2025 NCAA DIII Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2025 NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 19-22, 2025
• Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• Times: Prelims 10:00 AM / Finals 6:00 PM (ET)
• Defending Champs: Kenyon women (1x) & Emory men (3x)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Streaming on NCAA.com
• Live Results
• “NCAA DIII Championships” on Meet Mobile
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

Good morning, DIII fans and welcome to the second day of the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships. It was an electric first day, highlighted by Kaley McIntyre broke the women’s DIII 50 freestyle record twice. There was plenty of other intense action, as freshman Natalie Garre won the women’s 500 free, James Schwenk won a nail-biter men’s 50 free final, Sophia Verkleeren and Justin Finkel repeated as champions in the women’s 200 IM and men’s 500 freestyle, and Carnegie Mellon won its first (and second) NCAA titles since 2007.

The stage is set for the second day of action, which gets underway this morning with prelims of the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, and 200 freestyle relay.

Women’s 400 Yard IM – Prelims

• Division III Record: 4:13.14, Caroline Wilson (Williams), 2012
• 2024 Champion: 4:15.67, Neely Burns (Trinity U.)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Sophia Verkleeren (WILL), 4:15.75
2. Natalie Garre (BOWD), 4:18.56
3. Emily Harris (DEN), 4:19.02
4. Sarah Bernard (MIT), 4:21.28
5. Neely Burns (TUTX), 4:21.57
6. Quinn Weygandt (SWAT), 4:21.64
7. Meredith Liu (EMOR), 4:23.67
8. Bethany Spangler (NYU), 4:23.84
9. Calista Lynch (NYU), 4:24.06
10. Jordan Herrera (KEN), 4:24.07
11. Lily Codd (WILL), 4:24.43
12. Sydney McCallie (SALI), 4:24.65
13. Ashlyn Widmer (KEN), 4:24.84
14. Tess Boyer (WETN), 4:26.38
15. Yan Yee Adler (MIT), 4:26.53
16. Madeleine Dunn (TUFT), 4:27.43

Two of last night’s champions took the top spots in the women’s 400 IM, the first event of this morning’s prelims session. In the final heat, Verkleeren, once again crowned the 200 IM champion last night, fired off a lifetime best 4:15.75. The time improves on the 4:16.77 she swam at the Gompei Invite at midseason and is just off the 4:15.67 Neely Burns swam to win this race last season (Verkleeren didn’t race the 400 IM at 2024 NCAAs).

500 freestyle champion Natalie Garre made up some ground on Verkleeren on the freestyle leg of the final heat. She touched in a lifetime best 4:18.56, marking her first sub-4:20 effort as she bettered the 4:21.03 she posted at last month’s NESCAC Championships. Garre has taken huge strides in her freshman year at Bowdoin, notably arriving on campus with a 5:12 500 freestyle and winning the DIII title last night in 4:44.90

Another freshman, MIT’s Sarah Bernard, out-touched Burns, the defending champion, in the penultimate heat. Bernard did not race this event at her conference championships but still qualified easily for tonight’s ‘A’ final in 4:21.28. Her best stands at 4:19.58. She used her breaststroke speed to pass Burns on the back half of the race; Burns touched in 4:21.57 and will have a chance to repeat as 400 IM champion.

Last year’s runner-up Jordan Herrera did not qualify for the ‘A’ final, swimming 4:24.07 for 10th place. She wasn’t the only finalist from last year to miss a return berth, as NYU’s Calista Lynch and Salisbury’s Sydney McCallie, last year’s sixth and eighth place finishers, join her in the ‘B’ final tonight.

Williams’ Lily Codd had a big swim out of heat one, popping a 4:24.43 that qualified for the ‘B’ final.

Men’s 400 Yard IM – Prelims

• Division III Record: 3:46.62, Harrison Curley (Kenyon), 2015
• 2024 Champion: 3:51.84, Crow Thorsen (Emory)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Sean Lyman (CGA), 3:50.29
2. Kirill Sidorko (KEN), 3:50.84
3. Ryan Higgins (TCNJ), 3:52.31
4. Maksym Nechydyuk (NYU), 3:52.74
5. Kevin Fitzgerald (GRIN), 3:53.02
6. Ethan Manske (KEN), 3:53.30
7. Marco Minai (WSTL), 3:53.38
8. Grant Hu (MIT), 3:53.62
9. Victor Denai (NYU), 3:53.96
10. Jaden-hans Yburan (NYU), 3:54.07
11. Matthew Hartshorn (JHU), 3:54.42
12. Jason Wang (MIT), 3:55.87
13. Alexander Schwartz (CHIC), 3:55.91
14. Gavin Formon (TCNJ), 3:55.98
15. Lucas Conrads (DEN), 3:56.07
16. Peter Meng (CWRU), 3:56.34

Coast Guard senior Sean Lyman qualified first for the men’s 500 freestyle final yesterday. He’ll have lane four again tonight, as he won the final heat of the men’s 400 IM with a 3:50.29, the fastest time of the morning. It’s a lifetime best for him, dropping .34 seconds off his swim from NEWMACs as he edged about a half-second ahead of the 3:50.84 Kirill Sidorko swam to win the final heat.

Sidorko added .38 seconds from the lifetime best 3:50.46 he swam at midseason, setting up for an interesting championship final. Last year’s runner-up Ryan Higgins sits third after swimming 3:52.31 in prelims. Like Sidorko, he was three-tenths off his season best. Higgins earned silver last year with a 3:51.88, just missing gold by four-hundredths. Lyman took fourth last season.

Last year’s third-place finisher, Ethan Manske, is back in the mix as well, sailing into the ‘A’ final with a 3:53.30. That swim gives Kenyon two men in the championship final.

MIT freshman Grant Hu won heat four in 3:53.62, while last year’s sixth-place finisher Victor Derani took second in 3:53.96. That ended up being the difference between an ‘A’ final and ‘B’ final swim, as Hu’s swim earned him the final lane in the championship final. Derani leads the ‘B’ final qualifiers with his NYU teammate Jaeden-hans Yburan just behind him in 3:54.07.

Women’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims

• Division III Record: 52.64, Kirsten Nitz (Wheaton), 2014
• 2024 Champion: 53.47, Samantha Kilcoyne (Williams)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Sydney Smith (MIT), 53.74
2. Nicole Ranile (NYU), 54.03
3. Hope Xayaveth (NYU), 54.08
4. Alexandra Turvey (MIT), 54.30
5. Phoebe Ferguson (DEN), 54.47
6. Maggie Farrell (CALV), 54.69
7. Sun Young Byun (CMS), 54.86
8. Reina Gomez (NYU), 54.88
9. Emily Xu (CHIC), 54.90
10. Emma Pritchett (DEN), 54.99
11. Alise Hale (GEN), 55.04
12. Madeleine Kan (CMS), 55.13
13. Mackenzie Mayfield (CMS), 55.14
14. Kiana Tanizaki-Hudson (CU), 55.18
15. Allison Greeneway (EMOR), 55.25
16. Elizabeth Pennington (ROWA), 55.33

Sydney Smith was just off the 53.70 she split on MIT’s winning 400 medley relay this morning, earning the top qualifying time for the 100 butterfly finals with a 53.74. Though her split showed the kind of form she’s on this weekend, this is still a dramatic drop for the sophomore—cutting 1.15 seconds off her previous lifetime best.

Two swimmers from MIT’s winning relay last night will be in the ‘A’ final, as fifth-year Alexandra Turvey qualified for the final in fourth. Turvey was the runner-up in this event last year when she swam for Pomona-Pitzer. This event is a big swing for the Engineers as they chase this year’s team title; last season, they did not have any finalists in this event.

This was also a strong morning for NYU, another team in the title hunt. Last year, they put four swimmers into the 200 butterfly ‘A’ final, and nearly matched that this morning by having Nicole Ranile, Hope Xayaveth, and Reina Gomez all qualify for the championship final. Xayaveth is the Violets’ only returning ‘A’ finalist; Gomez moves up after winning last year’s ‘B’ final and Renaile did not swim this race. All three swam lifetime bests to make the ‘A’ final, with Ranile and Xayaveth both nearing the 54-second barrier.

Calvin fifth-year Maggie Farrell returns to the ‘A’ final after placing fifth last season with a 54.69.

Men’s 100 Yard Butterfly – Prelims

• Division III Record: 46.28, Jesse Ssengonzi (Chicago), 2024
• 2024 Champion: 46.28, Jesse Ssengonzi (Chicago)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Cooper Costello (CHIC), 46.44
2. David Bajwa (CALV), 46.61
3. Brayden Morford (CMU), 46.76
4. Justin Finkel (CONN), 47.03
5. Matthew Fritz (W&L), 47.21
6. Avery Clapp (JHU), 47.37
7. Cami Wilson (SWAT), 47.46
8. Dylan Yin (EMOR), 47.53
9. Jeffrey Echols (EMOR), 47.67
10. Roman Savage (KEN), 47.75
11. Caleb Einolf (GRO), 47.84
12. Ethan Bonow (ASBU), 47.88
13. Austin Beck (WSTL), 47.94
14. Jaden Olson (AMHE), 47.98
15. Drew Scheib (RIT), 48.01
16. Noah Reice (CGA), 48.02

The stage is set for an excellent championship final as the top four men on the psych sheet—who have all broken 47 seconds already this season—claimed the top four spots for tonight’s final. Sophomore Cooper Costello leads after winning heat four in a lifetime best 46.44, shaving .15 seconds off his mark from the UAA Championships. Costello was disqualified in last year’s final; he’ll be looking for redempetion in the form of a NCAA title. If he wins, the 100 fly title will stay at Chigago for another year; Olympian Jesse Ssengonzi won last year’s crown in NCAA record time.

That record could be under threat tonight from any of the top four swimmers. In addition to Costello, Calvin senior David Bajwa and Carnegie Mellon’s Brayden Morford were sub-47 seconds this morning, with Bajwa also dropping .15 seconds from his lifetime best.

Last night, Morford gave Carnegie Mellon its first NCAA title since 2007 by winning the 200 IM. He’s not the only champion from yesterday in the hunt for a second individual win. Finkel defended his 500 free crown on day one of these championships, and swam a solid 47.03 this morning that added .54 seconds from his season best, revealing little about what he oculd bring to the final tonight.

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:44.82, Kendra Stern (Amherst), 2011
• 2024 Champion: 1:46.05, Kaley McIntyre (NYU)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Kaley McIntyre (NYU), 1:46.54
2. Penelope Helm (EMOR), 1:49.44
3. Ella Roberson (MIT), 1:49.82
4. Molly Haag (KEN), 1:49.97
5. Katherine Swan (EMOR), 1:50.04
6. Aanya Wala (NYU), 1:50.07
7. Karen Zhao (CHIC), 1:50.11
8. Quinn Brown (DEN), 1:50.20
9. Elodie Mitchell (EMOR), 1:50.38
10. Natalie Boorjian (EMOR), 1:50.49
11. Ellie Motekaitis (NYU), 1:50.62
12. Isabel Oldham (NYU), 1:50.69
13. Bengisu Caymaz (KEN), 1:50.83
14. Emery Muller (NYU)/Laurel Wasiniak (HOPE), 1:50.87
15. —
16. Anna Pfeufer (DEN), 1:50.92

Kaley McIntyre soared ahead of the women’s 200 freestyle field this morning, posting a 1:46.54 to lead the way into the championship final by almost three seconds. McIntyre is the defending champion in this race and showed off her form yesterday by breaking the DIII 50 freestyle record in prelims and finals.

This was a strong event for the Violets, even with Renaile switching to the 100 butterfly. in addition to McIntyre emphasizing that she is the woman to beat in this race, Aanya Wala qualified for the ‘A’ final (1:50.07) and Ellie Motekaitis, Isabel Oldham, and Emery Mueller made the ‘B’ final, giving the Violets five finalists in this event.

It was also a strong event for Emory with the Eagles picking up four finalists (two “up”/two “down). Penelope Helm, last year’s bronze medalist, was the fastest Emory swimmer of the morning, posting a 1:49.44 in heat five that held up as the second-fastest time of the morning. Sophomore Katherine Swan (1:50.04) will join her in the championship final. Freshman Elodie Mitchell swam a season-best 1:50.38 to qualify ninth, just ahead of sophomore Natalie Boorjian.

With Bengisu Caymaz finishing 13th this morning, the only other swimmer repeating as an ‘A’ finalist is MIT sophomore Ella Roberson. She finished fifth last season and now sits third after a 1:49.82 in this morning’s prelims. While Caymaz missed a repeat ‘A’ final appearance, Kenyon will still have a swimmer in the big heat as Molly Haag, last year’s ‘B’ final winner, clocked 1:49.97 to qualify fourth.

The time to earn a second swim got nearly a second quicker this year. In 2024, Quinn Brown made the ‘B’ final with a 1:51.90 in the morning. This year, Anna Pfeufer placed 16th in 1:50.92.

Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:34.74, James McChesney (TCNJ), 2023
• 2024 Champion: 1:34.95, James McChesney (TCNJ)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Colin Twiss (CGA), 1:36.36
2. Nathaniel Taft (HAM), 1:36.60
3. Oliver Schalet (WILL), 1:37.00
4. Jack Hill (DEN), 1:37.09
5. Nathan Kim (MIT), 1:37.21
6. Dalton Jobe (W&L), 1:37.26
7. John Butler (CHIC), 1:37.47
8. Sebastien Vernhes (CHIC), 1:37.48
9. Daniel Sibley (WSTL), 1:38.00
10. Harrison Thorsen (EMOR), 1:38.02
11. Alexander Pollack (EMOR), 1:38.26
12. Hayden Tupper (EMOR), 1:38.31
13. John Goepfrich (AMHE), 1:38.43
14. Pierce Downs (NYU), 1:38.48
15. Luke Nagel (W&L), 1:38.50
16. Tyler Leslie (AUGC), 1:38.53

The bronze and silver medalists from last year’s championships will swim out of lanes four and five in tonight’s 200 freestyle championship final. Colin Twiss and Nathaniel Taft were the only men to break 1:37-seconds this morning. Twiss grabbed lane four with a lifetime best 1:36.36, dropping .49 seconds from the best of 1:36.85 he posted last month at his conference championships. Taft has been as fast as 1:35.82 this season and added .88-seconds from that time with a 1:36.60 for the second fastest qualifying time.

Williams’ Oliver Schalet nearly tracked down his NESCAC rival, Taft, in heat six. He ran out of room to track him down but hit a lifetime best 1:37.00 as he qualified third overall. Schalet did not race this event at NESCACs individually, but led off the Ephs’ 800 freestyle relay with a 1:37.15, which he just undercut.

Third through eighth are separated by less than a half-second as Chicago’s Sebastien Vernhes earned lane eight with a 1:37.48. It’ll be two Chicago swimmers on the outside lanes this evening, as freshman John Butler was a hundredth ahead of his senior teammate. They are the only school with two up in the championship final.

Meanwhile, Emory has three swimmers in the ‘B’ final. Harrison Thorsen (1:38.02), Alexander Pollack (1:38.26), and Hayden Tupper (1:38.31) stopped the clock within .29 seconds of each other and qualified as the 10th through 12th seeds.

Women’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:30.39, Kenyon (A. White, S. Geboy, C. Hart, E. Mirus), 2022
• 2024 Champion: 1:31.54, Pomona-Pitzer (S. Wang, A. Turvey, F. Coppo, V. Mello)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. MIT (Turvey, Smith, Roberson, Naveen), 1:31.23
2. Emory (Kennedy, Crysel, Wendt, Sanderson), 1:32.06
3. Pomona-Pitzer (Coppo, Lee, Pelka, Mello), 1:32.21
4. Kenyon (Eisenbeis, Bogan, Torrecillas-Jouault, Geboy), 1:32.74
5. NYU (Xayaveth, McIntyre, Uchino, Oldham), 1:32.75
6. Hope (Gidley, Ryle, Turner, Wasiniak), 1:32.76
7. Denison (Croonquist, Kadlecik, Palmroos, Vogen), 1:32.77
8. Calvin (Farrell, Bengelink, Merkel, Sonday), 1:32.88
9. Swarthmore, 1:32.97
10. Tufts, 1:33.09
11. Chicago, 1:33.26
12. Gettysburg, 1:33.68
13. Case Western, 1:33.70
14. Hamilton, 1:33.93
15. Johns Hopkins, 1:33.98
16. Colby, 1:34.11

Last year, MIT won its first NCAA DIII relay title. Now, the team is looking to go two-for-two in the opening relays of the 2025 NCAA DIII Championships. The team of Kate Augustyn, Bernard, Smith, and Turvey won the 400 medley relay yesterday and this morning, Turvey (23.20), Smith (23.01), Roberson (22.36), and Naveen (22.66) put themselves in strong position to win the 200 freestyle relay.

The quartet qualified first for tonight’s final by almost a second, swimming a 1:31.23 out of heat four. The team owns a season-best of 1:31.06. Emory’s Ava Kennedy (22.95), Caitlyn Crysel (22.79), Louisa Wendt (23.10), and Jane Sanderson (23.22) touched second in the heat with a 1:32.06, locking down lane five for the final.

Turvey helped Pomona-Pitzer win this relay last season. This year’s Sagehen quartet of Francesca Coppo (23.33), Joy Lee (23.38), Chesna Pelka (23.15), and Valerie Mello (22.35) put themselves in position to defend the team’s title this evening as their 1:32.31 moves through in third.

All the teams hoping to earn this year’s team title will feature in tonight’s final. Along with the teams we already mentioned, Kenyon is fourth (1:32.74), NYU fifth(1:32.75), and Denison seventh (1:32.77).

Men’s 200 Yard Freestyle Relay – Finals

• Division III Record: 1:18.06, Kenyon (D. Somers, Z. Turk, I. Richardson, C. Ramsey), 2012
• 2024 Champion: 1:19.19, Kenyon (D. Dragojlovic, D. Brooks, M. Krtinic, A. Dobric)

Finals Qualifiers: 

1. Kenyon (Dragojlovic, Abrahamson, Stluka, Dunson), 1:19.74
2. Chicago (Tang, Kruep, Benderskii, Vernhes), 1:20.01
3. Carnegie Mellon (Morford, Peitler, Deshpande, Jones), 1:20.10
4. Calvin (Bajwa, Campbell, Seidelman, Platt), 1:20.13
5. Denison (Hensel, Daly, Beduschi, Hill), 1:20.14
6. NYU (Downs, Watanakun, Young, Wehbe), 1:20.37
7. RIT (Atanasoff, Noga, Clancy, Scheib), 1:20.40
8. Emory (Yin, Bradshaw, Lahmann, Bjornstad), 1:20.61
9. John Carroll, 1:20.64
10. SUNY Geneseo, 1:20.66
11. Tufts, 1:20.74
12. Hope, 1:21.11
13. Bates, 1:21.12
14. Johns Hopkins, 1:21.37
15. Swarthmore, 1:21.40
16. UC Santa Cruz, 1:21.45

Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovic (19.65), Neil Abrahamson (20.10), Spencer Stluka (20.07), and Peter Dunson (19.92) emerged out of a sea of 1:20s with a 1:19.74, taking the top seed for the men’s 200 freestyle relay final. Kenyon won this relay last year–which both Dragolovic and Dunson swam on–and this time affirms it is the favorite to win again. Kenyon’s time is .27 seconds ahead of the rest of the field.

Chicago sits second thanks to Jonathan Tang (20.30), Rylan Kruep (20.00), Igor Benderskill (19.53), Vernhes (20.18) swimming 1:20.01. The second through fifth-place teams are crowded together at 1:20-lows, and are separated by just twelve hundredths heading into the final. Carnegie Mellon, last night’s 400 medley relay winner, had two 19-splits thanks to Matthew Peitler (19.56) and Arvan Deshpande (19.66) which helped propel them to the third fastest time of the morning.

Bajwa, last night’s fourth-place finisher in the 50 freestyle, led off Calvin’s relay in 19.75. In the next heat, Denison freshman Nick Hensel led off his relay in 19.78. Hensel has had a sharp improvement trajectory in the 50 freestyle this year and has been fast in his individual swims but is often at his best leading off a relay. That was the case this morning, as he dropped almost two-tenths from the 19.96 lifetime best he swam earlier this season. It’s also faster than he swam yesterday; Hensel clocked 19.99 in prelims, qualifying for the ‘B’ final and placed 10th (20.03). A 19.78 yesterday morning would’ve moved him into the ‘A’ final and placed sixth had he matched it in the final.

Max Cory lit up the DIII world at NESCACs with an 18.59 50 freestyle split, the fastest in division history. He nearly got under the 19-second barrier again today, clocking 19.02 on Bates’ relay. He’ll have another go in the ‘B’ final as the team placed 13th.