SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 8, 2025) – The Little East Conference (LEC) has named Ella Smith their conference Swimmer of the Week for the fifth time in five weeks of Smith being eligible for the award. Smith earned this award after a weekend at the Bridgewater State Invitational, where she set two more program records and won each individual race she swam.
Chicopee, Massachusetts native, Ella Smith, had another meet that will go down as one of the best individual meets by a Golden Bear in program history. Smith started the day by helping the 200 Yard Medley Relay team place second, with a time of 1:57.85. Smith then swam in her first 400 Yard IM of the season. Smith won the event with a final time of 4:34.68 and broke the program record by over 30 seconds. The Chicopee Comprehensive High School graduate then won the 100 Yard Freestyle event by almost a full second. She had a final time of 54.29, a season-best time, and a new program record by 0.48 seconds. Smith was not done. After a long day at the meet, Smith swam the 200 Yard IM in a season-best time of 2:11.73, winning the race by over fourteen and a half seconds and being just over a second and a half from breaking another program record. The senior ended the day by leading off the 400-yard Freestyle Relay. She helped the team place second with a time of 3:54.85, just 0.4 seconds off the current program record.
Smith and the women's swim team will go on winter break before returning in January for their next meet versus Rhode Island College on January 9, 2025, at 6:00 PM inside the Caprio Alumni Healthful Living Center.