National Champion x2
Justin Finkel ’25 wins two events at NCAA DIII Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Justin Finkel ’25 was crowned national champion—twice—after winning the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly at the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, March 20-22. He becomes just the second Conn student-athlete to win multiple national titles, and the first to do so in the same NCAA Championship.
Finkel made his first trip to the top of the podium on the first day of competition. After turning in the fastest time in the morning preliminaries for the 500 free, Finkel swam a controlled race in the finals that saw him power to the finish in 4:21.32, breaking his own school and NESCAC records in the process.
The race featured eight swimmers, six of whom competed in the same heat as Finkel in the morning session. Finkel hung back in the early stages and was in fifth at the midway point, when Brandeis’ Samuel Dienstag took the lead.
Dienstag built a sizable advantage over the field before Finkel chased him down in the back half. By the 400-yard mark it was a two-man race, although Finkel still trailed by a body length. By the final turn, Finkel pulled even and then overtook Dienstag in the final 25 yards to clinch the victory.
“I had a lot more in the last half than I thought I would. I went out how I wanted to, but I’m just glad I had that last kick in the end,” said Finkel, a biology major from Cheshire, Connecticut.
“It certainly means a lot,” Finkel added of his first national title. “It’s a dream of every swimmer. I’ve been working on this for a while, so I’m glad I’m finally here, and it’s a dream come true.”
Finkel wouldn’t have to wait long for his second national title. After finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle on the second day of competition, he won the 200 fly in NCAA Division III record-breaking fashion on day three.
With the fourth-fastest time in the morning prelims, Finkel had a tall order ahead of him in the championship final. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Frank Applebaum—the two-time defending champion in the event—turned in the fastest time of the prelims and looked prime for another repeat.
Applebaum led through the first 150, leaving Finkel, then in third, with work to do in the last 50. He pulled into second place before the final turn and went head-to-head with Applebaum in a sprint to the finish, out-touching him at the wall by .18 seconds to break Applebaum’s NCAA Division III national record with a winning time of 1:43.21. The finish also set new NCAA Championship, Connecticut College and NESCAC records for the event.
“A lot of things are going through my head right now,” said Finkel after the race. “I’ve been working on it for a while—I’ve done a lot of 200 fly pace—and I’m glad to see it paid off. I worked on my turns a lot this morning, because that was something I fell short on. I’m thankful for everyone who is here—all my friends and family, coaches, and faculty. I’m overwhelmed right now, and happy.”
Finkel is the first men’s swimmer in Camel history to qualify for championship finals in three individual events at the same NCAA Championship, and he earned All-America honors in each. And while he was the only member of Conn’s Men’s Swimming and Diving team to compete, Finkel scored 55 points, which placed Connecticut College 17th overall out of 44 scoring teams.
Last month, Finkel was named NESCAC Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year.
