Marlborough, Mass. - October 7, 2026 - With the NEWMAC men's swimming and diving season set to begin this weekend, here are 10 standout student-athletes to watch this winter. The culmination of the season will occur at the February with the conference championships that will be held at MIT in Cambridge.
1. Mark O’Mara - MIT
Sophomore - San Marino, California
Mark O’Mara will return to MIT for his sophomore season after a strong rookie campaign for the Engineers in 2025-26 that ended at the NCAA Division III Championships. O’Mara was the NEWMAC Champion in the 1650-free and also took home NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team accolades in the 500-free anchoring MIT’s distance squad. At the NEWMAC Championships, O’Mara produced 63 individual points, the third most at the meet with his finishes in the 1650-free (1st), 500-free (2nd), 400-IM (4th) and already ranks second in MIT’s record book in the mile.
2. Noah Reice - Coast Guard
Senior - Wilmington, Delaware
Noah Reice will enter his senior season as the defending NEWMAC Men’s Swimmer of the Year in 2026-27. Reice won a trio of individual titles in the 100-fly, 200-fly and 50-free and broke the conference meet record in the 100-fly with a time of 46.94. At NEWMAC’s he also teamed up for All-Conference Second Team honors in the 200-medley relay, 400-medley relay and 400-free relay collecting a total of six medals and 72 total individual points on the weekend. Reice went on to earn All-America honors at NCAA’s in the 100-fly finishing fourth and the 200-fly finishing fifth.
3. David Krol - Babson
Senior - Grafton, Wisconsin
David Krol will enter his senior season as the Babson six-dive record holder in both disciplines and as a three-time All-NEWMAC honoree (two on the 3-meter board). Krol has qualified for the NCAA Division III regional diving championships twice and will look to make it back to the meet this winter. Krol collected 42 individual points for the Beavers at NEWMAC’s last winter with a pair of silver medals.
4. Dawson Milligan - Springfield
Junior - Forestdale, Massachusetts
At last year’s NEWMAC Championships, Milligan produced the second most individual points of the Pride on the swimming side of the meet with 41 across his events. Individually, Milligan earned an eighth place finish in the 200-fly and tenth place finishes in both the 100-fly and 100-back. He also teamed up with the 200-free relay and 400-medley relay as the leadoff leg in both events. Milligan will return to Springfield for his junior season looking to push the Pride to a strong 2026-27 campaign.
5. Marcus Tran - Wheaton
Sophomore - Milton, Massachusetts
Marcus Tran had a stellar rookie season capping it off with NEWMAC Second Team All-Conference honors in the 100-free and the 200-free relay. Over the four day meet, Tran collected 57 individual points for the Lyons, the sixth most of any student-athlete at the conference championships. In fact at the NEWMAC Championships, Tran broke five school records including the 50-free, 200-free relay, 400-free relay, 800-free relay and 200-medley relay.
6. Evan Wong - MIT
Sophomore - Honolulu, Hawaii
Evan Wong, the defending NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, earned three All-America honors during his freshman year at MIT in the 400-free relay (6th), 800 free-relay (7th) and 200-free (15th). Individually, Wong produced 66 points at the NEWMAC Championships and was crowned as the league champion in the 200-free, 400-free relay, 500-free and 800-free relay. Wong already sits amongst MIT’s all-time swimmers in both the 200-free and 500-free and will look to build on it during his sophomore season this winter.
7. Anthony Taslakov - Babson
Senior - Sherborn, Massachusetts
Anthony Taslakov had a strong junior campaign that saw him record 53 individual total points at the NEWMAC Championships and earn NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team honors alongside the 800-free relay squad. Taslakov also finished third in the 200-free, fourth in the 200-back and ninth in the 500-free, all with season-best marks over the course of the four day meet. Taslakov enters his senior season as the school record holder in five events and as a three-time All-NEWMAC honoree.
8. Samuel Bier - Clark
Senior - Ashland, Massachusetts
Bier was Clark’s leadoff swimmer in the 200-medley relay that finished sixth at the 2025-26 NEWMAC Championships and will return to Worcester for his senior campaign this winter. Bier also record in the “A” finals of the 800-free relay and collected nine total individual points for his 15th place finish in the 1650-free and 18th place finish in the 200-back. Of Clark’s 219 total points at NEWMAC’s, he raced in events that totaled 109 points for the Cougars. He ranks top-10 all-time in school history in the 50-back, 100-back and 1650-free.
9. Jay Pawloski - Coast Guard
Sophomore - St. Leonard, Maryland
Coast Guard’s Jay Pawloski had a strong rookie season that saw him earn Second Team All-Conference accolades in the 1650-free and total 41 individual points for the Bears at the NEWMAC Championships. In addition to his runner-up finish in the mile, Pawloski also turned in a seventh place finish in the 500-free, a 17th place finish in the 200-free and teamed up for a fourth place finish with the 800-free relay as the third leg of the quartet.
10. Lucas Brown - WPI
Sophomore - Viera, Florida
Lucas Brown will return to WPI for his sophomore season after a great first year for the Engineers that saw him finish third in the 1650-free at the NEWMAC Championships. In his debut at the conference meet, Brown also took fifth in the 400-IM, 12th in the 800-free relay and 15th in the 500-free. Brown individually totaled 41 points at the NEWMAC meet and will certainly anchor the distance discipline for WPI this winter.
About the NEWMAC
The NEWMAC is an association of 13 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Saint Anselm College (beginning reclassification process with NCAA in 2027-28), Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with seven Associate Members: New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 21 sports.