Boyer is the only women's swimmer from the CCIW to compete at the last two NCAA Championships
Indianapolis, Ind. -- After collecting a First Team All-America award in the women's 400-yard individual medley on Thursday, Wheaton's
Tess Boyer returned to the Indiana University Natatorium for her final event at the NCAA DIII Championships this morning. Boyer was invited to compete in the women's 200-yard butterfly race, and the junior closed out her three-day stay at this year's national meet by taking part in the event's 44-swimmer prelim. The All-American placed 34th in today's field to round out her decorated junior campaign.
Boyer entered the 200 fly competition as the CCIW champion in the event with a seed time of 2:06.29 that was achieved at the Wheaton Invitational in December. The Kansas native posted a 2:07.07 prelim mark on Friday morning and finished in 34th place, with only the top 16 swimmers in the event advancing to this evening's finals.
Boyer has concluded an impressive third year at Wheaton that saw her garner numerous accolades, including becoming the program's first First Team All-American since 2019. She will now join her Thunder teammates in their offseason routine, as Boyer and the Wheaton squad look ahead to another promising campaign in 2026-27.
Thursday Recap
Indianapolis, Ind. -- On Wednesday morning, Wheaton junior
Tess Boyer achieved a noteworthy milestone when she became the first Thunder women's swimmer since 2017 to earn All-America awards in more than one season. 24 hours later, Boyer went one step further in the second of her three events at this year's NCAA Division III Championships by claiming her first career First Team All-America honor in the women's 400-yard individual medley. The accomplished swimmer qualified for this evening's 400 IM Championship final as one of the top eight competitors in the country, and her resulting national recognition followed her Second Team All-America nod in the same event last year, making Boyer a three-time All-American in her career to date.
The two-time CCIW Women's Swimming Student-Athlete of the Year came into her strongest event on Thursday owning the fourth-fastest seed time in the 400 IM in all of Division III this season. While Boyer did not manage to match the conference record mark of 4:21.41 that she set at last month's CCIW Championships today, she was still able to secure a spot in the race's Championship final thanks to her eighth-placed showing in this morning's 32-swimmer competition.
This Top 8 finish ensured her of a CSCAA First Team All-America prize, confirming Boyer's status as the first women's swimmer from Wheaton to be named a First Team All-American in any event since 2019.
In tonight's 400-yard IM final, Boyer improved upon her prelim time mark by nearly a full second, registering a 4:22.26 count to finish fifth in the talented field. Her fifth-place standing marks the highest finish by a Thunder women's swimmer in an NCAA Championship final since fellow All-American Brooke Barnes came in fifth in the 100-yard freestyle competition seven years ago.
After reaching new heights on the national stage and adding another trophy to her expanding collection, Boyer will wrap up her three-day schedule at the Division III meet on Friday by taking part in the women's 200-yard butterfly race. Prelims begin at 9:00 AM Central Time, with the women's 200 fly the fourth event on tomorrow's itinerary after the 200-yard medley relay competitions and the men's butterfly swim.
Wednesday Recap
Indianapolis, Ind. -- One month after helping lead the Wheaton women's swimming & diving team to the conference title, CCIW Women's Swimming Student-Athlete of the Year
Tess Boyer returned to action, this time on the national stage. The junior traveled to Indianapolis on Wednesday for the first of three-straight days of competition at the 2026 NCAA Division III Swimming Championships and began her event schedule by taking part in the women's 200-yard individual medley. The decorated student-athlete added another accolade to her collection in today's 200 IM prelim with the second Second Team All-America honor of her career, before breaking her own conference and program record in the event's consolation final this evening.
Just as she was last year, Boyer is once again the only women's swimmer from the CCIW to participate in the national meet. The two-time conference champion in the women's 200 IM placed 14th in this morning's 64-swimmer prelim with a time of 2:04.39 to secure a spot in Wednesday's consolation final as a Top 16 finisher. This standing was also enough to see her garner a Second Team All-America nod in the event from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA), marking her second career All-America accolade after earning the same recognition in last year's 400 IM competition.
With Wednesday's award, Boyer becomes the 25th women's swimmer in Wheaton history to claim individual All-America accolades across multiple years and the first to achieve this feat since 2017.
Boyer came into the 200 IM competition with the 13th-fastest seed time in Division III, but the Kansas native saved her best performance in the event for last, eventually posting the meet's ninth-fastest finals time with a record-breaking 2:03.47 line. The updated mark gave her a third-place finish in this evening's consolation final and eclipsed her own previous CCIW and school record time in the 200 IM from this year's Wheaton Invite by .25 seconds.
After an impressive opening to her NCAA Championships run, Boyer's next competition will come in the form of her specialty event, the 400-yard IM. The All-American heads into tomorrow's field owning the fourth-fastest time in the country in the 400 IM this season. The race will be sixth on Thursday's schedule following the men's and women's 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly events. The prelims begin at 9:00 AM Central Time each morning with competition finals starting at 6:00 PM CT.
