2026 NCAA Division III Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

2026 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 18-21, 2026
• Location: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
• Defending Champs: MIT women (1x) & Denison men (1x)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Results on Meet Mobile: “NCAA DIII Championships”
• Live Video
• Live Recaps:
• Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

There are just two sessions remaining of the 2026 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships, and this morning’s session will see three individual events and one relay while a separate distance session runs the mile later in the day.

Women’s Team Standings Through Day 3:

1. NYU – 375
2. Emory – 319.5
3. Kenyon – 294
4. Denison – 239
5. Williams – 190.5
6. Chicago – 143.5
7. MIT – 140
8. Pomona-Pitzer – 125
9. Claremont MS – 121
10. Hope College – 102

Men’s Team Standings Through Day 3:

1. Denison – 313.5
2. NYU – 283
3. Chicago – 265
4. Emory – 240
5. Kenyon – 234
6. Carnegie Mellon – 168
7. Bates – 1120
8. TCNJ – 101
9. Wash U. MO – 97
10. Johns Hopkins – 95

After three days of competition, the NYU women and the Denison men hold the overall point leads with NYU sitting at 375 to Emory’s 319.5 on the women’s side, while Denison sits at 313.5 to NYU’s 283 on the men’s.

This morning’s session will feature the 100 freestyle events where Bates senior and DIII record holder Max Cory is the overall top seed in 42.92 as the only DIII swimmer who has been under 43 seconds this season.

NYU’s Kaley McIntyre is the Division III record holder in the women’s event. She top seed in 48.13, exactly two seconds ahead of Pomona-Pitzer’s Nina Aballea, who is seeded 2nd in 50.13.

NYU’s Teddy Cross is the top seed in the men’s 200 back at 1:42.74, two seconds ahead of 2nd seed Teddy McQuaid‘s 1:44.47, also for NYU.

Rowan’s Elizabeth Pennington will be seeded 1st in the women’s 200 backstroke, coming in just over a tenth ahead of Emory’s Emma Lunn, who is seeded in 1:58.99, meaning both swimmers will be fighting for lane four in tonight’s final.

The final individual event of the morning will be the 200 breaststroke where Conn College sophomore Carrick Shea is the men’s top seed in 1:55.12 while Drue Thielking is the women’s top seed in 2:13.84.

The session will wrap up with the 400 freestyle relay prelims, where Chicago is the men’s top seed and NYU is the women’s.

Men’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 42.88, Max Cory (Bates), 2025
• 2025 Champion: 42.88, Max Cory (Bates)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Jack Hill (DEN) — 42.87 **New National Record
2. Djordje Dragojlovic (KEN) — 43.11
3. Nick Hensel (DEN) — 43.47
4. John Butler (CHIC) — 43.57
5. Sam Brozek (WILL) — 43.72
6. Charles Platt (CALV) — 43.73
7. Max Cory (BATE) — 43.76
8. Jacob Dzurica (SVC) — 43.80

That was exciting! The 2nd circle seeded heat of the prelims session saw an exciting race between Denison’s Jack Hill and Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovic that ended with Hill setting a new national record time in the 100 freestyle, touching in 42.87.

Hill takes one hundredth off the former record of 42.88 set by Max Cory en route to the gold medal at last year’s championships.

Dragojlovic got out to an early lead, splitting 20.29 to sit a little more than three tenths ahead of Hill, who was out in 20.61. Hill came back strong, though, catching Dragojlovic by splitting 22.26 on his final 50 to the Kenyon swimmer’s 22.82. Dragojlovic qualified 2nd in 43.11.

Nick Hensel finished 3rd in their heat in 43.47, just one tenth ahead of John Butler, who won the final heat in 43.57. Sam Brozek took the 1st of the circle seeded heats in 43.72, half-a-second faster than his seed time of 44.33.

Women’s 100 Yard Freestyle – Prelims

• Division III Record: 48.13 Kaley McIntyre (NYU), 2025
• 2025 Champion: 48.53, Kaley McIntyre (NYU)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Kaley McIntyre (NYU) — 48.26
2. Maeve O’Donnell (NYU) — 49.96
3. Nina Aballea (PP) / Greta Gidley (HOPE) — 50.22
4. —
5. Genine Collins (SWAT) — 50.24
6. Sophie Phelps (WILL)– 50.25
7. Llew Ladomirak (NYU) — 50.33
8. Caitlin Crysel (EMOR) — 50.38

NYU senior Kaley McIntyre took care of business this morning, swimming 48.26 in prelims to set a new meet record time and earn the top seed in the event in 48.26. This was three tenths faster than the 48.53 she swam to win the event at last year’s championships, but was just off her national record of 48.13 from November.

NYU teammate Maeve O’Donnell finished 2nd in the heat and qualified 2nd overall in 49.96. This marks her first ever time under 50 seconds in the event, as she drops about half-a-second from her previous best of 50.49 from February.

Nina Aballea qualified 3rd from winning the 2nd circle seeded heat in 50.22. She tied with Hope’s Greta Gidley, who was outside the circle seeded heats entirely. She swam 50.22 from lane 8 in heat five. This swim was about a second off the 49.58 she swam in November of 2019, but was a massive new season best.

Llew Ladomirak from NYU won the 1st circle seeded heat in 50.33 to just squeak into the ‘A’ final at 50.33.

Men’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:41.17, Tanner Filion (Whitman), 2023
• 2025 Champion: 1:44.15, Kyle Wolford (WashU)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Teddy Cross (NYU) — 1:44.25
2. Teddy McQuaid (NYU) — 1:45.03
3. Timothy Johnson (BATE) — 1:45.38
4. David Gutin (CHIC) — 1:45.42
5. Evan Graham (GETT) — 1:45.80
6. Avery Clapp (JHU) — 1:45.85
7. Bryce Lloyd (JHU) — 1:46.05
8. Ryan West (WAB) — 1:46.06

NYU took the top two qualifiers in the men’s 200 backstroke, both with swimmers named Teddy. Teddy Cross will be the top seed in 1:44.25, cruising to the win in the final heat in dominant fashion. He was about a second-and-a-half off his seed of 1:42.74, splitting 49.75/54.50.

Teddy McQuaid won the 2nd circle seeded in 1:45.03, only half-a-seocnd off his seed of 1:44.47, and he split 49.91/55.12.

Bates junior Timothy Johnson finished 2nd in the final heat to Cross, touching in 1:45.38 to drop almost a second from his seed time of 1:46.11.

David Gutin, a freshman out of Chicago, qualified 4th in 1:45.42, a second-and-a-half drop from his seed of 1:46.95. He also dropped about half-a-second from his lifetime best of 1:46.03 that he swam in March of 2025.

Evan Graham from Gettysburg won the 1st circle seeded heat 1:45.80, just over two tenths off his seed of 1:45.57.

Women’s 200 Yard Backstroke – Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:55.67, Crile Hart (Kenyon), 2018
• 2025 Champion: 1:55.85, Kate Augustyn (MIT)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Savannah Xu (CMU) — 1:58.38
2. Alden White (WILL) — 1:58.94
3. Ken Lee (JHU) — 1:59.22
4. Mia Morreale (GETT) — 1:59.70
5. Emma Lunn (EMOR) — 1:59.81
6. Eloise Emig (NYU) — 1:59.91
7. Alexis Coates (CLBY) — 2:00.17
8. Madison Hagberg (TUFT) — 2:00.18

There were six swimmers under 2:00 in the women’s 200 backstroke this morning, and four of them came from the same heat.

Carnegie Mellon’s Savannah Xu earned the top seed from heat four of six, touching in 1:58.38, a new personal best time, dropping about a second from the 1:59.27 she swam at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

Alden White from Williams, Mia Morreale from Gettysburg, Emma Lunn from Emory, and Eloise Emig from NYU all came from heat five. White won the heat from lane six, touching in 1:58.94 to qualify 2nd overall and drop under 2:00 for the first time in her career.

Johns Hopkins sophomore Ken Lee swam the top time in heat six, touching in 1:59.22 to qualify 3rd for the event.

Top seed Elizabeth Pennington just missed the ‘A’ final, finishing 9th in 2:00.51. She will still get a second swim as the top seed in the ‘B’ final.

Men’s 200 Yard Breaststroke — Prelims

• Division III Record: 1:50.80, Andrew Wilson (Emory), 2017
• 2025 Champion: 1:55.64, Liyang Sun (Emory)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Carrick Shea (CONN) — 1:57.60
2. Tiernan Moore (CEN) — 1:58.02
3. Conner Dean (NYU) — 1:58.10
4. Preston Nygaard (UWL) — 1:58.37
5. Julian Carlson (CONN) — 1:58.40
6. Victor Derani (NYU) — 1:58.43
7. Ethan Taylor (CHIC) — 1:58.63
8. Bartolomej Kubis (JCU) — 1:58.83

Conn College’s Carrick Shea won the final heat of the men’s 200 breaststroke in 1:57.60, splitting 55.65/1:01.95. He came in as the top seed in the event with the 1:55.12 he swam at the NESCAC Championships in February.

Centre’s Tiernan Moore qualified 2nd in 1:58.02, about two seconds off his seed of 1:56.26. He came in just ahead of NYU freshman Conner Dean, who finished 2nd in the heat to qualify 3rd overall in 1:58.10, a four hundredth drop from his 1:58.14.

Preston Nygaard, a freshman from UWL, was the first circle seeded heat winner in 1:58.37, a three tenth drop from the 1:58.65 he was seeded with.

There are two other freshmen in the ‘A’ final, making it half freshmen. Conn’s Julian Carlson qualified 5th in 1:58.40 from the final heat, and Chicago’s Ethan Taylor qualified 7th in 1:58.63, also from the final heat.

Women’s 200 Yard Breaststroke – Prelims

• Division III Record: 2:10.06, Jordyn Wentzel (St. Kate’s), 2022
• 2025 Champion: 2:11.22, Jennah Fadely (Kenyon)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Kelsey Van Eldik (KEN) — 2:13.78
2. Drue Thielking (DEN) — 2:14.84
3. Sarah Bernard (MIT) — 2:15.93
4. Katie Cohen (EMOR) — 2:15.99
5. Carter Roebuck (WILL) — 2:16.57
6. Gwendolyn Bakker (DEN) — 2:16.58
7. Sarah Palmer (BATE) — 2:17.91
8. Anna Doherty (WILL) — 2:18.02

Kenyon’s Kelsey Van Eldik swam the top time in the women’s 200 breastroke prelims of 2:13.78 to be the only swimmer under 2:14 in the prelims.

Van Eldik dropped four tenths from the 2:14.19 she swam at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in February. She split 1:03.78/1:10.00.

Denison’s Drue Thielking, the top seed in the event, qualified 2nd in 2:14.84, exactly a second off her seed of 2:13.84, splitting 1:04.89/1:09.95.

Sarah Bernard finished behind Thielking in the final heat, touching in 2:15.93 to qualify 3rd, dipping under her seed of 2:16.78. She was still about two seconds off her bet of 2:13.48 from December of 2023.

Katie Cohen was the winner of the 4th heat and the first circle seeded heat, touching in 2:15.99, a little less than a second off her seed of 2:15.03.

Men’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• Division III Record: 2:53.59, Kenyon (D. Somers, Z. Turk, C. Ramsey, I. Richardson) 2012
• 2025 Champion: 2:54.80, Chicago (Costello, Brooks, Butler, Vernhes)

Top 8 Qualifiers

1. Denison — 2:54.61
2. Chicago — 2:56.13
3. Kenyon — 2:57.23
4. Bates — 2:58.12
5. Williams — 2:58.33
6. MIT — 2:58.53
7. UC Santa Cruz — 2:58.57
8. NYU — 2:58.61

The Denison men earned the top spot in tonight’s 400 freestyle relay finals, touching in 2:54.61 for more than a second victory over Chicago.

Newly minted DIII record holder Jack Hill led off in 42.88, one hundredth off his prelims swim of 42.87. Cam Blevins-Mohr swam 44.12 in 2nd. Harry Parsons was 44.33 in 3rd, and Nick Hensel split 43.28 on the anchor leg.

Chicago qualified 2nd with their team of Cooper Costello (43.09), Rylan Kruep (45.22), Ryan Lobo (44.56), and John Butler (43.26).

Kenyon’s team of Neil Abrahamson (44.81), Teo Jaworski (44.19), Spencer Stluka (44.78), and Djordje Dragojlovic (43.45) finished 3rd in 2:57.23.

Women’s 400 Yard Freestyle Relay – Prelims

• Division III Record: 3:18.46, Emory (F. Muir, C. Cheng, M. Ong, M. Taylor), 2018
• 2025 Champion: 3:19.03, MIT (Turvey, Smith, Augustyn, Roberson)

Top 8 Finishers

1. NYU — 3:20.58
2. Pomona-Pitzer — 3:21.53
3. Hope College  — 3:22.33
4. MIT — 3:22.50
5. Emory — 3:22.57
6. Williams — 3:23.00
7. Kenyon — 3:23.12
8. Swarthmore — 3:23.63

The NYU women swam the fastest time in the prelims, touching in 3:20.58 to earn lane four tonight by about a second over Pomona Pitzer’s 3:21.53.

Lian Jeong Engle led off in 50.75. Maeve O’Donnell split 50.09 in 2nd. Llew Ladomirak was 50.98 in 3rd, and Kaley McIntyre anchored in 48.76.

Pomona-Pitzer qualified 2nd with Ellie Burkhardt (50.72), Chesna Pelka (50.26), Francesca Coppo (50.74), and Nina Aballea (49.81).

The Hope College team of Greta Gidley (49.94), Claudia Busse (51.09), Bella Turner (50.81), and Laurel Wasiniak (50.49) touched in 3:22.33 for 3rd.