Wheaton, Ill. -- Two weeks after beginning their 2026-27 season in Chicago, the Thunder swimming teams returned to the pool and competed inside Lederhouse Natatorium for the first time on Friday evening. Wheaton welcomed Division I program University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the suburbs to renew the squads' annual head-to-head series. The visiting Panthers won tonight's women's meet by a score of 125-70. Three Thunder swimmers logged individual event wins, and the team was led by senior All-American
Tess Boyer, who posted two first-place finishes and the season's fastest time in Division III in the 400-yard IM.
Boyer, who earned First Team All-America honors in the 400 IM last year, topped this evening's four-woman field with a rapid 4:25.25 count, touching the wall almost exactly three seconds behind the pace she set in her fifth-place swim at the national meet in March. The senior's winning time in Friday's race currently stands as the top mark in the event in all of Division III this year by an impressive 3.56-second margin.
Boyer's notable night continued with a personal best and CCIW-leading time in the 100 yard breaststroke competition, as she swam a 1:05.81 line to win the event by more than two seconds. Her updated count currently ranks 20th in the country this year.
Aubrey Swanson swam to a first-place finish in the women's 50-yard freestyle on Friday, topping the nine-swimmer field with a time of 24.93 that leads the conference in 2026-27.
Kate Zurowski posted the best time in the 100-yard backstroke event, logging a 1:02.39 time to pip her Milwaukee competitor by exactly two seconds.
Lizzy Ziegler registered a 2:06.90 mark to earn a runner-up placement in the 200 free, while
Allison Henschel earned Wheaton's best times in the 1000 free and 100 free via respective counts of 11:23.14 and 56.65.
Heidi Jeromin placed fourth in the 50 free standings with a mark of 26.30.
Having opened its 2026-27 home slate, the Thunder team will head back out on the road next weekend as Wheaton travels to Carthage College for the first CCIW meet of the season on Saturday.
