UIndy Sophomore Kirabo Namutebi Breaks Her Own NCAA D2 Record in the 50 Free at a Tri Meet

UIndy vs. Butler Women vs. Eastern Illinois

• November 2, 2024
• University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Results (PDF)
• Team Scores:
  • Women: UIndy 226 – Eastern Illinois 54
  • Women: UIndy 205 – Butler 84
  • Women: Butler 184 – Eastern Illinois 74
  • Men: UIndy 211 – Eastern Illinois 47

University of Indianapolis sophomore Kirabo Namutebi, the defending NCAA Division II Champion in the 50 free, broke her own NCAA Division II Record in the event in a dual meet on Saturday, swimming 22.03 as Division II power UIndy women rolled a pair of Division I opponents in a tri meet.

Namutebi won the 50 free at last year’s NCAA Championship meet in 22.08, which at the time was a division record. It broke the time of 22.10 that was set a year earlier by then-UIndy 5th year Johanna Buys when she won the NCAA title. Both swimmers are from Africa: Namutebi is Ugandan while Buys is from Zambia.

Namutebi’s time is the 6th-best from all divisions of college swimming so far this season (pending further results this weekend). She swam 23.18, 22.92, 22.82, and 22.93 in the team’s first four meets of a busy season so far for the Greyhounds.

That was Namutebi’s only individual event of the meet. She also split 22.63 to anchor the school’s 2nd-place finishing 200 medley relay (the school went 1-2-3-4 in that race); and she also split 51.02 leading off UIndy’s winning 400 free relay (they finished 1-2-3 in that race).

Addie Newman, another UIndy sophomore, finished 2nd in 23.65, a personal best for her as well. She swam 24.39 last year as a freshman and was a 24.00 as a senior in high school.

That was one of a handful of championship-caliber times for the UIndy women at the meet. Andrea Gomez Espinosa won the 200 back in 1:59.92, which is within eight-tenths of her best time from last year’s NCAA Championship meet. In the 100 back, Mia Krstevska won in 55.62, which is just .15 seconds shy of her best time from the 2023 GLVC conference championship meet.

The UIndy men also dominated their meet, led individually by Jeremias Pock and Brayden Cole in the breaststroke group, and Cedric Buessing.

Pock won the 100 breast in 52.35 following a 52.17 at the Dan Ross Collegiates meet at Purdue two weeks ago.

Pock is in his first year of NCAA swimming with two years of eligibility remaining. He was the German runner-up in the 200 IM and 400 IM behind only his UIndy teammate Buessing. Davi Mourao of Drury won last year’s NCAA Division II title in 52.65, which Pock has already undercut more-than-once this season.

Cole was 2nd in the 100 breast in 54.70

So far, UIndy’s two German stars have mostly avoided each others’ lineups. Buessing, the defending NCAA D2 Champion in the 1000 free and the runner-up in the 400 IM, 500 free, and 1650 free, won the 200 free (1:35.71) and 200 back (1:42.85) on Saturday. He was 3rd at NCAAs last season.

The UIndy men finished 3rd at last year’s NCAA D2 Championships while the women placed 4th.