MIT’s Kate Augustyn Lowers 11-Year-Old DIII Record in 100 Back (53.41)

2024 NCAA DIII Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Leading off MIT’s 400 medley relay, junior Kate Augustyn set a new national-record in the 100 backstroke. She split 25.75/27.66 to give MIT almost a second lead heading into the breaststroke leg. Though the Engineers settled for 3rd overall, that swim is a warning shot for the individual event tomorrow.

(Coincidentally, her teammate Adam Janicki did the same thing last year in the men’s 400 medley relay, though Tanner Filion later broke it in the individual event.)

The old record was held by Kenyon’s Celia Oberholzer back in 2013 en route to the national title. Compared to Oberholzer, Augustyn opened the race 0.32-seconds faster. See a split comparison below.

Split Comparison:

Kate Augustyn, 2024 NCAA DIII Championships Celia Oberholzer, 2013 NCAA DIII Championships
25.75 26.07
27.66 27.39
53.41 53.46

While this does make her the favorite for the 100 back tomorrow, as her time tonight undercuts her seed time by over half-a-second, Augustyn will still have to contend with Sophia Verkleeren, who tied the 3rd (now 4th) fastest time in D3 history at this season’s NESCAC Championships (53.65). They’ve clashed twice in the 200 back at NCAAs so far in their careers, but this is the first time the pair of juniors are both entered in the 100 back.

All-Time Top DIII Performers, Women’s 100 Backstroke:

  1. Kate Augustyn, MIT — 53.41 (2024)
  2. Celia Oberholzer, Kenyon 53.46 (2013)
  3. Taylor Kitayama, JHU 53.61 (2014
  4. Sophia Verkleeren, Williams/Cindy Cheng, Emory 53.65 (2024/2018)
  5.  

Augustyn also recently became the #4 all-time performer in the women’s 200 backstroke at this season’s NEWMAC Championships.

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