Lutes cheering on pool deck in senior day dual meet with Puget Sound

Anneliese Anderson-Caffee

Swim Teams Dive Into 2026-27 with Big Expectations

By Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

The Pacific Lutheran University swimming programs look to continue to grow under Head Coach Andrew Lum, building on historic performances last year at the Northwest Conference Championships in Boise, Idaho.

The Lute women finished third overall at the 2026 NWC Championships at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center. It was PLU’s highest finish since the 2022 conference meet and was the best finish under Lum who enters his fifth season as head coach. While somewhat disappointed in the outcome, the men’s team finished fifth overall at the 2026 NWC Championships, a performance that was also the program’s best showing since the 2022 meet.

The PLU women had eight swimmers secure All-Conference honors last winner and have the benefit of six of those student-athletes returning for the 2026-2027 campaign.

The women’s team had a pretty phenomenal year last year, and I think we’ve retooled a little bit of what we look at in terms of expectations. When we were at conference last year I think people got really nervous on the number game side of things, because it did come down to the last day, and the last finals session for that third placing.

Something that we’ve really focused on with the team this year is your process and your effort. If we can be really consistent on that, then by the time we get to it, and if we find ourselves to be that position again, then it’s all autopilot.

That’s something we really focused them on with training, our mentality going into competition. That’s where our expectations are. Can we take the time to focus on our individual and team process and then putting our absolute best effort behind the blocks and to team spirit when it comes down to it.

Head Coach Andrew Lum

2026-2027 Women's Roster

Anchoring the returners is senior Riley Maher. The Eugene, Oregon native was a Second Team All-Conference swimmer in three events last year, placing fifth in the 200-yard individual medley, fifth in the 400-yard individual medley, and was sixth in the 200-yard breaststroke. Her star studded career has included winning All-Conference accolades 10 times, including three times in her bread and butter event, the 200 IM.

“Riley is always a heavy hitter for us. She’s been an A finalist and All-Conference in every single one of her individual events leading up to this year.”

Also returning is junior Scout Hawkins who was All-Conference in three events in Boise last year. The Denver, Colorado native was First Team All-Conference in the 1,650-yard freestyle, placing third overall while earning Second Team honors for a fourth place finish in the 400-yard individual medley and a seventh place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Hawkins enters this winter with seven All-Conference honors under her belt after earning Second Team honors in four events as a first year in 2024-2025.

“Scout has always been an extremely great performer for us.”

Harper Canessa is back for her sophomore campaign after turning heads last year in her conference debut in Boise. The Portland, Oregon native earned First Team All-NWC after placing runner-up in the 100-yard breaststroke and was a Second Team selection in the 200-yard breaststroke after finishing eighth overall.

“Harper came in guns blazing last year as a first year. Riley, Scout, and Harper I know will be very strong contributors for us this year.”

Kei Nishikawa earned Second Team honors in a pair of events. The sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii made her league meet debut by finishing seventh in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly.

Kei was rock solid all last year whether it was dual meets or the conference meet.

Fort Collins, Colorado native Hannah Testa returns after earning All-NWC in the 100-yard breaststroke after finishing eighth along with All-Conference performer and Gig Harbor, Washington native Karina Yevstifieieva who was seventh in the 50-yard freestyle.

“Those are all athletes that have performed well not only at practice and in training, but we’ve also seen it in the dual meets and conference meet last season.”

Beyond the returning All-Conference swimmers, Lum is expecting big things from both Julia Lorenzo and Zara Vera Dodge. A sophomore from Mukilteo, Washington, Lorenzo won’t be in the pool for the Lutes until after the semester ends as she currently is involved with the study away program in Oaxaca, Mexico. But for Lum, that won’t stop the team captain from making an impact.

Julia was just getting the hang of things last year. We’ve figured a few things out together, on paper she can be an absolute rockstar. She was that iceberg just scratching the surface of her potential last year.

An Albany, Oregon native, Zara Vera Dodge is another sophomore that Lum expects to make a big leap during the 2026-2027 campaign.

“I feel like Zara developed into someone that’s really found her niche, and found her wheelhouse. I feel like she’ll step up pretty big for us.”

Lorenzo will additionally serve as a team captain along with junior Ellie Cutting from Anchorage, Alaska and sophomore Brooke Bradley from Tacoma, Washington. Also back for the Lutes will be juniors Matthea Gaines and Ella Norby.

New to the squad is a trio of first years in Nazzy Bagnes, Hannah Kahele, and Keira McDowell.

I think all three of our first year women have something to show in terms of their capability and all three of them have different strengths.

Nazzy is a little more sprint oriented, and that’s a corps we really need help with. Hannah is a little bit more mid-distance and distance which is something we’ve always thrived in but it’s still nice to bolster that core group.

Keira is coming in pretty close to a lot of school records. She’ll be a heavy hitter in the 100 fly, 100 back, and 200 IM. Right now she’s pretty much right on top of Annika Eisele’s 100 back record. She could be a pretty big player and is hyper versatile and will most likely find herself on the relays at conference.

Bagnes joins the Lutes from Elk Grove, California where she swam for Cosumnes Oaks High School. Kahele comes from Wahiawa, Hawaii where she attended Kamehameha Kapalama Schools while McDowell is the third Colorado native on the squad, hailing from Parker Lutheran High School.

For the men, the Lutes will look to build on last year’s fifth place finish at the league meet, a performance that yielded three All-Conference student-athletes. The Lutes graduated two of those All-Conference performers in Tyler Tanaka and Christian Georgi but returns Vyron Domingo who had a stellar debut season last winter.

The Mill Creek, Washington native earned All-Conference accolades in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, finishing fourth in the 100 back and placing sixth in the 200 back at the conference championships.

2026-2027 Men's Roster

I’ll be blunt, the men underperformed last year. They know that. We know that. We already had our heart-to-heart with them as a coaching staff and they’ve had their own heart-to-heart themselves.

In terms of expectations, I don’t think a top three finish is outside our wheelhouse, but it will take their focus and their commitment to the process. I think those are things that went by the wayside from them last year. We as a coaching staff can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. So I think this year they understand the water is good for them, pun intended.

The Lutes have three seniors on the squad this year in Hoskoo Amgalan from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Sam Johnson from Kent, Washington and team captain Aidan Koshinsky from DuPont, Washington.

Koshinsky was a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection last year for the Lutes along with junior and Charlo, Montana native August Hertz.

In order for our men to take that next step, it’s not only about letting our stars shine, but also letting your supporting cast members rise. I do feel that some people that have the ability to score in finals, or even make a final last year, didn’t. So the name of the game is can we get those supporting cast members to step up and get those one, two, three, four, five points for us.

PLU’s other team captain is junior Elijah Vickery from Richland, Washington. Vickery along with fellow team captain Aidan Koshinsky are two Lutes Lum expects big things from

“We’re trying a new model this year and doing team captains for the first time with Elijah and Aiden. I think they’re people that have been slept on unfortunately during their careers here. I think they’re two that have the ability and capability to be scorers for us.

They’re realizing what they’re capable of ,and they’re going to be great leaders because I’ve seen a lot of great intentionality and energy and leadership from both of them.”

Matt Jones celebrates in pool in Boise at 2026 NWC Meet

Lum is also expecting big things from Matt Jones. The Olympia, Washington native made his debut last year but was derailed at the conference meet with an injury.

It was a little unfortunate for Matt last year. He got a concussion on the last day of conference so he didn’t get to swim all three of his events. He’s someone that I feel is very much an iceberg, similar to Julia.

Also returning for the Lutes is junior’s Dakota Domingo from Hilo, Hawaii and Anthony James from Lacey, Washington along with sophomore’s Marshall Bataluna from Honolulu, Hawaii and Sebastian Arellano from Mesa, Arizona.

In addition to 11 returners, the Lutes boast five newcomers on the men’s team for the 2026-2027 season.

PLU’s first years hail from three different states, including three from the Evergreen State. Tawan Benedict hails from Shelton High School with Greg Jones coming from Mount Vernon High School and Logan Stoker from nearby Sumner High School.

Our incoming men are nasty. Tawan is a huge diamond in the rough. Very minimal experience in the sport but he’s already right on top of our school record in the 100 fly and he’s pretty darn close to our 100 breaststroke record as well. He can literally do any event and thrive for us and is a guy that could find his way on all the relays at conference as well.

Greg and Logan are sleepers in terms of what I see with their work ethic in practice and their ability to improve on the process.

Garrett Breton joins the Lutes from Rancho Santa Margarita, California where he attended Trabuco Hills High School while Calahan McColley comes to PLU from Montana where he attended Bozeman High School.

“Calahan is already faster than our school record in the 200 free, which is our oldest men’s team school record. That’s really exciting. Again, he’s a super versatile athlete. You could get him to swim any event and he’d thrive.

Garrett is an incredible sprint talent that had an explosive high school senior year. He’s going to find his way doing some pretty awesome things.”

The Lutes open the dual meet season this weekend, hosting the Whits at PLU Pool. It’s the first of seven dual meets for the squad. Last season the men and women wrapped up the dual meet season with identical 6-2 records.

We’re really looking forward to showing what we can do this weekend against two very strong programs. Racing against the Whits really gives us a litmus test of what the gold standard for the conference is and what we’re expecting of ourselves when we see quality competition in February at the conference championships.

Friday’s dual with Whitman College begins at 6 p.m. with the Lutes hosting Whitworth University the following day a 1 p.m. Those meets are two of the three home meets this year for PLU with the squad also hosting a senior day dual with University of Puget Sound on Jan. 31.

2026-2027 Season Schedule