New team tables and old records
MIT, Tufts and Williams all push their way up the charts; plus we look at some of the oldest records in D3, and ponder their fate.
The fuller picture
A fuller picture has emerged now that the results of the MIT Invitational (and some more NESCAC results) have posted.
Simply put, the MIT men went from basically nowhere on the team SRS boards to fifth place.
NESCAC powerhouse Tufts also made a nice jump from nowhere to the top 10.
If you click on that chart it will take you to the team SRS page. There you can highlight one team, and then scroll down to see a list of the athletes who contributed SRS points to their team total, along with event and actual SRS amount. It will looks something like this:
Did you notice Tobe Obochi’s second event? According to SwimCloud, Mr. Obochi stopped swimming 100 Breast in high school. He picked it back up again on November 23rd of this year in a dual meet against Bowdoin. Mr. Obochi now leads all of Division III in men’s 100 breast.
And the MIT women went from 14th to 3rd.
Keep in mind we are not even looking at relays in these totals. Not yet.1 We will when we move into more comprehensive rankings ahead of conference championships. That really undersells MIT, which is now operating with some of the most fearsome relay lineups in recent memory.
Also, moving up quickly are the women’s teams from Tufts and the perennial contenders at Williams.
Heading into the weekend we plan to look a little closer at the success of the Denison men and Emory women, as well as a few other areas of interest around the division.
New threats to old records: a few thoughts
There are 26 individual events contested at nationals, 13 for men and 13 for women. Of those 26, 11 have been reset since COVID, leaving us with 15 pre-COVID records.
Some of those older records are vulnerable. Some perhaps vulnerable because - as the division gets faster in general, and much faster in certain events - these old records are no longer extreme outliers. Other records seem to be in jeopardy because they are being pursued by one or two athletes who are themselves outliers.
Here are the ones that caught our attention.
Men’s 50 Free and 100 Free
Record holder: Oliver Smith, Emory
Record time: 19.37 (50 Free), 42.98 (100 Free)
Date of swim: March 21, 2018 (50 Free), March 24, 2018 (100 Free)
It is December. And MIT’s Tobe Obochi already swam 50 Free in 19:56. The last time anyone in Division III went 19.60 or faster before conference championships was 2017-18. And that was Oliver Smith (he went 19.60 at the Miami Invitational. Nov. 30, 2017). Later that season, Oliver Smith (of course) set the D3 record in 50 Free.
Tobe Obochi is also sitting at 43.66 in 100 Free. Joining Mr. Obochi near the top of both tables is Calvin’s elite sprinter David Bajwa. In 100 Free, Kenyon’s Djordje Dragojlovich will be in the mix all season. And there are also, very near the top, a couple of first-years - Denison’s Nick Hensel in 50 Free and Matt Peitler of Carnegie Mellon in 100 Free. We also need to be mindful of Braydon Morford (see footnote).2
Women’s 100 Breast
Record holder: KT Kustritz, Denison
Record time: 59.77
Date of swim: March 23, 2018
Denison’s KT Kustritz never got to swim at nationals in her senior year, because nationals was canceled by COVID. Still, two seasons earlier, she established a record in 100 Breast that stands today.
Kenyon’s Jennah Fadely is:
a senior,
healthy,
and possibly the greatest sprint breaststroker in the history of women’s D3.
She also came within 0.04 seconds of breaking this record last year, going 59.80 in finals at 2024 nationals. We think Jennah Fadely retires from NCAA competition owning this record.
Men’s 400 IM
Record holder: Harrison Curley, Kenyon
Record time: 3:46.62
Date of swim: March 19, 2015
We should have made a bigger deal out of Max Nechydyuk (first-year, NYU) and his 400 IM (3:48.76) at the 15th Annual Phoenix Fall Classic. Here’s the thing about going under 3:49 before nationals (yes, we constantly emphasize when in the season a time is posted, and if you are unclear about why, just…send us an email). It never happens. Seriously. Here is a complete list of everyone who has ever (ever) broken 3:49 in men’s 400 IM in Division III.
We trust the pattern is clear. No one in Division III ever goes under 3:49 in the regular season. In Division III, breaking 3:49 in men’s 400 IM is a very unusual event reserved exclusively for nationals.
With one exception. Max Nechydyuk.
Women’s 400 IM
Record holder: Caroline Wilson, Williams
Record time: 4:13.14
Date of swim: March 22, 2012
Caroline Wilson of Williams owns the women’s 400 IM record, and she was also a brilliant mile swimmer who set a division record in the 1650 as a first-year.
Last season’s national champion in women’s 400 IM was Trinity’s Neely Burns. Her time was 4:16.67. For an event that, if all goes well, still takes more than 253 seconds to swim, a difference of 3.5 seconds is not much of a buffer.
And then last weekend, at the Gompei Invitational, Sophia Verkleeren unleashed her fastest ever 400 IM, 4:16.77. That’s the fastest anyone has swum that event outside of nationals since the days of Clio Hancock and Honore Collins (admittedly, not that long ago, but certainly pre-COVID). Sophia Verkleeren has always been very fast, and now she is even faster. And remember she swims in the NESCAC, so her season is just getting started.
Women’s 1650
Record holder: Sarah Thompson, Williams
Record time: 16:21.44
Date of swim: March 21, 2015
Sarah Thompson was a terrific swimmer and she demolished the women’s mile record in her very last swim in Division III. It was a performance for the ages. Just amazing.
That said, the average of fast swims in women’s 1650 has exerted an unusual gravitational pull on this record. No other individual record in men’s or women’s events is so close - in terms of standard deviations along a normal distribution - to the average of fast swims in recent seasons. This record, mathematically speaking, is the most vulnerable record in Division III.
That said, someone would have to beat it.
The greatest distance swimmer in Division III history - Kristin Cornish of JHU - retired a year early.
Kenyon sophomore Bengisu Caymaz won the event as a first-year and only appears to be getting faster. But we are reminded that in her sophomore season, Kristin Cornish broke 16:30 twice (and came within 0.05 of breaking it a third time) in the mile, while Ms. Caymaz has never broken the 16:30 barrier.
We couldn’t be more excited about Natalie Garre, and we believe she has the potential to set a new record in this event. However, she is also a first-year who has only swum this event once at the NCAA level. So, we should probably take a breath.
We’ll see what happens.
Women’s 200 Back
Record holder: Crile Hart, Kenyon
Record time: 1:55.67
Date of swim: March 24, 2018
Kenyon legend Crile Hart owns the current record in women’s 200 Back. Since it was set, no one not named Crile Hart has gone under 1:57.
Until Kate Augustyn, last season. Ms. Augustyn broke 1:57 at the NEWMAC championships in late February 2024, and then posted a 1:55.98 at 2024 nationals. Ms. Augustyn pretty clearly has this record in her sights. For more on that, follow the link.
A special case
Women’s 200 Free
This is simply the most remote record in all of Division III, in all events, men’s or women’s. This record belongs to Amherst immortal Kendra Smith. She set the 200 Free record at 1:44.82, on March 24, 2011. That is a long time ago. Current first-years would have been graduating kindergarten when that record was set.
In terms of SRS, this record is worth 5.15 SRS. The only other 5+ SRS point swim in Division III history is Andrew Wilson’s 100 Breast record. And that record is still 0.10 SRS points lower than Ms. Stern’s record. Ms. Stern’s 200 Free record is an outlier among outliers. It is as much as 1.75 SRS points higher than some other records in D3.
But here is the thing. Last season, we suggested that Kendra Stern’s 100 Free record was out of reach—then Kaley McIntyre shattered it. In the finals of women’s 200 Free at 2024 nationals, Ms. McIntyre came within 1.20 seconds of breaking Ms. Stern’s record. Right now in this event, year over year, Ms. McIntyre is 0.60 seconds faster than last December. To suggest that Kaley McIntyre won’t break this mark would be to bet against her—and one of our takeaways from last season is that betting against Kaley McIntyre is a mistake.
We have our reasons.
We initially did not include Braydon Morford on this list because we aren’t sure he will ever swim a straight-up 50 Free. But if he breaks the record on the lead leg of a relay, that counts too. Right? Do relay leadoffs count for Division III records?
We decided to look that up.
And, yup. They count.
The team SRS breakouts don't look right. For example Ella Roberson is not showing up for her 50 and 200 freestyle swims for MIT.
For some reason I can't get the team srs chart to be clickable to show the individual breakdown mentioned. Any guesses as to what am I doing wrong?