NYU’s ladies’s swimming and diving staff turned the UAA the other way up final month, profitable its first convention championship in program historical past. Emory University, the 26-year title holders, have been dethroned on Feb. 14 by the Violets — who celebrated the win, alongside head coach Trevor Miele, by jumping into the pool together.
Now, the staff appears to be like to the nationwide match for an opportunity to do all of it once more.
“That was always the goal,” Miele advised WSN, referencing the staff’s new title. “The women did a masterful job doing it. But we’re not done — we have NCAAs.”
On the ultimate day of the meet, all of it got here all the way down to the 400 freestyle relay groups. With the B squad senior Nicole Ranile, sophomores Sarah Pierson and Natsuki Uchino and first-year Maeve O’Donnell edging out the defending champions by simply 0.33 seconds, the championship was in attain for the primary time — provided that the A staff might shut it out.
“Going into the final session, we knew that it was going to be super close,” UAA Rookie of the Year Llew Ladomirak stated. “Right before the 400 freestyle relay, we made a relay switch — we pulled someone off the A relay and put them on the B relay. That 20-minute period before the relay was probably the most stressed I’ve ever been in my life, but once our B relay got it done, we knew we were gonna be able to do it.”
And the Violets delivered. The 4 swimmers — junior Lian Jeong Engle, Ladomirak and seniors Andrea Wu and Kaley McIntyre — roared forward to first place with a time of three:20.42, a full 4 seconds forward of second-place finisher University of Chicago.
“This weekend is a culmination of a lot of hard work throughout the year,” Miele stated. “The ladies came in pretty focused this year, worked hard from day one, and have been dominating as we’ve gone on. They’ve had the confidence to get in there and race against some of the best teams in the country. And it was a dogfight.”
At final yr’s NCAA Division III Championships, the ladies’s staff landed in 2nd of 39 groups after an intense 4 days of competitors, incomes the very best nationwide efficiency in program historical past. The Violets set a nationwide file within the 800 freestyle relay, with McIntyre, Ranile, graduate scholar Elle Motekaitis and senior Isabel Oldham taking house gold. The 4 swimmers have been honored over winter break because the Violets celebrated Senior Day and held a hoop ceremony honoring final season’s champions.
In 2025, McIntyre broke her personal 100-yard freestyle file to take house her tenth profession nationwide title, and was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year for her historic season. She got here simply 0.06 seconds wanting surpassing the D-III 200-free file of 1:44.82, set by Kendra Stern in 2011. At this yr’s UAA championships, McIntyre shattered it along with her 1:44.74 end — securing her fourth consecutive convention title within the occasion.
“That race hurt a lot, so I did not think I was going to get that time, but I am incredibly grateful that I’ve had the training and preparation to break that record,” McIntyre stated. “It is a very fast time. I’m just very relieved to have that off of my plate now.”
Throughout her profession, McIntyre has collected 10 rings and 23 UAA titles, been named UAA Women’s Rookie of the Year, two-time UAA Women’s Swimmer of the Year and two-time D-III Swimmer of the Year and notched 10 NCAA All-American honors. Her contributions to this system can’t be understated as she enters the ultimate stretch with the Violets.
“She has the 50, 100 and 200 records,” Miele stated. “Those are the premiere events, and she’s, to me, the best swimmer that’s ever swam in D-III.”
Miele additionally credit the remainder of the senior class for the Violets’ immense success over the previous couple of years. Ranile, certainly one of three senior captains alongside McIntyre and Meera Kasturi, is a three-time nationwide champion, and was instrumental to NYU’s UAA upset along with her sturdy relay legs and her occasion title within the 200-yard butterfly.
In Friday’s NCAA D-III Region 3 Diving Championships, Katsuri completed within the prime 10 within the ladies’s 1m dive championship. Fellow senior Isabella Reyes earned the highest place for the Violets within the occasion along with her fifth-place dive.
“It’s gonna be definitely sad to see them go,” Miele stated. “They’ve grown so much, both individually and obviously their performance in the pool. They’re great leaders, and really helped transform the program from the day they walked into the door.”
NYU’s excellent efficiency within the UAA, together with a powerful effort within the diving regionals, punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships. The staff’s coaching will ramp up within the interim — and because the competitors attracts nearer, the swimmers will taper, or scale back coaching quantity, to make sure that their our bodies are in the very best form for the extraordinary meet.
As the seniors gear up for his or her remaining run on the match, they’ve the prospect to make program historical past. The No. 3-ranked Violets have by no means taken first place general in males’s or ladies’s swimming at nationals. With this yr’s historic upset and a star-studded class of each seniors and newcomers, the staff is primed for a groundbreaking run when the competitors kicks off on March 18 in Indianapolis.
“I don’t really like to make predictions, but I have full confidence that this team can definitely do something we’ve never done before,” McIntyre stated. “We’re all just gonna go into it with the best mindset and best attitudes that we can, and we’re just gonna make people fight for it. That’s all we can really ask.”
Contact Kiran Komanduri at [email protected].