Saturday, by the numbers
16:17.84
That is the new record in women’s 1650 Free, set by first-year Natalie Garre of Bowdoin. We’d be lying if we said we were sure this would happen, and overly modest if we did not point out that on December 10th of this season we wrote:
We get so much stuff wrong. Let us have this one.1
Bengisu Caymaz of Kenyon finished second with a time of 16:28.38. Up until the end of that race there were five athletes in the history of Division III to swim the women’s 1650 in a time under 16:30.
Caroline Wilson, Williams – 16:25.21 (2010 Nationals)
Sarah Thompson, Williams – 16:21.44 (2015 Nationals)
Angela Newlon, DePauw – 16:29.59 (2016 NCACs)
Julia Durmer, Emory – 16:27.82 (2017 Nationals)
Kristin Cornish, JHU – 16:29.52 (October 2022) & 16:29.78 (2023 Nationals)2
In Division III, it had never before happened that two athletes swam the women’s 1650 under 16:30 in the same season. We just saw two athletes do it in the same race.
42.88
The new Division III record in men’s 100 Free established by Max Cory of Bates. That took down one of Oliver Smith’s sprint freestyle records. His record in 50 Free—19.37 set at nationals in 2018—survived the week. Max Cory, more than any other swimmer, seemed to epitomize how NESCAC swimmers lie dormant through the first half of winter and then explode onto the scene in conference champs and nationals. His anchor leg of the Bates 200 Medley Relay at NESCACs was clocked at an insanely fast 18.59.
David Bajwa of Calvin came in second with a time of 43.25…which would have won the event every year since Oliver Smith established the record. Except this year.
25.74
The number of raw SRS points accumulated by David Bajwa, more than any other competitor in the men’s events.
By “raw,” we mean every SRS point counts. Even when it comes from the same event, swum more than once. Mr. Bajwa led off Calvin’s freestyle relays. He made finals in the 50 and 100 Free. That gave him four swims each in those events—each one eligible for SRS points. We don’t count relay legs two through four. He also made finals in the 100 Fly. His swims there, both prelim and final, scored high.
48.53 and 49.75
Kaley McIntyre broke her own women’s 100 Free record, going 48.53. The next closest competitor finished nearly a full second behind Ms. McIntyre.
Hope’s Laurel Wasiniak won the consolation final in 49.75, a time that would have been good enough for third place had she been in the championship final.
140
The number of points separating the Denison men from Emory, the second place finishers. This was the largest margin of victory in the men’s team national championship since 2018.
In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be sharing more features and taking time to unpack more of what unfolded over the course of 2025 Nationals. More soon.
Is it strange that a first-year set a new record in women’s 1650? Well, it is not unprecedented. When Caroline Wilson was a first-year at Williams in 2010, she set the new record in women’s 1650 at nationals with a pretty impressive 16:25.21.
The Division III record, up until Friday, was owned by Ms. Wilson’s teammate, Sarah Thompson, who set her record—16:21.44—as a senior at 2015 Nationals, in the last swim of her NCAA career.
Kristin Cornish remains the only Division III athlete to ever swim the 1650 under 16:30 twice in one season.