2026 WIAC Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship Preview University of Wisconsin-La Crosse will strive for a second consecutive first-place finish at the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship (presented by Culver’s) that will be held at Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer, Wis., Feb. 18-21. UW-Whitewater is the host institution of the 54th edition of the women’s championship that will be held in unison with the 63rd gathering of the men’s teams. Competition begins on Feb. 18 at 1:45 p.m., with the preliminaries of the men’s three-meter diving. The finals will start at 6:30 p.m., and include a pair of relay events. For competition held Feb. 19 and Feb. 20, preliminaries will begin at 10:00 a.m., with the finals commencing at 6:30 p.m. The final day will feature 10:00 a.m. preliminaries and a 5:45 p.m. start for the finals. Medals will be awarded to the top-eight finishers in each of the individual events and the individuals comprising the top-three relay teams. In the 2025, UW-La Crosse won the 22nd title in program archives with 1,018 points – the highest total at the championship since 2005. UW-Eau Claire placed second with 855 points, UW-Stevens Point third with 520, UW-Oshkosh fourth with 406 and UW-Whitewater fifth with 332. UW-Eau Claire owns 21 conference championships, while UW-Stevens Point has six titles and former member UW-Madison secured four first-place finishes. Returning champions in individual events include: UW-Eau Claire’s Molly Hosack (2024 & 2025/500-yard freestyle; 2024 & 2025/1,650-yard freestyle), Elaina Plonis (2025/100-yard butterfly; 2023, 2024 & 2025/200-yard butterfly) and Emma Vogen (2025/400-yard individual medley); UW-La Crosse’s Joanne Banaszak (2025/one-meter diving, 2024 & 2025/three-meter diving) and Zoey Rank (2025/200-yard individual medley); and UW-Stevens Point’s Kasey Fris (2022/400-yard individual medley; 2023/200-yard backstroke; 2024/200-yard individual medley). Banaszak has claimed the Diver of the Meet award each of the last two championships, while Rank received Newcomer of the Year honors a season ago. Individuals that have claimed first-place relay medals at previous championships include: UW-Eau Claire’s Molly Hosack (2023, 2024 & 2025/800-yard freestyle relay, 2025/400-yard freestyle relay), Elaina Plonis (2024/400-yard medley relay), Grace Schnabl (2023, 2024 & 2025/800-yard freestyle relay, 2025/400-yard freestyle relay) and Emma Vogen (2025/800-yard freestyle relay); UW-La Crosse’s Libby Cleveland (2024 & 2025/200-yard freestyle relay, 2024 & 2025/200-yard medley relay, 2025/400-yard medley relay), Reilly Eiynck (2023/400-yard freestyle relay), Brooke Laube (2024/200-yard freestyle relay), Ava Pulvermacher (2025/200-yard freestyle relay), Zoey Rank (2025/200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay) and Paige Rundahl (2023/400-yard freestyle relay, 2024/200-yard freestyle relay); and UW-Stevens Point’s Kasey Fris (2022/200-yard freestyle relay and 800-yard freestyle relay). UW-Oshkosh has received strong swimming performances in 2026 from Callee DeBruin, while Maya Indiraraj is the Titans’ top diver. Olivia Santiago has been UW-Whitewater’s top diver this season, while Hailey Vogel has produced the top swimming times. # # # # #