SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 12, 2026) – The Little East Conference (LEC) released their weekly award for last week, starting on 1/5/2026. Ella Smith finds herself named the LEC Women's Swimmer of the week for a sixth consecutive time when eligible for the award. A feat that is very rare to see, usually.
Smith had another top-notch performance on Friday evening versus Rhode Island College. The senior started the meet by helping the WNE 200 Yard Medley Relay team take first place with a time of 1:57.82. That earned the team eleven points. Smith then was in the water for the 200 Yard Freestyle, which she won with a time of 2:02.04, earning nine points. The 200 Yard Breaststroke was next for Smith. She swam a 2:32.28, won the race, and earned nine points for WNE. The Chicopee, Massachusetts native's final swim of the meet was in the 400 Yard IM. Smith won her fourth race of the day with a time of 4:49.83, earning yet another nine points for WNE. That made her total points earned 38. That is the eighth meet this season that Smith has not lost a race in.
After that stellar performance, Smith and the rest of the Golden Bear women's swim team will be on the road for their next meet as they take on Albertus Magnus College, UMass-Dartmouth, and Regis College in a quad meet in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday, January 17, 2026, starting at 1:00 PM.