finish.
Loyola’s men also performed well in the 800 freestyle relay. Max Anderson, Hugo Sanchez Garcia, Ben Tungate and Tim Hanway placed second with a time of 7:03.14. Lj Conlin, Matthew Hughes, Chase Garcia and Mason Keith were just behind them in third at 7:03.23.
Butterfly and Backstroke Bring More Wins
Loyola’s women again took the top two spots in the 3×100-yard butterfly relay. Datovech, Lomonosov and Olivia Sellers won in 2:54.65, while Robinson, Adrianna Caponiti and Makenna O’Brien finished second in 2:56.53.
Cristian Pong, Abelende and Timmy King gave the Loyola men another victory by winning their 3×100 butterfly relay in 2:33.92. Haley, Luke Dwyer and Joe Coleman added a third-place performance at 2:39.13.
The success continued in the backstroke events. Brandenburg, Virginia Walsh and Molly Hoben won the women’s 3×100 backstroke relay in 2:55.62, with Bruen, Sammy Yerkes and Carolyn Forgione taking second at 3:01.28.
Hayburn, Liam McQuaid and Thomas Kalka won the men’s backstroke relay in 2:30.06. Moyer, Sam Voss and Ben Schlotterer finished second in 2:33.84, producing yet another top-two sweep for the Greyhounds.
Breaststroke Depth on Display
Loyola was just as effective in the breaststroke relays.
Gold, Abby Hays and Noelle Hoffman captured the women’s 3×100 breaststroke relay with a time of 3:21.77. Donovan, Maggie DeFonzo and O’Brien followed in second at 3:24.51.
The men’s race was even closer. Elias Corn, Max Rice and Hamilton won in 2:57.02, edging teammates Coyle, Schindler and Keith, who finished second in 2:57.89.
The ability to put multiple competitive relay teams into the same event was one of the biggest themes of Loyola’s opening meet. The Greyhounds did not rely on just a handful of swimmers to produce victories, with contributors spread throughout both rosters.
Greyhounds Continue to Stack Top-Three Finishes
In the women’s 500-yard freestyle relay, Davia Richardson, DeFonzo, Testa and Hoffman finished second at 4:46.12. Gianna Davis, Gabby Jones, Brandenburg and Lane followed in third at 4:47.60.
The men’s race produced an exceptionally tight finish between Loyola’s two teams. Feldman, Conlin, Thomas Cechini and McQuaid finished second in 4:10.77, while Coyle, Moyer, Sanchez Garcia and Tungate were third in 4:10.78 — separated by just one-hundredth of a second.
Loyola’s women later took the top two positions in the 400-yard medley relay. Datovech, Hoffman, Lomonosov and O’Brien won in 4:08.26, while Gold, Hoben, Grace Litzinger and Riley McGerald finished second at 4:09.48.
The Greyhound men finished fourth and fifth in their 400 medley relay. Hamilton, Dwyer, Tanner Spillane and Kalka posted a 3:38.45, while Hayden Bartz, Schlotterer, Cody Miles and Lane Bradshaw recorded a 3:41.23.
Distance Swimmers Finish Strong
Loyola’s women picked up another victory in the 2×500 freestyle relay when Davis and Bredbenner combined for a time of 10:46.50. Cara Pennington and Caponiti added a third-place finish in 11:17.09.
The Greyhound men then swept the first two positions. Hanway and Hughes won in 9:29.75, while McQuaid and Bartz finished second at 9:32.78.
The meet concluded with the mixed 200 freestyle relay. Schindler, McGerald, Anderson and Haley took second in 1:28.32, while Datovech, Hays, Cechini and Hayburn placed third in 1:30.70. Mount St. Mary’s won that event in 1:26.69.
What’s Next
Loyola remains home for its next competition. The Greyhounds will hold their Green & Grey Meet as part of Family Weekend on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 10 a.m. at the Mangione Aquatic Center.
The schedule quickly becomes more challenging after that. Loyola heads to Annapolis on Oct. 9 for competition against Navy and LSU before traveling to Lehigh on Oct. 10 and Lafayette on Oct. 17. The Greyhounds then return home for the three-day Thomas Murphy Invitational beginning Oct. 23.
MSB Take
This was an excellent way for Loyola swimming and diving to begin the season. Relay meets are particularly useful early in the year because they allow coaches to experiment with combinations while giving a large portion of the roster meaningful competition.
What stands out most from the Charm City Relays is Loyola’s depth. The Greyhounds repeatedly put two teams inside the top two or three positions, and those performances came across freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and medley events.
There will be much tougher tests ahead, particularly with Navy and LSU coming up on the schedule. Still, Loyola could not have asked for much more from its opening weekend. The Greyhounds left the Mangione Aquatic Center with numerous victories, plenty of top-three finishes and an encouraging early look at what both teams could accomplish during the 2026-27 season.
