The University of Rochester women's swimming and diving team saw its 2026-27 season open on Saturday afternoon with a pair of losses to Division I opponents at the Speegle-Wilbraham Aquatics Center.
 
In the tri-meet, Canisius topped the Yellowjackets (0-2) by a 164-136 score, with Siena earning a win by nearly the same score, posting a 165-135 victory against their URochester hosts.
 
Diver Kaela Springer was UR's lone double-winner on the day, posting victories in both the 1-meter and 3-meter completions. Springer's score of 263.30 points also was her first regional qualifying score of the season. She narrowly missed the standard on 3-meter, scoring in first place with 253.55 points.
 
Rochester's other winner on Saturday was Ally Mackey in the 200 butterfly, with the sophomore touching first in the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:10.21.
 
In addition to Springer's wins, the UR divers had a good day, tallying eight top-5 finishes. Senior Julia Sides was second on the 3-meter board (251.55 points) and third on the 1-meter board (216.80 points). Zuzu Bailey was fourth on 1-meter (216.60 points) and fifth on 3-meter (211.90 points), while Lilia MacKenzie was fifth on the 1-meter board with a score of 196.15 points.
 
URochester's top individual swimming event in terms of finishing positions was the 200 backstroke, with the 'Jackets securing second, third and fourth place. Rebekah Jung led the group with a runner-up finish in 2:09.50 time. Amelia Hardiman was third with a time of 2:10.25, while Phoebe Hamblett closed the run of top finishers in fourth at 2:10.74.
 
Hardiman posted another solid swim in the 200 freestyle, leading the Yellowjacket finishers with a second place result in 2:00.05. Teammate Apple Wojtowicz matched that finish in the 200 breaststroke, clocking in with a time of 2:28.86.
 
To open the season, Rochester's 200 medley relay finished third in the days first race, with Jung, Sarah Leevan, Addison Powers and Julianna Weaver combining to swim in 1:51.00. Closing things out, the team of Leevan, Powers, Adele Hellstrom and Weaver were fourth in the 200 freestyle relay, posting a time of 1:41.59.
 
The Yellowjackets had a slew of other top-3 finishers on the afternoon. Jung touched in 1:00.54 for third in the 100 backstroke, while Leevan earned the same result in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.27. Powers finished third in the 100 butterfly in 1:00.59, with Hardiman placing third in the 200 IM in 2:13.88.
 
Other finishers on Saturday included Courtney Dietrich finishing as the top Yellowjacket in both the 1000 freestyle (11:25.48, 5th) and 500 freestyle (5:38.33, 6th). Weaver was first Rochester swimmer to the wall in both sprint freestyle events, earning sixth in the 100 freestyle (56.03 seconds) and the 50 freestyle (25.20 seconds).
 
URochester remains home next Saturday and squares off with its first Division III opponent of the season, with SUNY Cortland coming to the River Campus at 1 pm.