National Championship
2022 NCAA Men's Swimming – 100-yard Butterfly (46.77)
March 17, 2022
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – University of Chicago sophomore Jesse Ssengonzi won a national title at day two of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships on Thursday.
The morning prelims saw Ssengonzi earned the second seed in the finals of the 100-yard butterfly by breaking his own school record in 47.21.
The men's 100-yard butterfly final was shaping up to be a showdown between Ssengonzi and Kenyon's David Fitch, who owns the fastest event time in the history of NCAA Division III. But Ssengonzi was up to the challenge. The sophomore chopped nearly half a second off his prelims time and emerged victorious in 46.77, which broke the previous NCAA meet record and set a new UChicago record. He beat out his Kenyon opponent by 0.09 seconds.
"With some great training leading up to NCAAs, we knew Jesse could go faster than he did at UAAs," Head Coach Jason Weber said. "After a solid prelims swim where he went a best time, I think Jesse believed he could really challenge for the title. He even told us that if he could go out faster in finals and be close to Fitch at the 50, that he could out-swim him in the second 50 and he did exactly that! It was such an impressive swim and Jesse deserves so much credit for all the work he's put in and for stepping up and competing at such a high level."
