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John Carroll University Athletics

home of the Blue Streaks
2025-26 Swimming & Diving Team

Swimming & Diving Preview: Blue Streaks Set for Life in the NCAC

| By: Anthony Markello, Senior Staff Writer

The Blue Streaks return ample talent from last year's successful squad

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS – The John Carroll Men's and Women's Swim & Dive programs have been utterly dominant forces in the Ohio Athletic Conference over the past decade, each winning OAC team titles for the past nine seasons. 

Under second year head coach Mark de Swardt, the team will look to continue their success in their first season as members of the North Coast Athletic Conference. 

"I think it's really exciting to be moving to the NCAC. I think that the OAC was great, but it wasn't as much of a challenge as the NCAC's going to be and I think the mindset of the athletes has changed knowing that I've got to put in the work during the season if I want to actually win a race at the end of the year," said de Swardt.

Coach de Swardt embraces the new level of competition, and is doing what he can to prepare his teams for the conference challenges.

"We've set our schedule to reflect that. So we're racing those NCAC teams, we're racing Cleveland State, which is a Division I team. We're going to Bowling Green, another Division I team."

De Swardt hopes giving the Blue Streaks a taste of Division I competition will prepare them for the intensity that the NCAC schedule will bring.

Luckily for John Carroll, both men's and women's teams will return the reigning OAC swimmers of the year, Joe Nadur and Mairin Dalziel. 

"They've been just rocks on this team since before I got here. Joe Nadur can swim any event you ask him to do, and Mairin is the sprint queen here and I mean, you can even put her in the 500 and she'll go crush it. So they're both just cornerstones of the program who just bring energy every single day."

Nadur is a multi-time OAC champion in the 200 Breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM, and 800 Freestyle Relay. Dalziel is a jack of all trades in her own right, snagging OAC titles in the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, 800 Freestyle Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay, 200 Medley Relay, 400 Medley Relay, and the 400 Freestyle Relay during her JCU career.

On the men's side, Nadur is not the only familiar face that will be back and contributing in a big way for the Blue Streaks, as the squad will also return last year's NCAA individual qualifier, Bart Kubis, as well as Patrick Branch, who will serve as team captain alongside Nadur.

"On the men's side, we've got Bart (Kubis), who was the NCAA individual qualifier last year, so we're hoping for some big things from him… Patrick Branch is one of our captains this year and he's really versatile. He's kind of the same as Joe and we're hoping he can really step up in the sprints and help out on the relays a little bit more than he did last year." 

Both Kubis and Branch are accomplished swimmers, with Kubis having OAC titles in the 200 and 400 Medley Relays, and Branch having OAC titles in the 800 and 200 Freestyle Relays.

On the women's side, de Swardt highlights senior Olivia Goodman and sophomore Ella Muzychak, as returners to watch, as well as 2025 captains Hannah Smith and Kaitlyn Hilty.

"On the women's side, we've got Olivia Goodman. She's been really good over the years, and she's going to be a senior, so she'll be great."

Goodman has racked up an impressive array of accolades in her collegiate career, including OAC Swimmer of the Year in 2024, and three OAC Swimmer of the Week honors. In 2025, she was an OAC champion in the 400 IM, 200 Breaststroke, 400 Medley Relay, and 200 Medley Relay. 

"Ella Muzychak, she's the distance girl on our team, and she's been working really hard through the summer, so I'm expecting some big things from her."

Coach de Swardt has lofty expectations, and justifiably so. In just her freshman season, Muzychak was crowned an OAC champion in the 800 Freestyle Relay.

In addition to returning talent, both squads have some new faces in the building that Coach de Swardt expects to make an impact early.

"We've got Alex Gallagher who transferred in from Kentucky and he's been going off in practice already. So we're hoping that he'll make a big impact. Another freshman that's coming in, Jacob Florio, he's made an instant impact, so he's going to be amazing.

"And then on the women's side, Kami Contakis has been very good in practice so far, so we're expecting some big things from her."

De Swardt added that intensity in practice is up a considerable amount, and overall excitement in the program is mounting as the squads are ready to chase their goals in the 2025 season. 

Both the men and the women will head to Gambier, Ohio on Saturday, October 18, to take on the Kenyon Owls in their season openers.
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