2022 NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 16 – Saturday, March 19, 2022
- IUPUI IU Natatorium, Indianapolis, IN
- Defending Champs: Emory women (10x) & Denison men (2x) – (2019 Results)
- Championship Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Live Stream
Claremont freshman Frank Applebaum broke a D3 record en route to a gold medal in the 200 butterfly. He hit a 1:44.01 to take out the former record of 1:44.56, which Wash U’s Brandon Lum set in 2017.
Applebaum came into the meet as the top seed with a 1:46.06 seed, which he swam at the 2022 SCIAC Championships in February. He started things off with a 1:46.49 during the prelims and pulled off a big PB in the final with his record-breaking swim of 1:44.01.
Applebaum got out more than a second quicker than Lum did with a 22.97 opening split and touched at the 100 in a 49.66. At the 150-mark, their splits were nearly the same, but Applebaum closed in a 1:44.01 to taking roughly a second off the record.
| Applebaum – 2022 | Lum – 2017 | |
| 50 | 22.97 | 24.08 |
| 100 | 49.66 (26.69) | 50.08 (26.00) |
| 150 | 1:16.62 (26.96) | 1:16.64 (26.56) |
| 200 | 1:44.01 (27.39) | 1:44.56 (27.92) |
Applebaum came into the NCAA with a best time of 1:48.91 from back in December 2019 but didn’t get under 1:50 until SCIACs, having swum a 1:50.29 in December 2021 at the CMS vs Pomona Pitzer meet.
Applebaum won the 200 butterfly here by just over 2 seconds, hitting a 1:44.01 to beat Chicago’s Jesse Ssengonzi who was a 1:46.02 for silver. Denison’s Richie Kurlich down a 1:46.06 to round out the podium. This gold medal swim by Applebaum marks Claremont’s first win of the meet.
In the 100 butterfly, Applebaum swam a 47.45 to place 5th overall in the final and he placed 30th in the 200 IM prelims with a 1:50.49.
Congrats to the coaches, the team, and of course to Applebaum on this achievement. The title and record are fantastic but so is a drop of 4.8 seconds from the high school PR. Amazing stuff!!
Beautifully executed swim. Congrats.