On Saturday, March 21, the NYU women’s and men’s swimming and diving seasons came to a momentous conclusion in Indianapolis: The women won an NCAA Division III National Championship for the first time, while the men earned a program-best finish of runner-up.
The women’s team finished with 517 points and a comfortable 83.5-point lead over second-place Emory University. The men’s team closed out its competition with 388.5 points, 48.5 points behind champion Denison University.
“I think this was a long time coming for this program,” women’s senior captain Kaley McIntyre said. “To be a part of the team that finally did it was something I still don’t really even have words for.”
McIntyre led the women’s team in accolades and achievements. Competing on the team for the last four years, she finished her last collegiate tournament with a haul of five titles, and was named D-III Swimmer of the Year for the second year in a row. McIntyre swept the 50 and 200-yard freestyle for the fourth year in a row, scored her third 100-yard freestyle win at nationals and helped take gold in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays for the first time — alongside junior Lian Jeong Engle and first-years Maeve O’Donnell and Llew Ladomirak.
Senior Nicole Ranile triumphed in the 200-yard butterfly, while O’Donnell won the 100-yard backstroke. Ranile, Jeong Engle, Ladomirak and senior Emery Muller took the 800-yard freestyle relay title.
The men’s team also brought home some hardware. Sophomore Max Nechydyuk won the 400-yard individual medley, and junior Greg Wehbe, graduate student Teddy Cross and sophomores Teddy McQuaid and Sean Li won the 200-yard medley relay — setting a new program record with a time of 1:26.18. Cross also broke another program record and notched a national title with his win in the 200-yard backstroke.
Two senior divers represented the women’s diving team, exceeding head diving coach Todd Kolean’s expectations. Meera Kasturi and Isabella Reyes placed fourth and 22nd, respectively, in the 1m diving preliminary round. Kasturi qualified for the final later that day and finished in third with a score of 436.25.
“I was kind of hoping they would finish in the top 16 and be honorable mention All-American,” Kolean told WSN. “She worked her butt off all year long, especially leading into these national championships. For her to end up third in the nation was a little bit of an overperformance.”
The women earned a program-best runner-up result at last year’s NCAAs and had been aiming to come out on top since the start of this season — and did so with the help of new faces on the roster, McIntyre said.
Despite retiring four swimmers and one diver from the previous season, the women’s team kicked off the new year in a spectacular fashion, winning its first dual meet of the season 184-53 against West Chester University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 11. The Violets’ only loss in a dual meet came later that month against D-I Columbia University.
“My plan for our dual meets is to try and maximize the level of competition and put us in positions where we’re going to race really fast people, so when we get to NCAAs, we’d be ready for it,” head swimming coach Trevor Miele said in an interview with WSN.
The women’s team consistently finished first in scoring invitationals, with the first hosted at the Palladium Athletic Facility for the NYU Fall Invitational, where the Violets finished first out of four teams on both days. They won their first UAA Championship at the University of Chicago last month, placing first out of eight teams throughout the competition, and managed to carry the momentum over to the NCAA D-III Championships.
Ajay Watanakun and Connor Vincent were among the seven swimmers and two divers that retired from the men’s team at the end of last season, after tying a program-best finish of fourth at the NCAAs. The Violets also won all seven dual meets this season.
Throughout the season, the swimmers and divers weren’t just focused on winning their first-ever championships, but also supporting everyone on their teams. The upperclassmen who form the Violets’ leadership core sought to make their younger teammates feel welcome in a new and competitive environment, from making posters to support each other at meets to uplifting fellow student athletes at on-campus sporting events.
“In high school, swimming can be incredibly individual,” McIntyre said. “You can’t win a national title with one person, so it was just really cool to see them find their places and show up.”
Although the men’s squad finished short of a title, the team is set on taking first in the nation next year with some fresh faces on the team. Six swimmers and one diver will be graduating May, while the women — who will gear up to defend their championship title come next season — have four retiring swimmers and two divers.
“We knew we would have to work for it, but we figured that we had a pretty good chance,” McQuaid said. “Trevor really drilled into the fact that we have a good chance, so we should just take this opportunity and not waste it.”
Contact Sherry Chen at [email protected].