Men's & Women's Roster
Men's & Women's Schedule
Reigning Champions: Sarah Arpag - 100-yard Butterfly, 200-yard Butterfly and 100-yard Backstroke champion… Kirsti Keppo - 500-yard Freestyle and 1,650-yard Freestyle champion.
About the Wildcats: Linfield returns four of five First Team All-Northwest Conference swimmers from last season, most notably the Co-Swimmers of the meet Sarah Arpag and Kirsti Keppo who combined for five individual titles at the 2024-25 championships. For Keppo, winning is the standard, the two-time NWC Swimmer of the Meet has claimed five Northwest Conference titles and 11 First Team All-NWC honors in her career, looking to win the women's 500-yard freestyle for a third consecutive season. In the classroom, Keppo is a two-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree, entering the weekend with five top times in the NWC, all of which in the Freestyle events except for the 50-yard Freestyle. Fellow senior Sarah Arpag is a six-time NWC champion and 12-time First Team All-NWC honoree, consistently posting her season-best times at the conference championship meets in years past. Arpag earned the conference's Rookie of the Year honors back at the 2023 Northwest Conference Championships after claiming one individual title, two individual runner-up finishes, and three appearances on championship-winning relay teams as a freshman. Arpag enters the championships with two top-five times in the NWC, leading the conference in the women's 100-yard Individual Medley (1:01.34).
The women's squad sets their sights on winning a team conference championship for the first time since 2022-23, while the men's team last won the NWC title in 1998-99.
Caley Haydu, Ivan Tontchev, Rocco Velie, and Carson Washburn return after earning Second Team All-NWC honors last season.
Freshman Kira Etheredge has proved herself as one of the best young swimmers in the Northwest Conference this season, typically dominating in the breaststroke events. She ranks third in the 50-yard Breaststroke, fourth in the 100-yard Breaststroke, and second in the 100-yard Individual Medley; she trails only her teammate Sarah Arpag amongst the NWC's top times in the 100-yard IM. Junior Chloe Lazaraton enters with two top-eight times in both the 1,000-yard and 1,650-yard Freestyle.
The Wildcat women's team ranks third in the conference in two relay races, the 400-yard Freestyle Relay and the 200-yard Medley Relay.
On the men's side, sophomore Kai Laitinen has had a strong season in the men's freestyle distance events, holding top-seven times in each of the 500-yard, 1,000-yard, and 1,650-yard Freestyle races. Laitinen earned two First Team All-NWC honors after podium finishes in both the 1,650-yard Freestyle and 400-yard IM last season.
Ivan Tontchev and Jack Sappington team up for the men's breaststroke events, both ranking in the top-eight of each the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard Breaststroke events. Tontchev ranks third in both the 50-yard and 100-yard races. Rocco Velie joins Sappington as the Wildcat's best times in the 100-yard Individual Medley. The men's team has three top-four relay times entering the championships, most notably the third-fastest time in the 400-yard Medley Relay.