Hamilton College's Matthew Chang '28 (Leonia, N.J./Leonia HS) and Nathaniel Taft '27 (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde HS) earned 2026 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Swimming & Diving All-Conference honors on Tuesday, Feb. 24 when the conference announced its end-of-season awards.
 
The top three individual finishers and the top three relays in each event at the 2026 NESCAC championships collected all-conference recognition. The NESCAC championships were held at the Colby College Aquatics Center from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22.
 
Chang won the 100-yard backstroke with a team-record time of 48.07 seconds as he made all-NESCAC for the first time. He was the third Hamilton swimmer that finished first in the event at the conference meet and the first since Todd Johnson '08 in 2008.
 
Taft was runner-up in the 50 and 100 freestyle as he collected all-NESCAC honors for the third time. In 2025 he took second place in the 50 and 100 free and became the first Hamilton swimmer to win the men's 200 free. As a first-year in 2024, Taft captured first place in the 50 and 100 free and was second in the 200 free. He was named the conference's Rookie of the Year for his efforts.
 
The Continentals finished in sixth place out of 11 teams, which was their best showing in the team standings at the conference meet since 2010. Hamilton racked up 800.5 team points over the course of the four days.