SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth University swimming teams hope to deliver familiar results in an unfamiliar environment at the 2026 Northwest Conference Championships this weekend. For the first time the meet will take place in Boise at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center. The Pirates are defending champions for both the men and women.
The meet takes place Friday through Sunday with morning preliminary heats starting at 9:30 am and evening finals beginning at 5:00 pm each day. Check the Whitworth swimming schedule for links to the FloCollege video stream, tickets and daily results. Live results can be found on the Meet Mobile phone app (which requires a subscription).
Both Whitworth squads went undefeated during the 2025-26 NWC dual meet season, the men continuing a run of recent dominance. The women posted their second straight perfect dual meet record. The Pirate men are searching for their third straight NWC title, fourth in the last five years and 22nd since winning their first championship in 1996. The women's team is aiming to repeat its 2025 championship and claim its seventh championship overall.
In 2025 the Pirate men won the championship with the second-highest point total (814.5 points) and the second-largest margin of victory (278 points) in NWC history. Much of the firepower from that team is back in Boise.
Austin Elwyn and Alex Popov are defending champions in two events apiece. Elwyn won the 200-yard individual medley and 200-yard backstroke last season, while Popov swept both breaststroke races. The Bucs return four other defending event champions in Henry Brewster (200-yard buttefly), Parker Dangleis (200-yard freestyle), Samuel Draeger (400-yard individual medley) and Jake Sachtjen (1,650-yard freestyle).
In addition, Whitworth is the defending champion in three of the five relays.
All the defending champions are seeded highly again in 2026. Several other Pirates have a chance to compete for individual conference titles. Kai Jon Hayashida and Blake Swenson are seeded first and second in the men's 100-yard backstroke. Nathanael Van Liew is seeded highly in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles.
In all, 15 different Whitworth men are seeded among the top eight in at least one event.
Last season the Pirate women knocked off defending champion Whitman 636-591 with third place Puget Sound 225 points behind the Bucs. Led by 2025 Co-NWC Swimmer of the Year Isabella Hoopes, Whitworth is going into this meet with a target firmly on its back.
Hoopes is the defending champion in both the 200 I.M. and the 400 I.M. and was runner-up in the 200-yard breaststroke to score 57 individual points (out of a possible 60).
The Pirate women were champions in three of the five relays as well.
Led by a trio of several first-years and a couple of strong sophomores, the Pirates could capture several more gold medals this weekend.
Among the first-years, Kallie Badry is the top-seed in both the 500-yard and 1,650 freestyle and is seeded second in the 400 I.M. Paige Dangleis is the number one seed in both the 100 and 200 freestyles and the second seed in the 100 backstroke and 200 I.M. Molly Konop is the first seed in the 100 breaststroke and second seed in the 200.
The reason Konop is the #2 seed in the 200 breaststroke is because sophomore teammate Megan Bonikowsky posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark and school record time in that event in December. Bonikowsky is the #2 seed behind Konop in the 100 breaststroke. Fellow sophomore Grace Esteban is seeded third in the 50 free.
Makhaela Parrish, the 2024 NWC Rookie of the Year after winning two individual events, has battled injury and illness since her first season but should score highly in three events. So should fellow junior Hailey Freeman. Eleven different women are seeded among the top eight in at least one event.
Individual events are scored though 16 places, so depth is key. The top 16 swimmers from the morning preliminary heats advance to the evening finals with the top eight racing in the championship final and the 9th through 16th swimmers competing in the consolation final. Relays and the 1,650 are timed finals (no preliminaries).
