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
For the second year in a row, Justin Finkel claimed the NCAA Division III men’s 200 butterfly title in a division record. The Connecticut College senior swam a 1:42.64, lowering his record from last season by .57 seconds. Finkel defended his 500 freestyle title earlier in the week, so he’s now won the 500 freestyle/200 butterfly double for the second-straight season.
This is the fourth-straight year that it’s taken a division record to win the men’s 200 butterfly title. Before Finkel’s swim last season, CMS’ Frank Applebaum, now using his fifth-year of eligibility at Cal, lowered the record to win in 2022 and 2023
Finkel faced off with Chicago sophomore Cooper Costello in the 200 butterfly final tonight. Yesterday, Costello won the men’s 100 butterfly title with an NCAA DIII record of his own, becoming the first man in DIII history to break 46-seconds (45.97). Costello qualified first for this evening’s final and it was unsurprising to see him leap out to the lead in this championship final. He split 22.71, leading Finkel’s 22.98 as both opened well under Finkel’s previous record pace.
Split Comparison
| Justin Finkel — 2025 NCAAs (New Record) | Justin Finkel — 2024 NCAAs (Former Record) | |
| 50 | 22.98 | 23.24 |
| 100 | 49.34 (26.36) | 49.89 (26.65) |
| 150 | 1:15.59 (26.25) | 1:16.39 (26.50) |
| 200 | 1:42.64 (27.05) | 1:43.21 (26.82) |
Costello continued to lead the race at the halfway point. He turned in 48.67 with a .67 second lead on Finkel. For his part, Finkel continued to out-split his former record, holding a .55 second lead on his pace from last season.
Finkel used a strong back-half to win his 500 freestyle title on the first night of competition. He employed a similar strategy here, activating another gear on the third 50. He split 26.25, making up the gap to Costello and taking a four-hundredth lead into the final 50 yards.
His final 50 yards was the only split slower than his pace last season. Still, his 27.05 extended his lead over Costello. He established the record at 1:42.64, winning by .78 seconds. This was Finkel’s final individual race of his collegiate career.
