NCAA Division II Champs: Tampa and Nova Southeastern Chasing Title Repeats (Meet Preview)
This year’s NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division II Swimming and Diving Championships will be held as part of the 2025 NCAA Division II Winter Festival, hosted by the Indiana Sports Corp and the University of Indianapolis, which also includes the DII championships for track and field as well as wrestling. Competition is scheduled for March 11-15 at the Indiana University Natatorium.
Expect a battle of familiar foes.
WOMEN: NOVA SOUTHEASTERN LOOKS FOR THREEPEAT
On the women’s side, Colorado Mesa—last year’s runnerup squad that finished just 25.5 points behind Nova Southeastern—holds this year’s top CSCAA ranking (as of February), but two-time NCAA DII defending champion Nova Southeastern (ranked No. 5) won’t go away. The other top-five teams (#s 2-4) include Indy, Drury and Tampa, which finished fourth, third and seventh, respectively, in 2024.
Nova Southeastern returns Swedish international student Emilia Ronningdal, who has been stellar this season in the freestyle events and the IM. Claire Gass has also excelled in the breaststroke events and will be a key member of their relays.
Colorado Mesa returns 100 and 200 backstroke champion Agata Naskret and also has plenty of depth, which should make for a stellar showdown between last year’s top two teams. Naskret broke the DII record in the 100 back at a midseason meet (51.86), then set the 200 back record at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships (1:53.97).
Indy will be looking to keep the home team within striking distance of a team title, and has a strong 1-2 punch that could make that possible: Kirabo Namutebi broke the 50 free DII record at midseason with a 22.03, and Celina Schmidt returns after winning the 100 and 200 breaststroke last year.
Schmidt, however, who won the 200 breast in 2:10.82 a year ago, will be tested in that event at this year’s championships, as Drury’s Jonette Lagreid set a DII record of 2:08.86 at the SMU Invitational this season, leading into a highly anticipated showdown at NCAAs.
Grand Valley State (No. 6 in CSCAA’s most recent poll) has been a perennial top-10 team, and with its diving strength, should be a top-5 contender. Madison Kooistra won 1-meter last year, the second diver in as many years to claim a title on the boards for the Lakers.
MEN: ANOTHER TAMPA-DRURY SHOWDOWN?
Tampa held off Drury in a stellar men’s championship meet last year, 473-409…and the CSCAA’s national rankings in February have them at No. 1. However, Tampa was led by several seniors and fifth-year swimmers, which could change the dynamic a bit between these top two rivals.
Ranked this season behind last year’s top two teams are Indy, Colorado Mesa and Grand Valley, which finished third, fifth and sixth, respectively, a year ago. McKendree, which placed fourth last year, earned the No. 6 ranking.
Although Tampa does not return any of its championship swimmers, it will still have plenty of qualifiers looking to help the team defend its title. That includes Jacob Hamlin, who broke the DII records in the 1000 free (8:53.99) in January and 1650 (14:55.02) at a midseason meet in November.
Drury, on the other hand, returns 100 breaststroke defending champion Davi Mourao. The Panthers also put together an NCAA DII record in the 400 medley relay at the SMU Invitational in November, with Ivan Adamchuk, Mourao, Alejandro Villarejo and Lucas Mineur finishing in 3:06.83.
And still another DII record was set this season, with Indy’s Cedric Buessing clocking 4:16.15 in the 500 freestyle during the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in February. A clash between Buessing and Hamlin in the 500 freestyle will be a can’t-miss event.
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