Jamie Lovette Breaks His Own DIII 200 Free Record From Prelims

After Williams’ Jamie Lovette broke the 200 free DIII record this morning in the prelims of the NESCAC men’s championships, he broke it by a few tenths in finals, winning the event in a time of 1:35.52.

Before Lovette took town the record twice, it was held by Johns Hopkins’ Evan Holder, who set it at the 2017 DIII Championships in a time of 1:36.42.

The key to Lovette’s record-breaking swim in finals seemed to be the third 50. His splits for all other laps were virtually the same as his prelims splits, but in the third 50 he was around four-tenths faster, which explains the gap between his overall prelims and finals times.

AND HE’S DONE IT AGAIN!!!

JAMIE LOWERS HIS OWN 200 FREE NCAA D3 RECORD TO 1:35.52@swimswamnews @NCAADIII @EphSports @WilliamsCollege @USASwimming pic.twitter.com/cmZWJVeLet

— Coach MacQuarrie (@CoachMacQuarrie) February 20, 2022

Lovette won the event by over three seconds, as his teammate Oliver Schalet placed second in a time of 1:38.92. 

Lovette’s previous best time in the 200 free was a 1:37.82, which he set when he won the event at NESCAC championships in 2019. He was third at DIII NCAAs that same year, and after nationals were canceled due to COVID-19 for the last two years, he will have the opportunity to claim the national title later this year.

Following finals on Saturday, Williams leads at NESCAC championships with 1487 points, while Tufts sits at second with 1149.5 points.