The Fordham swimming and diving team continued to outperform their competition in their final time in the pool for the 2024-25 season. The Fordham women’s swimming and diving team finished in fourth, and the men’s team placed seventh in the Atlantic 10 Championships (A10), Feb. 19 to 22, in Hampton, Virginia.
The Fordham squad had impressive performances with nine medaling athletes, two new school records and several personal bests across the women’s and men’s teams. Head Coach Thomas Wilkens said he was incredibly proud of how the team performed across the four-day, seven-session competition.
“Swimming is a grind. It is a long season, and a lot of people can perceive it as an individual sport, you just get up and you are racing in your own lane and you get your times, but when it comes to the A10s, it is very much a team sport,” Wilkens said. “The way our team comes together and performs as a team, especially in our relays — how everyone on relays are always outperforming their individual times — it is just an outstanding thing to see.”
Two of Fordham’s relays came home with A10 bronze medals. The women’s 800-meter freestyle relay swam by Ainhoa Martín, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’25; Jessica Zebrowski, GSBRH ’25; Leire Martín, GSBRH ’25; and Emilie Krog, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’25; set a new school record with a time of 7:17.59. Along with the men’s 200-meter freestyle relay, swam by Christian Taylor, FCRH ’25; Daniel Ribeiro, FCRH ’27; David Topi, FCRH ’27; and Vitalis Onu, FCRH ’25.
One of the most exciting moments of the championships for the Fordham squad was when Ainhoa Martín defended her 200-meter breaststroke title from last year, taking home the gold with an NCAA “B” cut time of 2:11.55.
“It is actually my favorite feeling, walking past them and they are all hugging me and it’s amazing, honestly. I’m definitely going to miss that feeling,” Ainhoa Martín said.
Ainhoa Martín put up another NCAA “B” cut time with her winning 4:13.40 finish in the 400-meter individual medley.
The Fordham squad had impressive performances with nine medaling athletes, two new school records and several personal bests across the women’s and men’s teams.
In addition to his bronze finish with the 200-meter relay and the 50-meter freestyle, Taylor set a new school record with his 47.24 finish in the 100-meter backstroke.
“I am happy with my performances at A10s this year, both from a personal and team perspective. We probably didn’t start the way we wanted to in terms of relays on that first night but really came together after that and lifted as a team which meant we were able to go some really fast times,” Taylor wrote.
The women’s team also saw silver medals won by Zebrowski in the 50-meter freestyle and Ainhoa Martín in the 200-meter individual medley. The Rams also took the third place finish in the 100-meter butterfly, with Zebroski’s finish and Leire Martín’s 100-meter backstroke.
Along with medaling athletes, Wilkens highlighted the growth that he saw with the squad this year. At the A10 Championships, Wilkens said that despite placement, he was proud of all the athletes who scored points for the team. The women’s squad ended the championship with 339 points and the men’s finished with 250 points.
“There was a ton of progress this year — a lot of best times, all the freshmen won best times — so it shows you that people come here and we can develop them and help them achieve the goals that they have for themselves,” Wilkens said.
Although swimming and diving are often perceived as individual sports, Fordham showed their comradery out of the pool during the A10 Championships.
“When someone’s not racing, they are supporting their teammates. Everyone standing on the side of the pool is swimming the race along with the person in the pool,” Wilkens said.
The A10 Championships marks the end of the season for the Rams and the last meet for the graduating Rams. Ainhoa Martín said there is a special place in her heart for the swimming and diving team.
“I love the team so much. They are like my second family here, especially being an international student. So knowing that I’m never gonna be at a meet with all of them, it is really sad. It was really emotional — the last day we were all crying,” Ainhoa Martín said.
As the Fordham squad says goodbye to the 2024-2025 season, the Rams also say goodbye to their graduating class. This year there are 29 Rams leaving the program, 13 from the men’s squad and 16 from the women’s.
The graduating Rams ended their collegiate careers after a successful season both in the pool and out of it as well. This year marked the 22nd consecutive season that the Swimming and Diving team has won the College Swimming and Diving Association’s Scholar All-America award, which recognizes both academic and athletic achievement.
“Ultimately speaking I am so proud of this graduating group. They are just outstanding young men and women. We feel it’s as important as it is to have success in the pool. We want our teams to be successful all around,” Wilkens said. “I think they will do some great things out in the world.”
The Rams finish at the A10s wraps up Wilkens’ first full year as head coach at Fordham. He said he hopes to continue to build on this year’s momentum.
“I’m really excited to take the great Fordham swimming culture that we had and build off that and grow our team into a powerhouse,” Wilkens said.
