2024 M. NCAA Previews: The 500 Freestyle Gets The Marchand Madness Treatment

2024 MEN’S NCAA SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 27-30, 2024
• IUPUI Natatorium, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• Official Psych Sheets
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• SwimSwam Pick ‘Ems Contest
• Live Results

Men’s 500 Freestyle

• U.S. Open Record: 4:06.18 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
• American Record: 4:06.32 — Kieran Smith, Florida (2020/2021)
• NCAA Record: 4:06.18 — Léon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
• 2023 NCAA Champion: Luke Hobson, Texas — 4:07.37

After two years of Georgia winning the 500 freestyle NCAA title, Texas reclaimed the crown. Luke Hobson won the 2023 title in 4:07.37, making him then fifth-fastest performer in the event’s history. With the win, Hobson added his name to the history of Texas success in the event; Clark Smith and Townley Haas combined to win five-straight NCAA titles for the Longhorns from 2015 to 2019.

Though Hobson is the defending champion, it’s hard to call him the favorite in this race. Instead, there’s a new favorite (and NCAA record holder in town). And if that weren’t enough, 5th through 11th seed are within a second of each other, promising a real battle just to make a second swim, much less duke it out for the title.

Forks Up On The Psych Sheet

At a February 2023 dual meet, Leon Marchand raced the 500 freestyle for the first time. He clocked a 4:07.81, then the fastest time in the league. He also immediately cracking the top 10 performers list at #5. Though that time was done at a dual meet just before the postseason, it would’ve given Marchand 2nd at NCAAs behind Hobson’s 4:07.37.

There was a lot of talk in the pre-season about whether Marchand would change his NCAA event line-up. The popular swap was from the 200 breast to the 200 fly. But at PAC-12s, the Frenchman skipped the 200 IM in favor of the 500 freestyle–his first time swimming the event in the postseason.

With the swim, he kicked off 2024 Marchand Madness, breaking the NCAA record with a 4:06.18 in his fourth official time swimming the race. He took .18 seconds off Kieran Smith‘s NCAA record and claimed the NCAA record in a 4th individual event. He’s kept the 500 freestyle on his NCAA lineup, which immediately makes him the favorite to win.

Zalan Sarkany (courtesy: Sun Devil Athletics)

Like almost every other event, Arizona State has depth in the 500 free. There are three Sun Devil swimmers in scoring position and Marchand and Zalan Sarkany are 1-2 on the psych sheet. Sarkany spent the fall training in Hungary, then returned to Tempe for the spring semester (mirroring his training last year, when he joined ASU in January 2023 as a freshman).

He started making improvements in the 500 free immediately, swimming a personal best in his first meet back in a Sun Devil cap (4:15.02). He’s swum a personal best every time he’s raced the event this term, going as low as 4:09.19 at PAC-12s. That makes him one of three men who have been sub-4:10 this season.

4:09.19 would’ve earned Sarkany 3rd at 2023 NCAAs, a huge jump from his 29th place finish at that meet. He added two-tenths from his PAC-12 performance last year, but even if he adds more time (within reason) in prelims this year, he should have enough room to make it back to the ‘A’ final. If Sarkany can keep his time-dropping streak alive in Minneapolis, it’s realistic that we could see the Sun Devils follow in the Longhorns (2023) and Bulldogs footsteps (2022) and finish 1-2.

The Three Ms of The SEC

Jake Magahey was part of that Bulldog 1-2 finish in 2022. He’s the 4th fastest performer in history, courtesy of the 4:06.71 he swam at 2021 SECs. Since he upset Smith to win the NCAA title in 2021 as a freshman he’s been incredibly consistent in this event. He always shows up at NCAAs; his lowest NCAA finish is his 3rd place last year. He’s also dropped time from SECs to NCAAs the last two seasons, indicating that he’s got more in the tank than his 4:09.38 from 2024 SECs.

Jake Magahey (photo: Jack Spitser)

Per USA Swimming, there have only been 10 sub-4:08 swims. Magahey owns three of those–the most of any performer on the list. His consistency, combined with the back half of his race, makes him stand out from the rest of the field and makes him a persistent threat for the win.

This is a different year for Magahey. This 500 free is the only individual freestyle event still on his schedule. He will swim the 400 IM and the 200 fly, and not the mile that he has traditionally raced at NCAAs. We’ll have to see if that change impacts his conditioning or pacing for this 500 free.

Jake Mitchell is also someone to keep an eye on. He has yet to break 4:10 this season and he went 4:11.28 to place 2nd at 2024 SECs almost two seconds behind Magahey. Mitchell hit a lifetime best at 2023 SECs (4:09.85) then was unable to replicate that at NCAAs, taking 5th in 4:10.54.

Mitchell made a big jump after transferring from Michgan to Florida last season. He’s been quieter this season in the 500, but did swim a PB in the 200 free in February. We’ll just have to wait and see rather that’s due to a shift in training focus or because he needed more rest for his 500 to round into form.

At 2023 NCAAs, Mason Mathias surprised by breaking 4:13 for the first time to qualify for the ‘B’ final (4:12.15) along with his Auburn teammate Michael Bonson. Mathias has continued to improve since that breakthrough moment last season. At the Georgia Fall Invite, Mathias dropped even more time, throwing down a new school record 4:11.03.

The swim highlighed how much Mathias has improved over the last 18 months. At the same meet in 2022, Mathias logged a personal best 4:14.44, a more than three second drop. And since then, Mathias has taken another 3.41 seconds off his best time. He was a 4:12.75 at 2024 SECs but if he can find his midseason form in Indianapolis, he could make the jump to the ‘A’ final.

In The Hunt

Wisconsin’s Yigit Aslan has also made big improvements this season. He came into the year with a lifetime best of 4:15.20 from 2022 Big Tens. He did not break 4:16 at all last season and didn’t race at NCAAs. At this year’s Big Tens, he popped a personal best 4:13.35 in prelims, then blew past that in finals with a 4:11.20. Over the course of a single day, he took four seconds off his best time and entered ‘main contenders’ conversation and is 6th on the psych sheet.

Gabriel Jett (photo: Jack Spitser)

Two spots ahead of Aslan is Gabriel Jett. He comes into NCAAs with a season-best 4:10.83 from the Cal vs. Stanford dual meet. Jett was one of the Golden Bears contingent that skipped PAC-12s in favor of the Westmont Pro Series, so we’ve yet to see him in action this postseason.

In Westmont, Jett spoke about how he “wasn’t so happy with [his] finals swim in the 500 free,” and wants to be much faster this year. It’s true that last season, Jett added time from prelims to finals and slipped down from 3rd in the morning to 6th at night. His personal best is a 4:09.66 and for what it’s worth, he said in the same interview that his “freestyle is on right now.” If it’s still on in Indianapolis, then Jett–one of the breakouts of 2022–is capable of inserting himself in the top 3 conversation.

Alabama’s offseason last summer left us with a lot of questions about how they would fare this season. But after breaking through from 2022 NCAAs relay-only qualifier to making the cut in 2023, Charlie Hawke looks like he hasn’t missed a beat. The junior dropped a pair of lifetime bests at 2024 SECs, going 1:30.75/4:11.62 in the 200/500 free. The 200 freestyle is definitely his primary event, but Hawke’s shown that he can get in on the action in the 500 free as well.

The Freshmen

Last year there were no freshmen in the NCAA finals of this event. This year, there are two who are in the thick of the action: Rex Maurer and Tomas Koski. 

Rex Maurer (photo: Jack Spitser)

Maurer’s prowess in the 500 freestyle is well-documented. He owns the National High School record. In December 2022, he tied Michael Phelps as the #2 American boy in the 17-18 age group (4:12.33) and had the #1 time in the event in the high school boys class of 2023.

He’s kept getting better at Stanford. He swam his first sub-4:12 outing at the Texas Invitational, posting 4:11.88 while executing a race strategy that focused on “pushing the back 150 [yards].” That’s a race strategy that we’ve seen be effective in the NCAA championship final before.

Maurer’s new lifetime best is just seven-hundredths off what it took to make it back for the ‘A’ final last season. He’ll need to be at his best in the morning, but if he hits his taper–which has been a mixed bag for Stanford the last couple seasons–he could be a factor in the ‘A’ final.

Koski flew a little under the radar at 2024 SECs, but the Georgia freshman posted a massive personal best to win the 500 free ‘B’ final. He swam a 3.81 second personal best of 4:12.29, which would have finished 4th overall at the meet. That’s pushed him all the up the psychs into 12th. Like Maurer, he’ll need to be on in the morning but if you’re looking for freshmen who could end the first-year final drought, these are the two to watch.

The Lurkers

A year removed from winning the NCAA title, you actually need to scroll down to find Hobson on the psych sheet. He’s sitting below the “Invited” line at 37th with his season-best time of 4:15.56. Hobson produced that at the Texas Invitational in November and did not compete at Big-12s after returning from 2024 Worlds (where he won bronze in the 200-meter freestyle).

His teammate Coby Carrozza is in scoring position (11th, 4:11.95 season-best). A senior, Carrozza has developed into a reliable ‘B’ finalist scorer for the Longhorns in this event. They’ll need that more than ever this year,

Luke Hobson (photo: Jack Spitser)

Two other notable names that we’ll see in the early heats are NC State’s Ross Dant and SMU’s Jack Hoagland.

Dant was a 2023 ‘A’ finalist and collected 7th place. He’s more known for his prowess in the 1650 freestyle, but is solid in the 500 free as well–he’s been in the ‘A’ final the last three seasons, though 7th is his best finish.

This year, he’s got some work to do. His season-best is 4:15.05, which puts him at 32nd seed, also below the “Invited” line.

Then, there’s Hoagland. After working his way back from injury at Notre Dame last season to the tune of 5th in the 1650, 10th in the 500 free, and 12th in the 400 IM at 2023 NCAAs, Hoagland made many SwimSwam commenters’ dreams come true by transferring to SMU for his fifth-year.

Though Hoagland has been writing his name onto the SMU all-time lists, he has yet to be at his best form as a Mustang. His season best is also in the 4:15 range; he swam 4:15.61 at the 2024 ASUN Championships. Hoagland showed off his recovered-from-injury form last year, and this year we’re still waiting to see that form emerge. If it does in Indianapolis, then Hoagland could put some major points on the board for SMU.

SwimSwam Picks

Dark Horse: Krzysztof Chmielewski, Freshman (USC) — In his freshman campaign at USC, Krzysztof Chmielewski made a lot of noise in the early part of the season before going quiet. That’s an arc we’ve seen play out at USC many times before. The Trojans were…not great at the men’s PAC-12 Championships. Whether that was part of the strategy or a legitimate misfire only time will tell. If it was strategy, then Chmielewski should be added to the list of freshmen capable of a second swim in this event.