The Kenyon Lords mens swim team - 31 straight NCAA Divison III Titles. Last weekend they finished second by one point to Denison, ending their run of titles.
This accomplishment totally boggles my mind - 31 straight national titles!!! All of them coached by the same man - Jim Steen.
We’ll never seen this kind of domination again from any team. Unfrickenbelievable!!!
Now, it’s all up to the Trinity squash team to beat the record…
That is impressive. Iowa Hawkeyes Wrestling would be another. They won 17 titles under coach Dan Gable 9 of those in a row and a few more under other coaches.
Yes, the Hawkeyes were awesome. UCLA under John Wooden in basketball is another dominant team.
Trinity Squash at 13 in a row?
But Kenyon is just in another dimension.
Division 3?
Yes, D3.
as a Denison alum, all I can say is it’s about time Kenyon was beaten (even if it was only by 1 pt.). Go Big Red!
Yup - pretty awesome. There is at least 1 pro triathlete (frequents here occasionally) that swam for Kenyon. Many other Ohio schools with long records like that (i.e. Mt. Union in D3 football, etc.)
Hard to overlook UCONN Women’s BBall as well.
UNC women’s soccer (think Mia Hamm) has to be up there somewhere, too. I don’t follow it very closely, but seem to recall that their run of titles may be a record for D-1.
edit: OK, just looked it up… first year the NCAA sanctioned a women’s championship in soccer was 1982; UNC won it all in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2009. In other words, the list of years they didn’t win the title is less than half as long.
How does D3 swimming compare to D1 swimming ( I really have no sense)?
How does D3 swimming compare to D1 swimming ( I really have no sense)?Not a fair comparison… many D1 events have deeper finals than the Olympics.
That’s crazy talk. When the 2005 Texas Longhorn Football team stuck it to USC in the title game USC had been basically given credit for defeating the Roman Empire at it’s height, and Reggie Bush was the next Barry Sanders only better, Superman was wearing Matt Leinart pajamas, and the Trojan defense was 11 Chuck Norrises on roids. Right up to game time ESPN was not debating who would win, but rather how many NFL teams could USC beat. They had two Heisman trophy winners on the field at the same time and the Texas defense shut them up on 4th and 1 late in the game and Vince Young sealed it later on the ensuing drive on 4th and 5, down by 5, with 19 seconds to play.
2005 Longhorns: Best. Team. Ever.
To be the best, you have to beat the best. Your team is Division III. That’s like saying the kids from New Jersey who won the Little League World Series are the best baseball team in the world just because they got a title and the Yankees didn’t that year.
How does D3 swimming compare to D1 swimming ( I really have no sense)?Not a fair comparison… many D1 events have deeper finals than the Olympics.
OK - but do D3 events have times that are the same as D1 events or are they slower or faster?
You could make the same statement about many D1 athletic competitions. I’m not asking for a “fair” comparison…I’m just asking because I’m curious. I’m sure someone on here knows…
How does D3 swimming compare to D1 swimming ( I really have no sense)?Not a fair comparison… many D1 events have deeper finals than the Olympics.
Wow! really? That sounds like fun to watch.
Disagree about Longhorns but agree about the premise…
I think a fair comparison may be…does an Age Grouper who has wins every race he or she enters but never turns pro or never beats the pros at the same events have the right to claim they are the greatest triathlete (not just the greatest AGer) ever?
Greatest D3 team in NCAA history? Perhaps. Greatest team in NCAA history? No.
I don’t know about greatest team (i.e., how would they do against the D1 swim champs), but certainly the most dominating, as far as I know. That is quite an impressive streak.
Arkansas Track has to be up there. 42 National titles in Track and Cross Country under 1 coach, John McDonnell. Multiple Olympians. And Division 1.
The part that really sucks for Kenyon is that they only lost because they didn’t have any divers. Does Kenyon have a diving team? We didn’t even have diving in our conference.
**How does D3 swimming compare to D1 swimming ( I really have no sense)? **
D1 is much deeper and faster at the championship level. Also, by its nature, D1 does not have many really bad swim teams (those programs get canceled and the money goes to buy some more equiptment for the football team) so the overall quality of themas is higher too. So, there is definitely a gap between D1 and D3 but the gap is not quite as huge as it is in football or basketball. Kenyon and Denision both have swimmers that are fast enough to score points at the Div 1 championships and both teams would hold their own against mid level or below D1 teams in a dual meet. A smart fast swimmer will have about the same money available to them in D3 as D1 when you start looking at academic scholarships and the competition can be good too so for alot of mid level D1 swimmers, a D3 school can be in play.