Justin Finkel, Kaley McIntyre Repeat As Division III Swimmers of the Year
Connecticut College’s Justin Finkel and Kaley McIntyre of NYU each repeated as Division III Swimmers of the Years, as voted by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America on Monday.
The state of New York supplied both Divers of the Year, with Trent Makowiec of SUNY Geneseo on the men’s side and Ithaca’s Kailee Payne on the women’s, the latter for the second straight year. Their coaches – Shawn Austin of Geneseo and Chris Griffin of Ithaca – won the top coaching honors.
Both national championship winning coaches won Swim Coach of the Year honors, with MIT’s Meg Sisson French getting the women’s honor and Gregg Parini of Denison on the men’s side.
Finkel is the Male Swimmer of the Year for the second straight year. He won the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly at the NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. The senior was third in the 100 fly. He’s a four-time NCAA champion.
McIntyre also repeated in this award. The junior won the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free. She set NCAA records in the 50 and 100, repeated as the champion in the 100 and three-peated in the 50 and 200. McIntyre helped the Violets to a runner-up finish, the best in program history.
Parini led Denison to its sixth national title and first since 2019. It’s his eighth time earning the men’s CSCAA Coach of the Year.
Sisson French led MIT to its first national title, the Engineers never having finished in the top two. MIT scored 497 points, winning three individual and four relay titles and securing the lead late on the final day of competition.
Makowiec swept the diving titles at the Division III Championships, the fifth-year diver winning the 3-meter event by three points, then dominating on 1-meter. Austin is the coach of the year for the second straight year and fourth total.
Payne repeats as the women’s diver of the year, successfully defending her 1-meter and 3-meter titles. She scored 522.80 on 3-meterand won by more than 16 points on 1-meter. Teammate Angela Burke also scored on e-meter, helping Griffin win his fourth CSCAA coaching honor and second in a row.
CSCAA also released its list of All-America honorees, available here.
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