The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) revealed the NCAA Division III award winners today, two days after the conclusion of the 2025 NCAA DIII Championships.
The coach and athlete of the year awards are determined by a vote of the CSCAA-Member Division III head swimming coaches and head diving coaches. This year, the Swim Coaches of The Year Award went to MIT’s Meg Sisson French and Denison’s Gregg Parini. Both led their team to Division III titles in Greensboro, NC last weekend.
— CSCAA (@CSCAA) March 24, 2025
The Engineer women became the fifth school to win the women’s team title a year after winning their first NCAA relay title and notching a program-best fifth-place finish. The Denison men won their sixth in program history, rebounding to the top step from a sixth-place finish at the 2024 NCAA DIII Championships.
With the MIT women’s win, Sisson French became the first female DIII head coach of a women’s or men’s program to guide her team to an NCAA team title. This was her first time receiving the CSCAA DIII Women’s Coach of the Year Award. Meanwhile, this is Parini’s eighth time receiving the accolade.
Swimmers Of The Year
Neither Kaley McIntyre nor Justin Finkel, the CSCAA DIII Swimmers of the Year, were on the title-winning teams. McIntyre, a junior at NYU, won the award for the second straight year after defending her DIII titles in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle. She swam three individual DIII records at the NCAA Championships, breaking her mark in the 50 freestyle twice and the 100 freestyle once. During her 200 freestyle win, McIntyre rattled the long-standing 200 freestyle record, becoming the second DIII woman to break 1:45.
McIntyre’s 60 individual points and her relay contributions—including a DIII record-setting 800 freestyle relay—helped the Violets to a runner-up finish at the championships. This marked a program best for NYU.
Finkel earned the DIII Men’s Swimmer of the Year title after successfully defending his titles in the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly in Greensboro. The Connecticut College senior broke his DIII record in the 200 butterfly. This is the fourth straight year it’s taken a DIII record to win the event.
Kaley McIntyre‘s Results
- 50 freestyle: 1st, 22.15 Division III record
- 200 freestyle: 1st, 1:44.88
- 100 freestyle: 1st, 48.53 Division III record
- 400 medley relay: 2nd, 3:38.56 — 47.76 freestyle split
- 200 freestyle relay: 7th, 1:32.26 — 21.86 relay split
- 800 freestyle relay: 1st, 7:13.02 Division III record — 1:44.70 relay split
- 400 freestyle relay: 2nd, 3:19.36 — 47.80 relay split
Justin Finkel‘s Results
- 500 freestyle: 1st, 4:22.43
- 100 butterfly: 3rd, 46.56
- 200 butterfly: 1st, 1:42.64 Division III record
- 400 medley relay: 7th, 3:16.38 — 47.45 butterfly split
- 200 freestyle relay: 19th, 1:21.81 — 19.77 relay split
- 400 freestyle relay: 17th, 3:00.55 — 44.08 lead-off
Divers Of The Year
On the boards, Ithaca’s Kailee Payne repeated as the DIII Women’s Diver of the Year, meaning both women’s athlete awards were back-to-back winners. The senior scored the maximum 40 points that a DIII diver can score by winning the 1-meter and 3-meter boards. She won both events last year.
Trent Makoweic earned DIII Men’s Diver of the Year honors. A fifth-year from SUNY Geneseo, he matched Payne by sweeping the men’s diving events.
Kailee Payne’s Results
- 1-meter: 1st, 486.30 points
- 3-meter: 522.80
Trent Makowiec’s Results
- 1-meter: 1st, 528.70 points
- 3-meter: 1st, 558.35 points
For helping their divers dominate at the NCAA Championships, Ithaca’s Chris Griffin and SUNY Geneseo’s Shawn Austin were named the DIII Diving Coaches of the Year. Not only is this the second consecutive year both have won the award, but it’s also each’s fourth time winning the award in his career.
The DIII All-America honors were also announced. The first team distinction is given to the individuals and relays that finish in the top 8 at the NCAA Championships, while ninth through sixteenth receive second-team honors. This year, 220 women from 38 programs earned All-American status, led by 16 athletes each from Emory and Denison.
Male athletes from 46 schools earned the accolade as 238 people were named to the All-America teams. Denison also led all programs on the men’s side with 18 athletes.
if nyu gets more sprinting depth next year i think they’ll win the title