FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Drury women's swimming and diving opened its 2026-27 season Saturday with a strong overall showing in duals with NCAA Division I foes Arkansas and TCU at Arkansas Natatorium. Arkansas claimed a 209-83 overall decision over Drury, while TCU edged the Panthers by a 195-102 count.

Drury received big performances from Gwen Bergum and Belen Morales, who combined for five top-four individual finishes, as well as bronze-worthy efforts by Yevheniia Zhukova (100 Fly) and Sophia Deane (200 Back). Bergum's second-place finish in the 200 IM represented the top individual effort by a Panther.

Drury Highlights

• The Panthers' 200 Medley Relay team of Deane, Bergum, Zhukova and Paula Rodríguez Rendón took third with an overall time of 1:44.39.
• Bergum's (2:08.74) second-place effort in the 200 IM highlighted the Panthers' list of individual performances.
• Bergum, the defending NCAA Division II national champion in the 200 Breast and 100 Breast, placed fourth in the 200 (2:21.85) and fifth in the 100 (1:05.28) to kick off the new campaign.
• Morales also claimed a third-place finish, clocking in at 52.40 in the 100 Free.
• Morales (5:08.49) and Dias (5:09.29) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 500 Free.
• Morales (1:53.82) also claimed fourth in the 200 Free, followed by Nikol Maniko (1:55.11), who placed sixth in the same event.
• Deane claimed bronze in the 200 Back with a time of 2:01.79.
• Rodriguez Rendon registered a sixth-place performance in the 100 Free in her Drury debut.
• Another Drury newcomer, junior transfer Luiza Dias placed fourth in the 1,000 Free with a time of 10:36.23.
• Zhukova brought home bronze in the 100 Fly with a time of 57.93, leading a contingent of three Panthers who finished among the top nine swimmers in the event.
• The Panthers claimed the fourth through the sixth spots in the 200 Free, led by Leticia Nunes (1:57.31).
• Rianne Rose took home a fourth-place finish in the 200 Fly (2:09.75).
• Elvira Lonnberg Flores followed Bergum's second-place showing in the 200 IM with a sixth-place effort (2:11.75) of her own; 
• Petra Baumane clocked a time of 23.94 in the 50 Free to finish fifth.
• In the 1-meter diving competition, Piera Rufino (222.80) turned in the top performance by a Panther with an eighth-place finish; Maddie Rogers led DU in the 3-meter with a score of 230.45 to place eighth.
• DU's top 400 Free Relay team of Morales, Rodriguez Rendon, Dias and Maniko took third with a time of 3:30.31. 

LOOKING AHEAD
Drury swimming and diving will make its first home appearance of the 2026-27 campaign at Breech Pool on Oct. 30-31, when the Panthers host the Drury Invitational.

For all the latest information on Drury swimming and diving, visit DruryPanthers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on Instagram.

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