2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships
- Wednesday, March 17 – Saturday, March 20, 2021
- Birmingham CrossPlex / Birmingham, AL (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending champion: Queens (5x) – 2019 results
- Streaming
- Championship Central
- Live Results
- 2021 NCAA Division II Men’s psych sheet
Day One
Men’s 1000 Yard Freestyle – Fastest Heat
- NCAA DII Record: 8:56.76 – Alex Kunert, Queens (NC) (2019)
- Meet Record: 8:57.06 – Mitch Snyder, Drury (2009)
Top 8:
- Fabio Dalu, McKendree – 8:54.10
- Ondrej Zach, Northern Michigan – 9:04.88
- Jonas Soerensen, Wingate – 9:08.13
- Matthew Daniel – St. Leo – 9:11.21
- Eric Hieber, Grand Valley – 9:11.69
- Christian Hedeen, UIndy – 9:11.86
- Vincent Jaworski – 9:13.33
- John Stewart, Delta State – 9:14.66
McKendree sophomore Fabio Dalu kicked off the 2021 NCAA Division II Men’s Championships with a new Division II and meet record in the 1000 free. It was his second national title in the 1000 free in as many years; he won last year with 8:59.50 (after having gone 8:58.36 earlier in the season), becoming McKendree’s first-ever national champion in the 1000.
This year, seeded with an 8:57.35 from the 2021 Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships, he dropped another 3.25 seconds from his previous PB to take down both the meet record of 8:57.06, which had been set by Mitch Snyder of Drury in 2009, and the overall NCAA Division II record of 8:56.76 that had belonged to Alex Kunert of Queens since 2019.
Dalu dominated the field from the outset. He jumped to a quick lead and continued to build with each turn. By the 500, he was about half a pool length ahead of the field. Dalu split 4:24.99/4:29.11, swimming in open water the whole way.
Below are his splits, compared to Kunert’s. Had they been swimming side-to-side, Kunert would have been about 3-4 seconds faster than Dalu over the first half of the race. Dalu would have caught up at around the 700 mark before leaving Kunert in his wake.
| Kunert, 2019 NCAA D2 | Dalu, 2021 NCAA D2 | |
| 50 | 22.94 | 24.39 |
| 100 | 48.43 (25.49) | 50.73 (26.34) |
| 150 | 1:14.64 (26.21) | 1:17.50 (26.77) |
| 200 | 1:41.16 (26.52) | 1:44.40 (26.90) |
| 250 | 2:07.74 (26.58) | 2:11.08 (26.68) |
| 300 | 2:34.19 (26.45) | 2:37.77 (26.69) |
| 350 | 3:00.67 (26.48) | 3:04.57 (26.80) |
| 400 | 3:27.57 (26.90) | 3:31.30 (26.73) |
| 450 | 3:54.73 (27.16) | 3:58.14 (26.84) |
| 500 | 4:22.26 (27.53) | 4:24.99 (26.85) |
| 550 | 4:49.82 (27.56) | 4:51.79 (26.80) |
| 600 | 5:17.39 (27.57) | 5:18.72 (26.93) |
| 650 | 5:45.07 (27.68) | 5:45.82 (27.10) |
| 700 | 6:12.85 (27.78) | 6:12.93 (27.11) |
| 750 | 6:40.77 (27.92) | 6:39.97 (27.04) |
| 800 | 7:08.59 (27.82) | 7:07.18 (27.21) |
| 850 | 7:36.10 (27.51) | 7:34.31 (27.13) |
| 900 | 8:03.68 (27.58) | 8:01.62 (27.31) |
| 950 | 8:31.08 (27.40) | 8:28.50 (26.88) |
| 1000 | 8:56.76 (25.68) | 8:54.10 (25.60) |
Dalu now ranks among the top-10 for the season:
- 8:45.38 – David Johnston, University of Texas
- 8:48.04 – Will Gallant, Mission Viejo Nadadores
- 8:48.39 – Alex Zettle, Unattached
- 8:49.88 – Zach Yeadon, Unattached
- 8:49.95 – Jack Hoagland, Unattached
- 8:51.37 – Liam Custer, Sarasota Sharks
- 8:52.15 – Michael Brinegar, Unattached
- 8:53.73 – Jake Magahey, Unattached
- 8:54.10 – Fabio Dalu, McKendree
- 8:54.95 – Jake Foster, Unattached
He was my roommate, goated
FREESTYLE BOOM
Y’all must have forgot 🤷🏻♂️
Love any championship where Ledecky gets second
I’m pretty sure there have only been 3 or 4 non-DI college men faster than Ledecky in the 1650. Might be even fewer in the 1000 since DIII doesn’t do it in championship meets.