{"id":641129,"date":"2026-04-08T04:33:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=641129"},"modified":"2026-04-08T04:33:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T11:33:13","slug":"division-iii-title-is-storybook-ending-for-nyus-kaley-mcintyre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/division-iii-title-is-storybook-ending-for-nyus-kaley-mcintyre\/","title":{"rendered":"Division III Title is Storybook Ending for NYU’s Kaley McIntyre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Division III Title is Storybook Ending for NYU’s Kaley McIntyre<\/strong><\/p>\n

The results of Kaley McIntyre<\/strong> the swimmer and the demeanor of Kaley McIntyre the person don\u2019t always fit the assumptions of one another.<\/p>\n

Her tale of the tape is fearsome. McIntyre is one of the best female freestylers in Division III history. She\u2019s a four-time NCAA champion in each the 50 free and 200 free, a three-time champion in the 100 free. She\u2019s one of only five female swimmers in Division III history<\/a> to win 11 national titles.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 15 national titles in all, three Division III Women\u2019s Swimmer of the Year honors<\/a>, 27 All-American certificates and the most treasured accolade of all, a maiden NCAA Championship for New York University in her senior year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But within the gilded credentials of a fearsome sprinter is still the swimmer that lost two high school seasons to the COVID-19 pandemic, who traveled cross country with no expectations for her college career after having never made the state meet in California \u2013 albeit a high bar in CIF competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that always lives in the back of my brain, not ever being at the top,\u201d McIntyre told Swimming World<\/em>. \u201cIt doesn’t feel real, almost.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NCAA Division III Coverage<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
It is real, though. And it\u2019s beyond what the native of Novato, California, envisioned for where swimming might take her.<\/p>\n
McIntyre entered college with modest expectations. It isn\u2019t self-deprecation when she says she never expected to win one national title much less 15 \u2013 not after finishing 11th in the 100 free and 12th in the 100 backstroke at the CIF North Coast Sectional Championships in the spring of 2022<\/a>, an entire swimming lifetime ago. Imposing as she is on the pool deck, the 6-0 senior comes off as thoughtful and soft-spoken, a platonic ideal of a Division III athlete.<\/p>\n
McIntyre knew she was underrecruited coming out of high school, given pandemic disruptions that hit Northern California particularly hard. She characterizes NYU coach Trevor Miele\u2019s<\/strong> decision to recruit her as \u201cgiving me the shot to prove myself.\u201d She\u2019s repaid Miele and his staff many times over.<\/p>\n
As a freshman in 2023, McIntyre burst onto the scene at NCAAs. She outdueled reigning champion Taylor Leone<\/strong> of Emory in the 50 free to win in 22.78, a race she entered as the 10th seed. She won the 200 free, again in a head-to-head matchup with the reigning champ, more than a second quicker than what Tufts\u2019 Claire Brennan<\/strong> had registered the season before.<\/p>\n
Her third event, which now seems bizarre, was the 200 back, finishing ninth. It would her last individual NCAAs event on any podium step but the highest.<\/p>\n
The Violets finished fifth as a team that year at NCAAs, the best finish in program history. In the moment, it felt like a start. Posterity has proven that prescient.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never expected to win a national title individually, let alone as a team,\u201d McIntyre said. \u201cI think as a freshman, I was pretty na\u00efve and was just putting in the hard work but not really expecting anything on the national level. I think after that first year is when the team as a whole kind of started to realize we have a real shot at building and developing something that is capable of winning a national title.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A post shared by NYU Athletics (@nyuathletics)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n