Hart’s Historic Swim Leads UNH on Day 2 of AE Championships

Thursday, February 20

Lexington, Va.

10 AM

University of New Hampshire

America East Championships

Photo by: Temi Bajulaiye

Hart’s Historic Swim Leads UNH on Day 2 of AE Championships

2/20/2025 9:57:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving

LEXINGTON, Va. – Freshman Lydia Hart (Cornwall, ON, Canada) delivered a historic performance on day two of the America East Championships, shattering school, conference, and pool records in the 500 freestyle with an NCAA B-cut time of 4:42.12. The Wildcats now sit in second place with 239 points, trailing Vermont (259).

meet info

America East Championships
Location: Lexington, Va. (VMI Aquatic Center)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 (Day 2 of 4)
Team Standings After Day 2: Vermont (259), UNH (239), Bryant (230), UMBC (175), Maine (144), Binghamton (136), VMI (55)

how it happened

Hart's dominant swim earned UNH its first individual gold of the meet, finishing nearly nine seconds ahead of the runner-up and beating the previous America East record of 4:46.95, set by UNH's Anna Metzler in 2020.
Freshman Marisa White (Apex, N.C.) also contributed in the event with a sixth-place finish (4:59.42), adding 13 points.
Senior Grace Sala (Sun Prairie, Wis.) earned 13 points in the 200 IM, placing sixth in 2:05.52.
Junior Audrey Mahoney (Downers Grove, Ill.) secured a podium finish in the 50 freestyle, taking bronze with a time of 22.94 (16 points)—her first time ever breaking the 23-second mark.
She then teamed up with sophomore Grace Mahon (Orange, Conn.), senior Annie Jencova (Waikanae, New Zealand), and freshman Amelia Labno (Rosemount, Minn.) to claim another third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:33.35).

Up Next

Day 3 of the America East Championships begins on Friday, Feb. 21, with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 5:00 p.m. All four days of the championship are being streamed on ESPN+.
In last year's America East Championships at the VMI Aquatic Center, the Wildcats placed second. UNH has a league-record 11 championships (1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023).