2025 NCAA Division III Championships: Day 4 Finals 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 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

It’s the final day of competition in Greensboro. Denison has locked up the men’s team race, but the women’s title is a sprint to the finish between MIT and NYU. NYU holds a 20 point lead, but has fewer finals swims tonight. Regardless, a win by either team will be historic. Only four teams in Division III history have ever won a women’s team title: Williams, Kenyon, Emory, and Denison. As a reminder, here’s where the team scores stand:

Women (Top 5)

1. NYU – 368
2. MIT – 348
3. Kenyon – 315
4. Denison – 278
5. Emory – 267

Men (Top 5)

1. Denison – 298
2. Emory – 250.5
3. Chicago – 211
4. NYU – 190.5
5. Kenyon – 183

All the defending champions are present in the women’s events. The session will get started with the 1650 free, where Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon) will try to claim her first individual title of these championships. She won the 500 and 1650 free in 2024, but was upset by Bowdoin freshman Natalie Garre in the shorter distance. Garre is the top seed in the mile, so they’ll clash again to open tonight’s session.

Kaley McIntyre (NYU) has been unstoppable in the women’s sprint free events and will be looking to complete the sweep tonight in the women’s 100 free. She broke her own Division III record at the UAA Championships earlier this year and is the top seed tonight. Kate Augustyn (MIT) is the defending champion in the 200 back, but Sophia Verkleeren (Williams) is the top seed. Verkleeren already swept the IMs, while Augustyn defended her title in the 100 back. To wrap up the individual swimming events, Gabriella Wei (Kenyon) is the top seed in the 200 breast. She was a surprising win last year over teammate Jennah Fadely.

On the men’s side, Lucas Lang (C-M-S) and Connor Vincent (NYU) will once again go head-to-head in the 1650 free. Last year, Lang got the best of Vincent by just 0.07 seconds at the finish, so be on the lookout for another exciting race. Defending champion Djordje Dragojlovic is in the final of the men’s 100 free, but it’s Max Cory (Bates) who leads the field. Cory became the #2 performer in D3 with his swim this morning.

Both the men’s 200 back and 200 breast will crown new champions tonight, as last year’s have graduated. Avery Clapp (JHU) is the top seed in the backstroke while Patrick Daly (Denison) leads the 200 breast.

In women’s 3-meter, Kailee Payne (Ithaca) takes aim at a sweep of the boards for the second straight year.

Finally, to close the meet, we’ll see the finals of the 400 free relay, and crown our team champions.

Women’s 1650 Yard Freestyle – Timed Finals

• Division III Record: 16:21.44, Sarah Thompson (Williams), 2015
• 2024 Champion: 16:34.67, Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon)

Top 8:

1. Natalie Garre (Bowdoin) – 16:17.84 Division III Record
2. Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon) – 16:28.38
3. Molly Haag (Kenyon) – 16:38.62
4. Caitlin Marshall (NYU) – 16:47.12
5. Quinn Brown (Denison) – 16:49.57
6. Madeline Dunn (Tufts) – 16:50.82
7. Lily Codd (Williams) – 16:53.04
8. Jada Chatoor (Emory) – 16:54.55

In only her third time swimming the 1650 free, Natalie Garre is a national champion and a national record holder. The freshman from Bowdoin chopped over 17 seconds from her seed time (her first time swimming the mile) to upset 2024 champion Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon).

Garre led from start to finish. She held 29-highs for most of the race, only slipping above the 30 second mark eight times. Caymaz hung at Garre’s hip through the first 300, but was quickly dropped as the race wore on.

In total, Garre took 3.6 seconds off the NCAA record, set by Sarah Thompson of Williams 10 years ago.

Caymaz finished in a dominant 2nd, followed by Owl teammate Molly Haag. Caitlin Marshall’s time from the early heats stood for 4th, one place lower than she finished last year. Still, that adds key points to NYU.

Kenyon overtook MIT in the team standings after this race, though it’s unlikely to last with the 100 free coming up.

Men’s 1650 Yard Freestyle – Timed Finals

• Division III Record: 14:56.44, Arthur Conover (Kenyon), 2016
• 2024 Champion: 15:17.48, Lucas Lang (CMS)

Top 8:

1. Lucas Lang (CMS) – 15:18.01
2. Tyler Distenfeld (Denison) – 15:20.19
3. George Goins (Denison) – 15:22.54
4. Connor Vincent (NYU) – 15:22.75
5. Lucas Conrads (Denison) – 15:28.21
6. Thomas Langlois (Whittier) – 15:29.21
7. Carter Anderson (Williams) – 15:31.97
8. Sean Lyman (Coast Guard) – 15:32.73

Lucas Lang (CMS) repeated as the men’s 1650 free champion, fending off challenges from the rest of the field to win by a comfortable two second margin (15:18.01).

Lang jumped out to the lead early, going stroke for stroke with 2024 runner-up Connor Vincent (NYU). No one looked truly out of the race as the lead was traded off between Lang, Carter Anderson (Williams), Sean Lyman (Coast Guard). But Lang wrestled back control of the heat, hitting the wall in 15:18.01 to just miss his winning time from last year.

Tyler Distenfeld (Denison) moved through the field for 2nd, cutting over six seconds from his entry time (15:20.19). Denison also grabbed 3rd place points thanks to freshman George Goins (15:22.54), who narrowly held on over Vincent who finished 4th (15:22.75).

Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Division III Record: 48.58 Kaley McIntyre (NYU), 2025
• 2024 Champion: 48.79, Kaley McIntyre (NYU)

Top 8:

1. Kaley McIntyre (NYU) – 48.53 Division III Record
2. Valerie Mello (Pomona-Pitzer) – 49.50
3. Annika Naveen (MIT) – 49.95
4. Alex Turvey (MIT) – 49.96
5. Avery Vogen (Denison) – 50.56
6. Sydney Smith (MIT) – 50.68
7. Nina Aballea (Pomona-Pitzer)/Grace Kadlecik (Denison) – 50.90
8. —

Kaley McIntyre completed the sprint sweep for the second year in a row, blasting to a new national record in the women’s 100 free.

The junior opened a full tenth faster than her UAA swim and closed five hundredths slower, but it was still enough to clip the record.

Valerie Mello (Pomona-Pitzer) had a strong swim for 2nd, cutting 0.45 seconds from her best time set earlier this year.

MIT teammates Annika Naveen (49.95) and Alex Turvey (49.96) were 3rd and 4th. Avery Vogen (Denison) split the MIT party (50.56), as Sydney Smith finished 6th (50.68).

Nina Aballea (Pomona-Pitzer) and Grace Kadlecik (Denison) tied for 8th (50.90).

Laurel Wasiniak (Hope) won the B final in a time that would have placed 2nd in the A final (49.75).

Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Division III Record: 42.98, Oliver Smith (Emory), 2018
• 2024 Champion: 43.26, Djordje Dragojlovic (Kenyon)

Top 8:

1. Max Cory (Bates) – 42.88 Division III Record
2. David Bajwa (Calvin) – 43.25
3. Djordje Dragojlovic (Kenyon) – 43.32
4. Sebastien Vernhes (Chicago) – 43.59
5. Matthew Peitler (CMU)/Jack Hill (Denison) – 43.63
6. —
7. Colin Twiss (Coast Guard) – 43.86
8. Nathaniel Taft (Hamilton) – 44.38

Max Cory (Bates) made it back-to-back national records as he won his first national title in the 100 free.

The junior was out nearly dead even with 2024 champion Djordje Dragojlovic (20.23 to 20.24), but closed hard to break 43 and take exactly a tenth off the national record (42.88).

David Bajwa had the fastest back-half as he split 20.87/22.38 to go from 5th to 2nd (43.25). Dragojlovic settled for 3rd (43.32).

Sebi Vernhes of Chicago (43.59) got to the wall just ahead of Matt Peitler (CMU) and Jack Hill (Denison) who tied for 5th (43.63). Coast Guard senior Colin Twiss cut another tenth from the PB he set in prelims for 7th, while Nathaniel Taft (Hamilton) added a bit (44.38).

Luke Schwenk, this year’s 50 champion, won the B final in 44.07.

Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• Division III Record: 1:55.67, Crile Hart (Kenyon), 2018
• 2024 Champion: 1:55.98, Kate Augustyn (MIT)

Top 8:

1. Kate Augustyn (MIT) – 1:55.85
2. Sophia Verkleeren (Williams) – 1:56.58
3. Elizabeth Pennington (Rowan) – 1:58.64
4. Sara Kraus (Hope) – 1:59.22
5. Elisabella Forest (Chicago) – 1:59.48
6. Izzy Yoon (Pomona-Pitzer) – 1:59.63
7. Ken Lee (JHU) – 2:00.06
8. Savannah Xu (CMU) – 2:01.49

Kate Augustyn (MIT) made it a back-to-back backstroke sweep, lowering her best time in the process. The senior opened in 56.56, then negative split her second 100 (29.70/29.59) to defend her title in the 200 back (1:55.85).

Augustyn was pushed by Sophia Verkleeren (Williams) throughout the whole race. Verkleeren opened her race in 56.90, but managed to pull even at the 150 with a huge 29.12 split. She couldn’t carry her pace through the final 50, splitting to 30.66 as Augustyn surged to the wall. Still, it was a new personal best for Verkleeren that makes her the #4 all-time performer in this event, up from #6.

Elizabeth Pennington (Rowan) was slightly off her prelims swim, but the junior was still good for 3rd (1:58.64). She was the only other swimmer to break 1:59, as 4th place finisher Sara Kraus (Hope) was 1:59.22.

After that race, MIT sits just one point back of NYU in the team standings.

Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• Division III Record: 1:41.17 Tanner Filion (Whitman), 2023
• 2024 Champion: 1:43.40, Alex McCormick (WashU)

Top 8:

1. Kyle Wolford (WashU) – 1:44.15
2. Avery Clapp (JHU) – 1:44.18
3. Eric Lundgren (Tufts) – 1:44.80
4. Ryan Higgins (TCNJ) – 1:45.00
5. Charlie Green (Kenyon) – 1:46.42
6. Devin Testin (Denison) – 1:47.58
7. Graham Zucker (Emory) – 1:47.62
8. Bryce Lloyd (JHU) – 1:48.17

In an extremely close race, Kyle Wolford (WashU) got his hand to the wall just 0.03 seconds ahead of Avery Clapp (JHU) for the men’s 200 back title.

Eric Lundgren (Tufts) was first to the 100, opening his race in 50.63 to Wolford’s 50.78. Wolford hung onto his pace on the third 50 (26.81) while Lundgren started to fade (27.24) and Clapp made his move (26.53). Clapp closed hard, but Wolford held on at the finish (1:44.15). Lundgren also got under 1:45.

This is the second year in a row that the men’s 200 back title has gone to a swimmer from WashU.

Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• Division III Record: 2:10.06, Jordyn Wentzel (St. Kate’s), 2022
• 2024 Champion: 2:11.70, Gabriella Wei (Kenyon)

1. Jennah Fadely (Kenyon) – 2:11.22
2. Gabriella Wei (Kenyon) – 2:11.67
3. Charlotte Wishnack (Williams) – 2:12.37
4. Drue Thielking (Denison) – 2:12.42
5. Sarah Bearnard (MIT) – 2:14.53
6. Kelsey Van Eldik (Kenyon) – 2:14.96
7. Taylor Rohovit (JHU) – 2:15.19
8. Katie Cohen (Emory) – 2:16.54

The women’s 200 breast quickly turned into a two-athlete race between 2023 champion Jennah Fadely and 2024 champion Gabriella Wei. The Kenyon teammates opened their races within two tenths of one another, as Fadely turned in 1:02.06 at the 100 to Wei’s 1:02.24.

Wei started to turn on the jets on the third 50, out-swimming Fadely 34.50 to 34.92. But Fadely found another gear coming home, out-splitting Wei by 0.69 seconds to hit the wall first (2:11.22). Wei finished 2nd (2:11.67). That gives Fadely the sweep of the breaststrokes for the second time at a national championship; she also completed it in 2023.

It was a senior top three, as Charlotte Wishnack (Williams) touched 3rd (2:12.37), just ahead of a surging Drue Thielking (2:12.42).

Sarah Bernard (MIT) finished 5th, picking up 14 points for the Engineers and vaulting them past NYU in the team standings with only 3-meter and the 400 free relay left to go.

Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• Division III Record: 1:50.80, Andrew Wilson (Emory), 2017
• 2024 Champion: 1:54.26, Derek Maas (NYU)

Top 8:

1. Liyang Sun (Emory) – 1:56.64
2. Patrick Daly (Denison) – 1:57.49
3. Maksym Nechydyuk (NYU) – 1:57.60
4. Elijah Venos (Denison) – 1:58.45
5. Gavin Jones (Denison) – 1:58.58
6. Ryan Vandeveen (TCNJ) – 1:58.74
7. Victor Derani (NYU) – 1:59.07
8. Christian Lanuza (CMU) – 1:59.62

With Liyang Sun‘s win, Emory has swept the men’s breaststroke events at these championships. The senior dropped almost two seconds from his prelims effort to take the title from lane 7 (1:56.64).

Sun was out quick, turning in 55.48 at the 100. So was Maksym Nechydyuk (55.88) and Elijah Venos (55.89). Sun continued to establish himself as the front-runner, splitting 29.97 on the third 50 for the fastest split of the field. He was a bit slower coming home (31.19), but the lead he had established early on ended up being enough to win the heat by 0.85 seconds.

Patrick Daly (Denison) was 4th at the 100, but moved through the pack into the runner-up position (1:57.49), making up ground and then some on Nechydyuk who finished 3rd (1:57.60).

Women’s 3-meter Diving – Finals

• Division III Record: 530.95, Kailee Payne (Ithaca), 2025
• 2024 Champion: 509.50, Kailee Payne (Ithaca)

1. Kailee Payne (Ithaca) – 522.80
2. Abigail Wilkov (CWRU) – 501.65
3. Fiora Beratahani (MIT) – 497.55
4. Nina Schwab (Carleton) – 481.10
5. Sydney Bluestein (Amherst) – 474.50
6. Sadie Smith (Bowdoin) – 461.65
7. Veronica Fong (Chicago) – 453.45
8. Madilyn Williams (RIT) – 430.20

Kailee Payne (Ithaca) swept the boards for the second year in a row. While she didn’t quite match her Division III record from the preliminary rounds, Payne posted a dominant score in the finals. Abigail Wilkov picked up her second runner-up finish of the meet, while MIT’s Fiora Beratahani finished 3rd.

MIT is now up 21 points on NYU with only the relay left to swim.

Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Finals

• Division III Record: 3:18.46, Emory (F. Muir, C. Cheng, M. Ong, M. Taylor), 2018
• 2024 Champion: 3:20.59, Pomona-Pitzer (S. Wang, A. Turvey, K. Gould, V. Mello)

Top 8:

1. MIT (Turvey, Smith, Augustyn, Roberson) – 3:19.03
2. NYU (Ranile, Motekaitis, Oldham, McIntyre) – 3:19.36
3. Pomona-Pitzer (Coppo, Aballea, Dixon, Mello) – 3:20.64
4. Denison (Vogen, Kadlecik, Ferguson, Harris) – 3:21.17
5. Kenyon (Haag, Fadely, Torrecillas-Jouault, Geboy) – 3:21.68
6. Emory (Kennedy, Crysel, Wendt, Helm) – 3:21.86
7. Hope (Gidley, Ryle, Turner, Wasiniak) – 3:22.43
8. Tufts (Chambers, Wheeler, Stasz, Cudney) – 3:23.67

With extremely safe starts, the MIT women swam to their fourth relay title of the meet and locked in their first national team title in history.

The quartet of Alex Turvey (50.11), Sydney Smith (49.94), Kate Augustyn (50.27), and Ella Roberson (48.71) managed to hold off NYU (3:19.03), though a loss would not have affected the team standings.

Turvey, the 2024 NCAA Woman of the Year, becomes a two-time champion in this relay as she represented the Sagehens last year.

NYU was represented by Nicole Ranile (50.87), Elle Motekaitis (50.38), Isabel Oldham (50.31), and a charging Kaley McIntyre (47.80).

Pomona-Pitzer finished 3rd with a squad of Francesca Coppo (50.43), Nina Aballea (50.45), Charlotte Dixon (51.19), and Valerie Mello (48.57).

Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Finals

• Division III Record: 2:53.59, Kenyon (D. Somers, Z. Turk, C. Ramsey, I. Richardson) 2012
• 2024 Champion: 2:54.52, Kenyon (D. Dragojlovic, M. Krtinic, D. Brooks, A. Dobric)

Top 8: 

1. Chicago (Costello, Brooks, Butler, Vernhes) – 2:54.20
2. Denison (Hill, Hensel, Beduschi, Daly) – 2:55.80
3. Calvin (Bajwa, Molin, Seidelman, Platt) – 2:56.86
4. Carnegie Mellon (Morford, Malinovski, Peitler, Jones) – 2:57.17
5. NYU (Downs, Nechydyuk, Watanakun, Wehbe) – 2:57.36
6. Kenyon (Abrahamson, Dragojlovic, Sidorko, Jaworski) – 2:57.99
7. MIT (Kim, Jiang, Arrese-Igor, Roberts) – 2:58.02
8. WashU (Sibley, Rockaway, Wolford, Bick) – 2:58.92

The Chicago men have swept the freestyle relays at these championships, adding the 400 free to their impressive resume. The quartet of Cooper Costello, Daniel Brooks, John Butler, and Sebi Vernhes combined for the win.

In addition, the Maroons leapfrogged NYU in the team race to finish 3rd overall, 4.5 points ahead of the Violets.

Denison finished 2nd with Jack Hill, Nick Hensel, Andre Beduschi, and Patrick Daly. In 3rd was Calvin with David Bajwa, Vlad Molin, Josh Seidelman, and Charles Platt.

Final Team Scores
Women

1. MIT – 497
2. NYU – 470
3. Kenyon – 438
4. Denison – 370.5
5. Emory – 337
6. Williams – 232
7. Chicago – 202
8. Pomona-Pitzer – 201.5
9. Hope – 139
10. Swarthmore – 95
11. Tufts – 93.5
12. Calvin – 86
13. Johns Hopkins – 81
14. Amherst – 81
15. Bowdoin – 70
16. C-M-S – 56
17. Case Western – 54
18. Ithaca – 46
19. Rowan – 37
20. Carleton – 31
21. Wash U – 31
22. Loras – 30
23. Suny Geneseo – 29
24. Colby – 22
25. Trinity University (Tx) – 21
26. Albion – 18.5
27. Kean University – 17
28. Bates – 16
29. Springfield – 12
30. RIT – 11
31. Carnegie Mellon – 11
32. Middlebury – 7
33. RPI – 6
34. Hamilton – 6
35. Salisbury – 5
36. Wheaton IL – 4
37. Wooster – 4
38. Chapman – 3
39. Gettysburg – 2

Men

1. Denison – 463.5
2. Emory – 323.5
3. Chicago – 272
4. NYU – 267.5
5. Kenyon – 250
6. Carnegie Mellon – 214.5
7. Tufts – 160
8. Wash U – 150
9. MIT – 131
10. Coast Guard – 125
11. Calvin – 124.5
12. Williams – 122.5
13. Bates – 112
14. Johns Hopkins – 111
15. Centre – 96
16. Conn College – 89
17. RIT – 82
18. TCNJ – 82
19. W&L – 75
20. C-M-S – 67
21. Suny Geneseo – 59
22. Hamilton – 38
23. St. Mary’s MD – 36
24. Pomona-Pitzer – 31.5
25. Case Western – 31
26. Swarthmore – 31
27. Hope – 30
28. Rowan – 28
29. UC Santa Cruz – 27
30. Alfred State – 26
31. Bridgewater – 22
32. Cal Lutheran – 20
33. Grinnell – 18
34. Rhodes – 17
35. Grove City – 17
36. St. John’s – 16
37. Whittier – 14
38. Amherst – 12
39. Saint Vincent – 12
40. Carleton – 10
41. Trinity University (Tx) – 8
42. UW-Stevens Point – 6
43. John Carroll – 6
44. Asbury – 5.5
45. Augustana – 5
46. Ithaca – 3
47. Hobart – 2
48. UW-Eau Claire – 2