As the 2025-2026 fall and winter sports seasons draw to a close for Fairfield Ludlowe High School, both the Girls and Boys Swim & Dive Teams have had amazing seasons with incredible performances. Senior captains Ella Gussen, Georgia Theodorsen, Sydney Dzliniski, Emi Onofrio, Hannah Wallace, JT Torbey, and Eric Chen have worked incredibly hard to create environments that support the growth and attitude of their teammates.
Fairfield Ludlowe Girls SWIVE ended with a dual meet record of 5-4, beating Warde, Westhill / Stamford, Trumbull, St. Joes, and Danbury. They were also nominated for Team of the Week by The Ruden Report for their three meet winning streak.
Girls JV FCIACS took place on October 25th. The meet featured high rankings, such as Macy Cohen placing fourth overall in the 200 IM (Individual Medley), and the 200 Freestyle Relay (Macy Cohen, Charlotte White, Madeline Brack, Anapaula Cerezo Herrera) placing sixth overall.
Girls Varsity FCIACS held trials on October 29th and finals on November 1st. The meet began with the 200 Medley Relay (Maddy White, Georgia Theodorsen, Ella Gussen, Nora Donahue), where the team made the podium in fifth place. The meet continued; Ella Gussen became the FCIAC Champion of the 200 IM with a school record time of 2:05.79. Along with this, the 200 Freestyle Relay (Ella Gussen, Georgia Theodorsen, Mary Staecker, Nora Donahue) made the podium at sixth place, and Ella Gussen and Georgia Theodorsen placed fourth and sixth respectively in the 100 Breastroke.Gussen achieved yet another school record of 1:06.44. Freshman Eibhy Moynihan placed eighth at Varsity Dive FCIACS with an initial school record score of 350.10. Seniors Ella Gussen and Georgia Theodorsen were awarded All-FCIAC First Team and Second Team Honors.
Girls LL State Championships began with trials on November 5th and finals on November 12th. The high points of this meet include the 200 Medley Relay reaching third place, Ella Gussen placing first in the 200 IM and second in the 100 Backstroke, Eibhy Moynihan destroying her own school diving record with a score of 381.90 and placing fourth, the 200 Freestyle Relay placing second, and Georgia Theodorsen placing third in the 100 Breastroke. States included many personal bests for the girls, including Mary Staecker in the 200 Freestyle, Abi O’Neil in the 500 Freestyle, Maddy Martinez in the 200 IM, Nora Donahue in the 50 and 100 Freestyle, and many more. This left Fairfield Ludlowe in 4th overall out of 19 competing teams, which has been their highest state ranking since 2023.
Girls State Opens featured five falcons swimming at Yale University’s Kipputh Exhibition Pool on November 13th. On the podium stood Ella Gussen for second in the 200 IM and sixth in the 100 Backstroke, and the 200 Medley Relay in sixth place. The girls finished 9th out of 52 competing teams, making it the highest they’ve ever placed at State Opens. Ella Gussen, Georgia Theodorsen, Maddy White, Mary Staecker, and Nora Donahue all received 2025 Connecticut All-State Honors.
The girl’s SWIVE Rookie of the Year Award is given to one or two freshmen every year for displaying incredible success in swimming and being a team player. Following in the footsteps of 2023 rookie, Olivia Ogawa, and 2024 rookies, Maddy White and Mary Staecker, the award was granted to Eibhy Moynihan and Nora Donahue, who both showed exceptional collaboration and athletic skills.
After the girls season came to an end, the boys Fairfield Ludlowe and Fairfield Warde CO-OP season began shortly after. Although the boys finished with a record of 1-7, they put in incredibly hard work this season, and were able to finish 9th overall at FCIAC finals. As stated, the boys captains this year were TJ Torbey and Eric Chen, both from Ludlowe. They represented the team incredibly well, while also bringing morale and fun to practices and meets, even after hard losses.
There were no JV FCIACS for the boys, but there were many Varsity FCIAC finalists this year, including Henry Taft, Liam Laughlin, Eric Chen, TJ Torbey,and Kieran Gunasekarampulle. The meet had some incredible personal bests, including Micah Galan in the 100 Back, George Rybchynskyi in the 100 Breastroke, and Alex Fong in the 100 Freestyle.
After FCIACS came states, and an incredible outcome for the team this year. Liam Laughlin placed seventh in the 200 IM, and the 200 Freestyle Relay consisting of Kieran Gunasekarampulle, JT Torbey, Liam Laughlin, and Henry Taft placed tenth.
Not unlike FCAICS, boys states included even more personal bests; JT Torbey and Yohann Domingue in the 50 Freestyle, Liam Laughlin in the 200 IM, Henry Taft in the 100 Breastroke, and Kieran Gunasekarampulle in the 100 Freestyle.
Both the girls and boys excelled in their respective seasons. SWIVE athletes excitedly await next season, which will be led by their future captains, Olivia Ogawa and Spencer Hillmann for the girls, and Henry Taft and Liam Laughlin for the boys.
Make sure to come support your fellow falcons next season for their home meets at Fairfield University RecPlex and follow them on Instagram at @flhs_swive / @fairfieldswimanddive!
