Bucknell swimming and diving adds 18 freshmen for 2026-27 season

Bucknell’s swimming and diving programs reset their roster with 18 freshmen for the 2026-27 season, a Class of 2030 that arrives as the program’s next major building block and Dan Schinnerer’s last recruiting class at the university. The group includes 10 men and eight women, and its size gives Bucknell a clear boost heading into a season shaped by a coaching transition and the demands of the Patriot League.

Schinnerer, who led the men’s and women’s programs for the last 20 seasons, said he will step down in mid-July and move into a senior coaching role at Nation’s Capital Swim Club. His departure closes a long run that helped define Bucknell swimming and diving at Kinney Natatorium, where the Bison have often used home water to measure themselves against the league’s best. The addition of 18 newcomers now becomes part of the handoff, with the roster set to be carried into the next era by a new staff structure that already includes assistant coach Ryan Lincicum, who was added June 5.

The incoming women are Abbey Amato, Maddie Evers, Savanna Ferrucci, Meghan Hadsell, Kylie McKirryher, Karlin Smith, Siena Wilson and Lindsay Young. They join a Bucknell women’s team that finished third in each of the last two Patriot League Championships, a sign that the Bison are not rebuilding from scratch but trying to deepen a competitive core. That matters in a conference still controlled by heavyweights Navy and Army West Point, with Navy’s women extending their title streak to 13 and Army breaking through on the men’s side in 2025 after Navy’s men had won 20 straight.

Bucknell’s recent championship meet showed why this class carries more weight than a routine roster update. At the 2025 Patriot League Championships at Kinney Natatorium, the women finished third and the men fourth in the 34th edition of the meet, which returned to Lewisburg for the 11th time after the 2021 event was canceled because of COVID-19. Freshman Clara Renner won the women’s 400-yard individual medley for her first career conference gold medal, the women’s 200 freestyle relay set a school record, and Justin DiSanto and Will Hedges delivered school-record performances for the men on the final day.

For Union County readers, the scale of this recruiting class is another sign that Bucknell continues to invest in one of its flagship athletic programs. Swimming and diving is a year-round presence in Lewisburg, and the next few seasons will be shaped by how quickly 18 freshmen turn promise into points, relay depth and conference finishes that keep Bucknell in the league chase.