Hillsdale College freshman Sasha Babenko is off to an impressive start in her first season of collegiate swimming, and it's getting noticed beyond the Hillsdale College campus.

Babenko was named the G-MAC Women's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week by the conference office on Monday after an impressive weekend showing, her first-ever weekly conference honor.

The freshman won six events across two double-duals on Friday and Saturday to help Hillsdale to four wins over Albion and Davenport on one night, and over Aquinas and Indiana Wesleyan the next day. Babenko took first in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle while swimming a leg on the winning 400 freestyle relay on Friday, then earned first-place finishes in the 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley while also swimming a leg on the winning 200 medley relay on Saturday.

More impressive than the slew of first place finishes Babenko has racked up in the first month of her career is that she's also earned a prominent spot on Hillsdale's all-time lists in that time. Her time of 2:08.38 in the 200 backstroke is the seventh-fastest time in that event in Chargers history, and her time of 59.24 in the 100 backstroke also ranks 10th all-time for the Chargers, with plenty of room to improve those marks over the rest of the 2025-26 campaign.

Babenko and the Chargers have a big meet this weekend, as Hillsdale travels to Findlay for a double-dual that will give the Chargers their first head-to-head look with the three-time defending G-MAC/MEC Champion Oilers, as well as Lewis. The meet begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday.