Women's Swimming & Diving Season Preview

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- She has been a dominant force for the Bridgewater State University swimming & diving team since arriving in the fall of 2022.

Now, senior Cailey Simard (Haverhill, Mass.) is entering her final season with the Bears.

She is the only member of the BSU's women's program to reach the NCAA Division III Championships, doing so last season with a trip to Greensboro, N.C.

Simard is a three-time Little East Conference Diver of the Year and owns four school records plus the conference championship meet records, which she has broken all three seasons.

Simard has one final act to go, starting with BSU's 2025-26 season opener on Saturday morning at the Roger Williams Invitational in Bristol, R.I.

"She's just an incredible person who works extremely hard," said Bears coach Michael Caruso. "She care so vehemently about what she does on the board and in terms of just being there for her teammates.

"She's an incredible leader and we're just very fortunate to experience this with her over these four years. It's obviously very sad this is the last year, but I have some anticipation she's going to go out with a bang."

Simard and her fellow divers figure to be a strong point for BSU, which lost key swimmers to graduation after placing second to Keene State at the Little East Championships in February.

Also returning with Simard on the board is junior Ava Anderson (Lynn, Mass.), a consistent point scorer in her first two seasons.

"She's come a long way," said Caruso. "We're excited to see her junior year."

Junior diver Jillian Hallman (Raynham, Mass.) is also back after missing part of last season.

"We haven't seen her best yet," said Caruso. "She'll add something to the mix."

There is depth on the board with sophomore Gianna Varady (Highland Park, N.J.), a transfer from Norwich, and freshman Sienna DeLucia (Wallingford, Conn.).

"Diving will definitely be our strength," said Caruso. "That's going to carry us. We have seven divers and five are fairly good to elite.

"We anticipate they will definitely be pushing our team in the direction it needs to go."

BSU lost All-Little East swimmer Jenna Fiebiger (second, 100 freestyle) along with Olivia Pelletier, Samantha White, Brianna Matte and Byrnn Murray.

There will be some rebuilding in certain areas to do after losing those key members of the squad.

"It's a very big transition year," said Caruso. "We graduated quite a few women last year. Some major swimmers have moved on to start their careers. We've got a few holes on the swimming side of things we hope to work through this year."

Key returners include senior Julie Remson (Norwalk, Conn.), who was first in the Little East in the 50 freestyle and second in the 100 freestyle; senior Emily Bradford (Pittsfield, Mass.), a middle distance and distance swimmer, and junior Nellie Peecher (Barrington, R.I.), a distance freestyle swimmer.

"We've got some good leadership in there," said Caruso.

Also back is sophomore Evangelina Chaves (Raynham, Mass.), who had a productive first collegiate season.

"We expect big things from her," said Caruso. "We expect her to take a big step."

BSU has finished second in the Little East four straight seasons since joining the conference.

The roster consists of 18 women, including four freshmen and seven seniors.

"I say we'll be in the top three or four and continue that growth we've had the last four or five years with them," said Caruso. "It's a lot to rebuild a roster quickly. It'll take us a little time to get us back up to that top two spot area.

"But we don't expect a major drop off, for sure."