PISCATAWAY, N.J.- Rutgers swimming and diving has announced its four team captains ahead of the 2025-26 season. Sephora Ford, Katherine Lang, Ellie Schinsky and Brooke Thompson will captain the squad for the upcoming campaign.
 
Ford enters her senior season as a diver. Ford earned Second Team All-America honors last season on Platform, the sixth Scarlet Knight diver to be named an All-American. She was named the team's Diver of the Year and winner of the Galbraith Award. The Sheffield, England native was runner-up on platform and third on 3M at NCAA Zones. Ford also put her name into the record book with the third highest score in program history (302.50) with her runner-up performance at the Princeton Platform Invitational. At the Big Ten Championships, Ford reached the consolation finals on platform, where she finished third in the round and 11th overall. A Chemistry major, she was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National Honor Society for student-athletes, and was named Academic All-Big Ten last season.
 
Lang enters her senior season, swimming the backstroke and IM. The Charlotte, N.C. native competed last season in the 100 and 200 backstroke, the 200 and 400 IM and across multiple relay teams. A Public Health major, she was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National Honor Society for student-athletes, and was named Academic All-Big Ten last season.This will be her second season as a team captain.
 
Schinsky enters her senior season competing in the backstroke and butterfly. A Windham, Maine native, she has two times on Rutgers' all-time top ten list. She posted a 1:59:69 in the 200 fly at the 2024 Minnesota Invite (seventh all-time), and swam a 54.19 in the 100 fly, the ninth fastest time in program history. She was also the ECAC 100 Fly Champion and the ECAC 200 Medley Relay Champion. A Communication and Public Health major, she was inducted into Chi Alpha Sigma, the National Honor Society for student-athletes, and was named Academic All-Big Ten last season.
 
Thompson enters her junior season as a freestyler. A Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native, last season she reset the USA Deaf Swimming Record in the 50 free at the Big Ten Championships as she hit the wall in 23.53 in prelim action. The 11-time World Deaf Swimming Championship medalist and eight-time Deaflympic medalist, she was part of the ECAC 200 Medley Relay championships swim. A Pre-Business major, she was named Academic All-Big Ten last season.

"It's great to have people that really understand the program," head coach Jon Maccoll said. "They came in and they bought in to Rutgers and are now captains and leaders for our program. They are just tremendous leaders."
 
Rutgers will start the 2025 season on October 11 as the Scarlet Knights welcome St. Bonaventure and Fordham. The season opening meet at the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center begins at 1 p.m.