UChicago’s Jesse Ssengonzi Breaks David Fitch’s DIII NCAA Record In 100 Butterfly (46.28)

2024 NCAA DIII MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

On Thursday night at the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the University of Chicago’s Jesse Ssengonzi won his second NCAA title in the 100 fly, breaking Kenyon’s David Fitch‘s DIII record from 2021. Ssengonzi went a time of 46.28, taking 0.18 seconds off of Fitch’s old mark of 46.46.

Ssengonzi wasn’t the only swimmer to beat Fitch’s record — Calvin’s Julien Camy, who finished in second behind the UChicago senior, went 46.44 to also get under Fitch’s time.

All-Time Top DIII Performers, Men’s 100 Butterfly:

  1. Jesse Ssengonzi, UChicago — 46.28 (2024)
  2. Julien Camy, Calvin — 46.44 (2024)
  3. David Fitch, Kenyon — 46.46 (2021)
  4. Marko Kritnic, Kenyon — 46.51 (2023)
  5. Tanner Fillion, Whitman — 46.83 (2023)

Before this meet, Ssengonzi’s personal best time was 46.47 from the prelims of last year’s NCAA Championships. Though his time would have won during finals, he finished second to Marko Kritnic. In 2022, Ssengonzi won the 100 fly NCAA title with a time of 46.77. Meanwhile, Camy improved from his best time of 46.85 from last December, though he had never gone under 48 seconds in the 100 fly before this season.

Split Comparison:

Jesse Ssengonzi, 2024 NCAA DIII Championships Julien Camy, 2024 NCAA DIII Championships David Fitch, 2021 Kenyon Total Performance Invite
21.60 21.67 21.54
24.68 24.77 24.92
46.28 46.44 46.46

Fitch went out faster than both Ssengonzi and Camy, but the latter two swimmers had better back halves. In addition, Ssengonzi was faster than Camy going out and coming home.

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PFA
1 month ago

This final was FAST i think there were more swimmers last year under 47 seconds but 2 swimmers under the record and multiple 47 lows is insane depth.

Andrew
1 month ago

46.2 in D3 is stupid fast

Swim fan
1 month ago

So happy for Jesse!! Great swimmer and even better teammate and human being !!!

Swimmer
1 month ago

So happy for Jesse. One of the nicest people you can meet.

Derp
1 month ago

It’s so crazy how fast swimming has gotten. I used to race a guy name Dylla and I think his fastest time was around this in the 100 and I thought at the time it was other worldly . He was a div l swimmer , now d 1 averages low 45s and 44s it seems , just crazy

Swammer
1 month ago

Fantastic race! Congrats Jesse!

joannietheswimmer
1 month ago

Maybe that flip turn Fitch had used too much oxygen to finish as strong.

Paul Silver
Reply to  joannietheswimmer
1 month ago

Jesse congrats on record Very proud of you! Great swimmer awesome human being

Thirteenthwind
Reply to  joannietheswimmer
1 month ago

Let’s not forget 15m uwk off every wall after those turns and only breathing 1-2 times per 25. Whether it was oxygen deprivation from the turn or the underwaters or lactic build up in legs or a more fly-and-die race strategy…

Every athlete has their thing, and using this venue to criticize a retired athlete takes away from how awesome it is that Ssengozi and D3 continue to grow and improve.

About Yanyan Li

Yanyan Li

Although Yanyan wasn't the greatest competitive swimmer, she learned more about the sport of swimming by being her high school swim team's manager for four years. She eventually ventured into the realm of writing and joined SwimSwam in January 2022, where she hopes to contribute to and learn more about …

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