1955-56
Shelley Mann '61 overcame polio to claim Olympic gold as a swimmer at the 1956 Melbourne Games before enrolling at Cornell. Swimming had become part of her rehabilitation as a six-year-old and it led to gold in the 100-meter butterfly with a world record time of 1:14.0 before lowering it to 1:11.8 nearly two years later.
1964-65
Mary Jane Berry takes over as head coach of the Cornell women’s swimming and diving program as the team moves into Helen Newman Hall. Her teams would go 78-15 over her first 13 seasons.
1965-66
Shelley Mann is inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
1966-67
The Big Red has the first of two undefeated dual meet seasons in the span of five years, going 6-0.
1969-70
Cornell goes 8-2 in dual meet action, establishing a school record for most wins in a season.
1981-82
Pete Orschiedt takes over a combined men’s and women’s program.
1982-83
In the first season of Ivy League women's swimming and diving round-robin competition, Cornell finishes seventh with an 0-6 finish.
1987-88
Joe Lucia becomes the head coach of the women’s swimming program and immediately helps the team match a school record with a pair of Ivy League dual meet wins in his first year.
1990-91
Jackie Cadwallader becomes the first Cornellian to win an EISL title with her exceptional effort on the 1-meter diving board.
1991-92
The Big Red posts its first winning Ivy League dual match campaign, going 4-3 to finish fourth.
1992-93
Erin Hoese becomes the second Cornell diver in three years to win the 1-meter dive.
1993-94
The Big Red wins the 200 free relay at the EISL championship, the first of two consecutive years a Big Red squad would win the title. Kim Milligan also takes home the title in the 100 back, the only season Cornell has won multiple EISL title.
1994-95
Cornell goes 7-4 in dual meet action and finishes a best-ever third at the Eastern championship.
1995-96
Trina Young wins the marathon of swimming at the EISL meet, taking home the 1,650 free in a time of 16:53.18.
1996-97
Pam Arnold takes over as head coach of the women’s swimming team for a two-year stint.
1998-99
Marrie Neumer begins a five-year stint as head coach of the Big Red swimming and diving program.
2003-04
Head coach John Holohan becomes head coach of the Big Red swimming program. Diver Kristin Rayhack becomes the first Cornell diver to capture an Eastern 3-meter title with her final score of 476.95.
2005-06
Senior Jessica Brookman wins an Eastern title in the 100 butterfly, Cornell's first individual women's swimming title for a Big Red athlete in 10 years.
2009-10
The Big Red triple their previous year's win total (3) and go 2-5 in Ivy dual meet action, matching the number of wins from the previous six years combined under Joe Lucia. Lucia, who took over the combined program prior to the season, helped Cornell to its best finish at the league championship meet in 15 years with a fifth place finish while setting the school's meet scoring record. Chiara Spinazzola set an Ivy and school record in the 100 back in winning the conference title. She also set a school record in the 100 fly.
2010-11
Cornell posted its second-highest point total at the Ivy League championships in school history (730) in finishing seventh at the meet.
2011-12
The Big Red placed eighth at the Ivy League championship meet. Freshman Meredith Drummond set three school records and had numerous NCAA “B” times during the meet, while increasing its dual meet win total over 2010-11.
2012-13
The Big Red set four schools records, including a pair by freshman Jenna Immormino (50 and 100 free) as Cornell finished eighth at the Ivy League championship. Meredith Drummond (400 IM) and Jessie Holley (100 breast) also set school records.
2013-14
Cornell posted its second winning Ivy League season in school history and first since 1991-92 en route to a 6-3 season (4-3 Ivy League). Along the way, the Big Red defeated both Boston College and Colgate, defeated Princeton for the first time in school history (0-32) and topped Penn for the first time in 13 seasons. At the Ivy League Championship meet, Cornell swimmers set 11 school records.
2015-16
After being an assistant and associate head coach for the Big Red for two seasons, Patrick Gallagher is hired as head coach in April 2015. In his first season, Gallagher leads Cornell to a 3-6 record and eighth place finish in the Ivy League.
2019-20
Four school records fell during the 2019-20 season, including both diving marks. Sophomore Demetra Williams broke the 1-meter school record (266.50) and freshman Elise Jendritz shattered the 3-meter mark (306.05), becoming the first Cornell women's diver to surpass the 300-point plateau in the six dive format. Both divers went on to qualify for the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, where Williams made the final of the 1-meter competition. Senior tri-captain Laurel Kiselis broke her own 200-yard freestyle record (1:48.02) and the Big Red's 800-yard freestyle relay school record fell for the fourth-straight year after Kiselis, Melissa Parker, Alexandra Handlin, and Sophia Cherkez posted a time of 7:20.96 at the Ivy Championships.
2022-23
The Big Red rebounded after a tough 2021-22 season, finishing 5-4 overall and 3-4 in conference action. Two individual school records fell during the season as Melissa Parker '23 broke the 200-yard freestyle school record (1:47.13) and Audrey Holden '26 broke the 100-yard breaststroke record (1:02.11). Four total team records also fell as Priscilla Wongso '24, Emilie Boisrenoult '24, Joelle Ohr '24, and Parker set a new time in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.00) and Boisernoult, Wongso, Anna Gruvberger '24, and Parker broke the 400-yard freestyle relay record (3:21.02). The other two consisted of Sophia Tsai '25, Holden, Boisernoult, and Parker breaking the 200-yard medley relay record (1:40.62) and Marie Williams '24, Amy Wu '24, Boisernoult, and Wongso setting a new record time in the 400-yard medley relay record. Elise Jendritz '23 was the lone competitor for the women's at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, finishing 17th in the 3-meter competition.
2023-24
Cornell continues its momentum from last season with a 5-4 overall mark and 3-4 in Ivy action. Its five dual wins match the previous season and make it the first time since 2013-15 that the Big Red achieved back-to-back seasons of five or more dual wins. Cornell earns a monster win in its first Ivy meet of the season, as Priscilla Wongso '24, Kate Li '26, Joelle Ohr '24, and Emilie Boisrenoult '24 team up to finish second in the final event of the invite to secure Cornell's first victory over Harvard since 1983 while also beating Dartmouth. Wongso headlines a record book shuffling season with new program marks in the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle during the Ivy Championship. Boisrenoult also gets in on the record season with a new program-best in the 100 Butterfly. The underclassmen also etch their names in the history books, with Li (200 IM), Katherine Yee '27 (200 Butterfly), and Hojung Yoon '27 (200 Backstroke) racing to the top of the all-time chart. Four team records also fell throughout the season. Ming Xu '27, Amy Wu '24, Boisrenoult, and Wongso link up to take down the 200 Medley Relay record while Wongso, Li, Anna Gruvberger '24, and Boisrenoult set a new time in the 400 Freestyle Relay. The other two consisted of Xu, Audrey Holden '25, Gruvberger, and Wongso grabbing a new mark in the 400 Medley Relay and Li, Jungmin Yoon '26, Allie Danko '25, and Erin Dehollander '27 setting a new program record in the 800 Freestyle Relay. The Big Red set 10 new program records en route to its best total point performance at Ivies in seven years.
Ivy League/EISL Champions
1650 Free
1996 — Trina Young (Cornell) — 16:53.18
100 Back
1994 — Kim Milligan (Cornell) — 56.06
2010 - Chiara Spinazzola (Cornell - 54.53
100 Butterfly
2006 — Jessica Brookman (Cornell) — 55.44
200 Free Relay
1994 — Cornell — 1:34.72
1995 — Cornell — 1:35.48
1-Meter Dive
1991 — Jackie Cadwallader (Cornell) — 408.10
1993 — Erin Hoese (Cornell) — 383.30
3-Meter Dive
2004 — Kristin Rayhack (Cornell) — 476.95
