ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT men's swimming and diving team opens the 2025-26 season on Saturday (Oct. 11) with a home meet against RPI. Here are the six things you need to know about the Tigers.

FOURMIDABLE FORCE
RIT claimed its fourth consecutive Liberty League title last season while setting seven program records at the championship meet.

The Tigers finished the 2024-25 season ranked No. 19 in the Division III CSCAA Top 25 Poll after compiling an 8-1 dual meet record.  

Senior diver Gellert Kish was named the Liberty League Diver of the Year for the fourth straight year. Kish swept both championship diving events for the first time since 2023 and the third time in his career (2022, 2023, 2025).  

Graduate student Drew Scheib was named the men's Swimmer of the Meet after winning three individual events and swimming legs in five winning relays.

NCAA QUALIFIERS
The Tigers sent five swimmers and a pair of divers to the NCAA Division III National Championships last season.

Graduate students Mike Atanasoff and Scheib, senior Ben Sippel, junior Ryan Clancy, and sophomore Eric Noga will swim for RIT, with senior Gellert Kish and sophomore Luke Albanese all taking part in the national championship.

Kish earned First Team All-American honors in both diving events, coming in sixth place in the 3-meter dive (492.65) and seventh in the 1-meter dive (476.10).

The 200 Free relay team of Noga, Clancy, Atanasoff, and Scheib took seventh (1:21.05) to earn First Team All-America.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Six members of last season's team were named College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-Americans. Atanasoff, Clancy, and Noga were second-team honorees, while Scheib and Sippel were first-team selections.
 
To qualify for First-Team Scholar All-America, student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher and participated in their national championship. Second-Team selections must have also earned a 3.5 GPA or higher and met a "B" time standard for the national championship or qualified for a diving zone qualification meet.

WELCOME BACK
RIT brings back 18 members from last year's team. Sophomores Josh Berty, Jack Dollyhigh, Thomas Eppich, Jackson Frazier, Finn Hilliard, Sam Martin, Lucas Peterson, Jacob Winfield, and Colin Zhao, juniors Luke Albanese, Kamden Keyes, Eric Noga, Leonid Pozhenko, and Nathaniel True, seniors Stephen Graver and Miles Lim, and graduate students Flynn Lundeen and Sam Sokalzuk all come back for the 2025-26 season.

NEW FACES
There will be five newcomers to this season's roster. Aiden Agostini, Griffin Messenlehner, Brayden Pyott, Griffin Tomsheck, and Bernardo Valente will all look to make an impact for the Tigers.

2025-26 SCHEDULE
The Tigers open the season at home on Saturday (Oct. 11), hosting RPI. They'll hit the road the following week for a Friday night matchup at Alfred (Oct. 18) before heading to Chicago for the D3 Shootout (Nov. 7–8).

November continues with a tri-meet at Geneseo against the host Knights and Trinity (Texas), followed by a home meet against Ithaca (Nov. 22). The fall portion of the schedule wraps up with the Don Richards Invitational on Dec. 5–6.

After winter break, RIT returns to action with a road meet at Hamilton (Jan. 10), then hosts Rochester the following week (Jan. 17). The Tigers will face Geneseo again in a two-day home meet on Jan. 23–24, before closing the regular season at Hobart on Jan. 31.

Postseason competition begins with the Liberty League Championships (Feb. 18–21) in Ithaca, followed by NCAA Diving Regionals and the NCAA Division III National Championships (Mar. 18–21) in Evansville, Indiana.