Youth was served for the Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team, as a young Chargers squad took a noticeable step forward as a group in the 2025-26 campaign in multiple ways.

Key to the season was the significant impact an impressive freshman class had on the strength and achievements of the squad. When paired with another highly-regarded class in Hillsdale's sophomore group, the future is bright indeed for the Chargers.

Freshmen Sasha Babenko and Avery May made the biggest difference for Hillsdale in 2025-26. Both swimmers earned first-team All-G-MAC honors and achieved NCAA B-cut marks in their debut seasons, while placing their names all over Hillsdale's all-time list of top 10 times. Babenko rewrote the Chargers' backstroke records, setting a new top mark in the 100 backstroke (56.07) and in the 200 backstroke (2:02.37), while also excelling as a sprint freestyler, with top five all-time Hillsdale marks in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle, as well as the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.

May had a similar impact for the Chargers in the distance races, posting B-cut times and the second fastest marks in Hillsdale history in both the 400 individual medley and the 500 freestyle, while also earning a spot in Hillsdale's all-time top 10 in the 1,000 freestyle. Both Babenko and May earned G-MAC Women's Swimmer of the Week honors and were critical for the Chargers at the season-ending G-MAC/MEC Championships. Both May and Babenko also swam on a record-setting 400 freestyle relay for the Chargers along with Ella Malone and Ella Schafer, while Babenko also teamed with Schafer, Malone and Kate Potwardowski on a record-setting 200 medley relay as well. 

While Babenko and May were the headliners, Hillsdale got strong contributions from others in the freshman class as well, including Rylee Harris in the freestyle and backstroke events, and Kate Potwardowski in the breaststroke. 

Hillsdale's newcomers added to a strong showing by Hillsdale's sophomore and junior classes. Sophomores Ella Schafer and Matilyn Wilhelmsen continued to excel for the Chargers across a variety of events, with Schafer achieving a B-cut time in the 200 freestyle for the second-straight season, while fellow sophomore Ella Malone took a big step forward as well, developing into a major point-scorer for Hillsdale at the G-MAC/MEC Championships. Among its juniors, Hillsdale got great finishes from Isabel Ondracek in the distance freestyle events, Alyson Early in the freestyle and IM events, and Lauren Kamp in the breaststroke and IM events, among others.

The result was a fourth straight runner-up finish in the G-MAC/MEC Championships, but Hillsdale closed the gap on champion Findlay by nearly 140 points, scoring 100 more than in 2024-25 despite not fielding an 18th competitor in the event. The improvement is especially exciting, given the youth of Hillsdale's team. While the Chargers will miss their lone senior Rotem Andegeko, who played a role in Hillsdale's finish at the conference championship, 16 of Hillsdale's 17 swimmers are in line to return for the 2026-27 season. When paired with what is shaping up to be another exciting freshman class, the Chargers are hoping they'll have the firepower to put real pressure on the rival Oilers at the 2027 G-MAC/MEC Championships. Only time will tell, however, as the Chargers begin their offseason training motivated to reach their goals in the upcoming campaign.