Natalie Garre Breaks Decade-Old Division III NCAA Record In The 1650 Freestyle (16:17.84)

2025 NCAA DIII Swimming and Diving Championships

Bowdoin freshman Natalie Garre has done it again, winning her second NCAA Division III National title of the week. This time, she did so in record fashion, demolishing Sarah Thompson’s 1650 D3 record of 16:21.44 from 2015 by posting a time of 16:17.84.

Garre led the race from start to finish. She held 29-highs for most of the swim, only slipping above the 30-second mark eight times. Defending champion Bengisu Caymaz, who represents Kenyon, hung at Garre’s hip through the first 300, but was quickly dropped as the race wore on.

Garre’s first 600 yards were the biggest difference-maker in terms of breaking the record, as she outpaced Thompson’s pace by a significant margin on each of those 100-yard segments. Things started to even out after that, with Garre falling behind pace on some of the 100-yard splits and exceeding pace on others. In the end, she smashed the long-standing record by 3.60 seconds. See a full comparison of the two record swims below. 

Splits Comparison:

Thompson’s Previous NCAA Record Garre’s New NCAA Record
2015 NCAA Division III Championships
2025 NCAA Division III Championships
100y 56.20 54.97
200y 59.76 58.81
300y 59.70 59.02
400y 1:00.03 59.43
500y 59.96 59.06
600y 1:00.17 59.33
700y 59.72 59.97
800y 59.97 59.53
900y 1:00.06 59.61
1000y 1:00.02 1:00.08
1100y 59.88 59.69
1200y 59.91 59.97
1300y 59.94 1:00.05
1400y 1:00.08 1:00.62
1500y 59.27 1:00.07
1600y 58.63 59.26
Final 50 28.14 28.37
Total Time 16:21.44 16:17.84

The most intriguing thing about Garre’s record is that this is only her first time swimming the event. The freshman had never contested the event before college and swam it only two other times throughout the year:

  • Maine Collegiate Invitational, December 2024 — 16:31.90 (1st place)
  • NESCAC Championship, February 2025 — 16:35.58 (1st place)

With her 1st-place finish in tonight’s race, she remains undefeated in the event, having won her races at the other two competitions.

Earlier in these 2025 NCAA Championships, Garre won the 500 free with a massive personal best of 4:44.90, surpassing her previous career best of 4:47.63 by 2.73 seconds. She also claimed runner-up status in the 400 IM, finishing with a time of 4:16.59, cutting 4.44 seconds off her pre-NCAA lifetime best.

Women’s 1650 Freestyle Final Results:

  1. Natalie Garre (Bowdoin) – 16:17.84 Division III Record
  2. Bengisu Caymaz (Kenyon) – 16:28.38
  3. Molly Haag (Kenyon) – 16:38.62
  4. Caitlin Marshall (NYU) – 16:47.12
  5. Quinn Brown (Denison) – 16:49.57
  6. Madeline Dunn (Tufts) – 16:50.82
  7. Lily Codd (Williams) – 16:53.04
  8. Jada Chatoor (Emory) – 16:54.55

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SwimPixie
13 hours ago

All those Ivy’s that turned her down as not being fast enough are now coming scrambling. I believe she is transferring for next year.

Polar Bear
1 day ago

Such an unbelievable drop for her

Revsticky
Reply to  Polar Bear
1 day ago

Diener is that you ?