2025 NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championship
- March 11-15, 2025
- IU Natatorium — Indianapolis, IN
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Nova Southeastern (2x)
- Men: University of Tampa (1x)
- Women’s Psych Sheets
- Men’s Psych Sheets
- Live Results
- Live Stream
- Recaps:
Day 3 of the 2025 NCAA Division II Championships is underway in Indy. This morning’s prelims will feature heats of the 100 fly, 400 IM, and 200 free. Through the first two days of the meet, Nova Southeastern is leading the women’s team standings, while Drury is in the lead on the men’s side of the ledger.
Lynn 5th year Luna Mertins enters this morning as the heavy favorite in the women’s 100 fly. Mertins set the DII record at her conference championship meet last month with a 51.85. She comes into the event this morning as the only swimmer in the field to have been under 53 seconds this season.
While Mertins is of course live to set a record today, it looks like U Indy’s Cedric Buessing could do the same. Buessing is the top seed in the men’s 400 IM, coming in with a season best of 3:41.07. With that time, Buessing is less than a second off the DII record of 3:40.22, which was set at last year’s DII Championships.
WOMEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 51.85 – Luna Mertins, Lynn (2025)
Meet Record: 52.06 – Ann Carozza, West Chester (2022)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Luna Mertins (Lynn) – 52.00 (Meet Record)
- Tehani Kong (CSU East Bay) – 53.40
- Mellie Wijk (Drury) – 53.60
- Emily Mears-Bentley (Findlay) – 53.96
- Andrea Paaske (U Indy) – 54.31 (TIE)
- Justice Glasgow (Southern Connecticut St) – 54.31 (TIE)
- Mikayla Kloth (Delta State) – 54.69
- Eniko Onofer (Catawba) – 54.76
Luna Mertins cracked the meet record with her prelims performance of 52.00 this morning. Mertins broke the DII record in this event last month with a 51.81, and now holds the championship record as well. As expected, she looks like the clear favorite as we head into tonight’s final, as she was the fastest swimmer in the field by 1.4 seconds this morning.
CSU East Bay’s Tehani Kong put up a 53.40 to finish 2nd this morning, taking nearly a second off her season best of 54.19. The strength of Kong’s swim this morning came on the back half of the race, where she split 28.28, which was the 2nd-fastest 2nd 50 split in the field to Mertins.
Drury’s Mellie Wijk and Findlay’s Emily Mears-Bentley were also under 54 seconds this morning.
MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
- Meet Record: 44.32 – Marius Kusch, Queens (NC) (2019)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Jackson Lustig (McKendree) – 46.35
- Oskar Sawicki (U Indy) – 46.46
- Alejandro Villarejo (Drury) – 46.53
- Parker Knollman (Tampa) – 46.61
- Antoine Pieterse (Roberts Wesleyan) – 46.66
- Nino Viallon (Florida Southern) – 46.79
- Aleksei Kolesnikov (Montevallo) – 46.81
- Lance Godard (St. Cloud State) – 46.84
A tight prelims of the men’s 100 fly this morning saw the top 8 finishers separated by just 0.49 seconds. Leading the way was McKendree’s Jackson Lustig, who swam a season best 46.35. Lustig’s career best sits at 46.17, which he swam at the 2023 DII NCAA Championships. This morning, he won the race on the back half, swimming a 24.55 on the 2nd 50, which was the fastest split in the field.
U Indy’s Oskar Sawicki came in 2nd with a 46.46, clipping his career best in the race.
Roberts Wesleyan freshman Antoine Pieterse made a statement this morning, swimming a 46.66 for 5th, advancing to the final tonight. That performance marks a career best for Pieterse.
WOMEN’S 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 4:08.56 – Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
- Meet Record: 4:08.56 – Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- May Lowy (Nova Southeastern) – 4:16.40
- Claire Conover (Drury) – 4:18.52
- Katie O’Connell (Grand Valley) – 4:19.04
- Andrea Gomez Espinoza (U Indy) – 4:19.07
- Sophia Bains (Colorado Mesa) – 4:19.87
- Burlingtyn Bokos (Tampa) – 4:20.78
- Gwen Bergum (Drury) – 4:21.17
- Isabell Schiller (Emmanuel) – 4:21.36
Nova Southeastern’s May Lowy, the runner-up in last night’s 200 IM final, led prelims of the women’s 400 IM this morning with a 4:16.40. She was close to her season best of 4:14.84. Lowy got out to a quick start, splitting 57.88 on fly and 1:04.37 on back, for a 2:02.25 on the opening 200.
Drury’s Claire Conover swam a 4:18.52 for 2nd this morning, which comes in about 4 seconds off her season best of 4:14.70. Conover had the fastest breaststroke split of anyone who made the ‘A’ final splitting 1:10.07 on that leg of the race.
Andrea Gomez Espinosa was the top seed coming into the race this morning, holding a season best of 4:13.31, but ended up swimming a 4:19.07 for 4th.
Tampa freshman Burlingtyn Bokos made it into the ‘A’ final for tonight, swimming a 4:20.78 this morning to finish 6th. Bokos has been as fast as 4:16.89 this season, which means this freshman could make some noise in finals tonight.
MEN’S 400 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 3:40.22 – Ben Sampson, Colorado Mesa (2024)
- Meet Record: 3:40.22 – Ben Sampson, Colorado Mesa (2024)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Connor Bischel (Missouri S&T) – 3:50.23
- Jeremias Pock (U Indy) – 3:50.25
- Evan McInerny (Rollins) – 3:50.90
- Joao Nogueira (Drury) – 3:51.55
- Tom Thalau (Lewis) – 3:52.27
- Mak Marcus (Simon Fraser) – 3:52.38
- Wyatt Walsh (Quincy) – 3:52.39
- Zsombor Bujdoso (Ouachita) – 3:52.44
Missouri S&T’s Connor Bischel led the field this morning with a 3:50.23. Bischel was very strong in the middle of the race, splitting 1:00.19 on back and 1:03.44 on breast. He was also great coming home, splitting 54.21 on free.
Bischel was just ahead of U Indy’s Jeremias Pock, who went 3:50.25 this morning. Pock was even better in the middle of the race than Bischel, splitting 58.85 on back and 1:02.20 on breast. He wasn’t, however, as fast as Bischel on free, coming home in 57.56.
Defending champion Cedric Buessing, who entered the meet as the top seed by 6 seconds, came in 2nd-to-last this morning with a 4:01.70. That time is 20 seconds slower than his season best of 3:41.07. He got out to a lackluster start with a 55.21 on fly, then split 1:00.79 on back, 1:08.16 on breast, and 57.54 on free.
WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 1:44.44 – Patricia Castro Ortega, Queens (NC) (2016)
- Meet Record: 1:45.27
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Lucy Hedley (Grand Valley) – 1:46.78
- Montana White (Azusa Pacific) – 1:46.79
- Kristina Orban (Nova Southeastern) – 1:47.00
- Tori Meklensek (Simon Fraser) – 1:47.44
- Emilia Ronningdal (Nova Southeastern) – 1:48.47
- Emily Traube (Truman State) – 1:48.70
- Ellie Walker (Drury) – 1:48.81
- Tammy Greenwood (Oklahoma Christian) – 1:49.10
Grand Valley’s Lucy Hedley clocked the top time of the morning by 0.01 seconds, swimming a 1:46.78. She was just off her season best of 1:46.71 with the swim. Azusa Paficic’s Montana White was right behind Hedley this morning, swimming a 1:46.79. For White, that was a huge season best, blowing away her previous mark of 1:49.10. White’s swim also marks a career best, as her previous best was 1:47.49, which she swam at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Nova Southeastern freshman Kristina Orban, the top seed coming into the morning, came in 3rd with a 1:47.00. Orban has been as fast as 1:46.27 this year.
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS
- NCAA DII Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
- Meet Record: 1:32.46 – Dion Dreesens, Queens (NC) (2016)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Jacob Hamblin (Tampa) – 1:33.90
- Matthew Bosch (Grand Valley) – 1:34.04
- Volodymyr Gavrysh (McKendree) – 1:34.57
- Maksymilian Minichowski (Catawba) – 1:34.97
- Daniel Meszaros (Ouachita) – 1:35.16
- Matteo Vissotto (Drury) – 1:35.18
- Rafael Ponce De Leon (Tampa) – 1:35.22
- Caleb Brandon (Tampa) – 1:35.25
Unsurprisingly, Tampa thrived in this event after breaking the NCAA DII record in the 800 free relay on Tuesday night. Tampa put 3 swimmers into tonight’s ‘A’ final, including top seed Jacob Hamblin, who clocked a 1:33.90 this morning. Hamblin blew away his season best of 1:35.38 with the swim. Of note, he split 1:32.74 on the 3rd leg of the relay on Tuesday, so Hamblin seemingly has more left in the tank for tonight.
Grand Valley’s Matthew Bosch was close behind, putting up a 1:34.04 this morning. That time comes in just 0.40 seconds slower than Bosch’s season best.
McKendree freshman Volodymyr Gavrysh made a statement swim this morning as well, clocking a career best of 1:34.57 for 3rd overall.
Behind Hamblin, Tampa also saw Rafael Ponce De Leon and Caleb Brandon make it into the ‘A’ final for tonight.
St. Cloud is building some momentum! Two great second swims in the 50 free yesterday (swim off and consolation final), best time in the 200 MR, and now an A final in the 100 fly! Keep it going huskies!!!
Huskies on three. One, two, three: HUSKIES.
Been a pretty fast meet overall with several records happening in prelims and being backed up in finals. Enjoying that as a fan of fast swimming.
My alma mater has a small contingent this year but performing well so that’s a nice bonus too!
Is Buessing injured? Pretty stark turnaround from his 1000 performance.
He got really sick right before the 4 IM
That sucks to hear— does anyone know if he will be back later in the meet
That is unfortunate… I got food poisoning at the 2014 D2 meet. I wasn’t the favorite to win any races so not as significant but it sucks to lose a chance to race at your best when you only get that a few times a year. And only get a few national meets. Also the down vote was just on the situation. I really appreciate the the insight.