Kenyon College Athletics

NCAA Championship is on deck for Owls

3/16/2026 2:30:00 PM

GAMBIER, Ohio -- A perennial contender with history that holds a record 34 national titles, the Kenyon College Owls look to extend their storied tradition at the upcoming 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Swimming and Diving Championship, a four-day event beginning Wednesday at the IU Natatotium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Currently, the Kenyon program is tied with the NCAA Division I Oklahoma State University wrestling team as the two programs with the most team championships in NCAA history. The Owls swimming and diving team, however, logged its last championship-winning performance in 2015. Since then, teams from Emory University and Denison University have each won four of the last eight championships contested.

Going into the 2026 NCAA Championship, the Owls are ranked No. 5 in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25 Dual Meet Ranking and are coming off a runner-up showing at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship. Denison, the winner of the 2026 NCAC Championship, is ranked at No. 1 by the CSCAA. On the national stage, the Owls will also have to contend with powerhouses like Emory, New York University, and the University of Chicago. All three of those teams have top-five ranks.

At last year's NCAA Championship, held in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Owls claimed a fifth-place finish with 250 points. Denison won it all with 463.5 points and Emory was a distant second with 323.5 points. Chicago (272) and New York (267.5) finished just ahead of Kenyon in the final team standings.

The Owls' 2026 championship roster includes 10 swimmers and one diver. Headlining that list is senior Djordje Dragojlovic, who is a 20-time All-American and nine-time national event champion. Six of his NCAA event titles were with relay teams, while the individual event wins came in the 100-yard freestyle (2023, 2024) and the 100-yard backstroke (2024). Earlier this season, Dragojlovic set the Kenyon program records in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races.

Ethan Manske, also a senior, is Kenyon's next most experienced and successful swimmer on the Owls' NCAA roster. He's a butterfly and individual medley specialist with 10 career All-America awards. In his best event, the 400-yard individual medley, Manske registered a third, fifth, and seventh-place swim over the last three NCAA Championships.

Juniors Roman Savage and Noel Tumbasz will provide additional support and points. Savage excels in butterfly and distance events and has four career All-America honors. Tumbasz, a breaststroker, also has four career All-America awards.

Look for senior and two-time All-American Teo Jaworski to vie for points in distance events. Junior Peter Dunson and sophomores Neil Abrahamson and Spencer Stluka all possess relay experience from last year's NCAA Championship. Going into the meet, Kenyon's five relay teams all have top-10 seeded times, with the No. 5 seeded 400-yard freestyle checking in as the best.

Leo Karnitz, Chase Smith, and Kristof Szappanos will be making their first NCAA appearances, with Smith being Kenyon's lone diving qualifier.

The championship schedule starts Wednesday. Each day of the meet will have preliminary heats starting at 10 a.m. and then feature final heats at 6 p.m.

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