2025 Men’s Big 12 Fan Guide: ASU Eyes Third Straight Conference Title And First In Big 12

2025 Big 12 Championship — Men’s Preview

• February 25 – March 1, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center — Federal Way, Wash.
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Start Times: prelims – 10 am PT/finals – 6 pm PT
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheet
• Livestream: ESPN+
• Live Results

Schedule

Tuesday, Feb. 25th

• 200 medley relay
• Women’s team diving
• 800 freestyle relay
• Men’s team diving

Wednesday, Feb. 26th

• Women’s 1-meter diving (5:15 pm PT)
• 500 freestyle
• 200 IM
• 50 freestyle
• Men’s 3-meter diving

Thursday, Feb. 27th

• Men’s 1-meter diving (5:15 pm PT)
• 100 butterfly
• 400 IM
• 200 freestyle
• Women’s 3-meter diving
• 400 medley relay 

Friday, Feb. 28th

• 200 butterfly
• 100 breaststroke
• 100 backstroke
• Men’s platform diving
• 200 freestyle relay

Saturday, Mar. 1

• 200 backstroke
• 100 freestyle
• 1650 freestyle
• 200 breaststroke
• Women’s platform diving
• 400 freestyle relay

2024 Final Standings:

1. Texas — 2039
2. TCU — 1430
3. BYU — 1402
4. Cincinnati — 1285.5
5. West Virginia — 1138.5

Texas’ departure from the Big 12 after decades of dominance was announced years ago. But, in the flurry of conference re-alignment and the dismantling of the Pac-12, that isn’t the only change to the men’s side of the Big 12 this season. Three of the Pac-12’s teams—Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah—have moved to the Big 12, giving the conference seven men’s programs.

Another change to the championships is this is the first to be held at a neutral site as the meet takes place in Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, which will also host the women’s and men’s NCAA Championships next month.  Despite being in a new conference, the 2025 Big 12 Championships will feel familiar to the former Pac-12 teams that raced at this venue for the annual Pac-12 Championships.

In this reshaped conference, newcomer Arizona State is hoping to pick up right where the Texas Longhorns left off and become the new powerhouse at the top of the team standings.

Swimmers To Watch

Arizona: Ralph Daleiden (So — free/fly), Tomas Lukminas (Fr — free), Haakon Naughton (So — fly/IM, Gage Dubois (Jr — diving)

The Wildcats are flying under the radar a bit because of the Sun Devils, but Arizona should also launch right to the top of the team standings in their debut Big 12 Championship. The Wildcats boast a strong roster that’s capable of a top 25 finish at men’s NCAAs next month, led by sophomores Haakon Naughton and Ralph Daleiden, who earned top-eight finishes at 2024 Pac-12s and have already improved on those times. Naughton, a 200 butterfly specialist, clocked a lifetime best 1:40.55 at midseason which ranks #2 all-time in Wildcat history. It also puts him second on the psych sheet in the event, behind Kharun.

While Naughton excels in the 200 fly, Daleiden and freshman Tomas Lukminas form a strong freestyle duo. Daleiden owns lifetime bests of 42.00/1:32.17 in the 100/200 freestyle, the latter of which he swam at November’s Wolfpack Invitational. In his first season in yards, Lukminas, a freshman from Lithuania, has already been 42.20/1:32.22 in the same events. Those times put him near the top of the conference with Daleiden and made the 100/200 freestyle a place for the Wildcats to put up serious points.

Arizona’s relays have been improving over the past couple of seasons. The Wildcats have already earned two NCAA relay ‘A’ cuts and will be on the hunt for more this week.

Finally, Arizona should rake in points on the boards. Last year, Gage DuBois earned silver on the platform and bronze on the 1-meter board.

Arizona State: Ilya Kharun (So — fly/sprint free), Johnny Kulow (Jr — sprint free), Patrick Sammon (Sr — free), Lucien Vergnes (Fr — back)

The Sun Devils have had their foot on the gas all season, and now they’ll look to win their third-straight conference championship and their debut Big 12 appearance. Sophomore Ilya Kharun rolled straight from two Olympic medals into an excellent NCAA season; at one point he held the NCAA’s fastest time in four events.

A highlight for Arizona State this season has been their relays, which look set to propel their conference and national campaigns. In particular, the sprint relays have been strong, often anchored by junior Johnny Kulow. Watch for him in the sprint freestyle events leading a pack of Sun Devil caps. Senior Patrick Sammon owns the conference’s fastest time in the 200 freestyle, and it will be interesting to see what freshman Lucien Vergnes will bring to his first conference championship.

Arizona State lost multiple key swimmers in the offseason and is still eyeing a top 5 NCAA finish as everyone from returners to newcomers has stepped up. But before they get there, this conference championship is a place for them to show off the serious depth they do have. With multiple swimmers capable of scoring in almost every event, they look primed to run away with the title.

BYU: Jordan Tiffany (So — fly/back), Payton Plumb (Jr — free), Diego Camacho Salgado (Sr — free/back)

BYU won two individual titles in 2024 and Jordan Tiffany returns to defend his crown in the 100 butterfly. It’ll be a tall order for Tiffany given Kharun’s arrival, but it’s hard to know what Tiffany—who will use his fifth year of eligibility during the 2025-26 season at ASU—will bring to this meet. He raced at BYU’s dual against Utah, which was his first time racing since October.

Luigi Riva and Nathaniel Eliason are the team’s top sprinters this season, with both seeded to make the ‘B’ final of the 50/100 freestyle. The team has several freestylers hunting for a finals lane, including Tanner Nelson, Joshua Reed, and Darwin Anderson. Diego Camacho Salgado could be in the mix as well. Payton Plumb was also a two-time ‘A’ finalist in 2024 and will look to book repeat championship final appearances in the 100/200 freestyle.

Cincinnati: Hunter Gubeno (GS — back/free), Kyle Bumgardner (So — breast/IM), Max Murray (GS — free), Ramez Diaa (Fr — diving)

After winning 200 backstroke silver last February, Hunter Gubeno aims to upgrade to gold at his last conference championships. Gubeno broke 1:40 for the first time last season and leads the way in the event this season after a 1:40.49 at the Ohio State Invitational. He’ll also look to move further up in the ‘A’ final in his other events, the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. In addition to owning the conference’s top time in the 200 back this season, he ranks third in the 200 IM (1:44.65) and fourth in the 100 back (46.12).

As a freshman, Kyle Bumgardner placed 4th in the 400 IM, 7th in the 1650, and 9th in the 200 breaststroke. He’s swum lifetime bests in the 200 breast (1:56.41) and 400 IM (3:49.02) this season, which rank him 10th and 8th in the Big 12 this season.

In the pool fifth-year Max Murray and freshman John Reese Taylor will be more names to watch. Meanwhile, freshman Ramez Diaa has looked great for the Bearcats on the boards in his debut season. Diaa arrived on campus with Olympic experience and took down the program’s platform record last month, scoring 385.13 points.

TCU: Jadon Wuilliez (Sr — breast/free), Kornel Kohalmi (Jr — distance free/IM), Geremia Freri (Sr — IM/fly)

While it seems inevitable that Arizona State will distance itself quickly from the other programs and win the men’s team title by a comfortable margin, Arizona and TCU project to be in a close race for second overall.

Junior Jadon Wuilliez will be integral to TCU’s effort to defend their runner-up status from a year ago. A three-time 2024 ‘A’ finalist, he was the team’s highest scorer at last year’s championship, scoring 74 individual points. He projects to be similarly impactful this year, arriving for the championships with the conference’s fastest time this season in the 100 breaststroke (51.84). He’s also got a top 8 time in the 50 freestyle from his lifetime best of 19.55 at midseason.

As a sophomore, Kornel Kohalmi earned the second-most individual points for TCU at the 2024 championships, earning 71 points from top eight finishes in the 500 freestyle (6th), 400 IM (6th), and 1650 freestyle (8th). Geremia Freri has been a consistent presence for TCU throughout his college career. Now approaching his final conference championships, Freri will aim to replicate his 5th and 6th place finishes in the 400/200 IM from last season. He also placed 11th in the 100 fly last year. Freri has already clocked lifetime bests in the 100 fly/200 IM this season, hitting 48.20 and 1:43.89.

Utah: Nick Chirafisi (So — distance free), Jones Lambert (Fr — distance free), Evan VanBrocklin (Elias Petersen (Jr — diving)

When the men’s distance freestyle events roll around, expect to see plenty of Utah caps. The Utes have four swimmers ranked in the Big 12 top 10 in the 1650 freestyle and two in the 500 free (with another two in 11th and 12th). Leading the way for this crew are a pair of underclassmen, sophomore Nick Chirafisi and freshman Jones Lambert. In the 500 freestyle, they are separated by four-hundredths after both swimming 4:19.1 at the Art Adamson Invitational. Chirafisi leads for Utah in the 1650 free as well after a lifetime best 15:04.95 at the same meet, which ranks 4th in the conference.

Outside of the distance freestyle events, look for junior Brandon Miller in the 200 backstroke, Caleb Gallagher in the 200 breaststroke, and Evan VanBrocklin in the butterfly events.

In the diving well, Swedish junior Elias Petersen has been strong this season. As a sophomore, he earned bronze on the 3-meter board at the 2024 Pac-12 Championships. Now, he’ll look to get back on the podium in this new conference. Earlier this season, he broke his program record on the 1-meter  board with 411.45 points.

West Virginia: Danny Berlitz (R-Sr — IM/breast), Justin Heimes (Sr — back), Ian McKinney (So — free/fly), Christian Simpson (R-So — free/back)

It’s going to be a challenge for West Virginia to get out of the basement of the Big 12 this season, and not just because of the newly arrived schools. The Mountaineers graduated Ivan Puskovtich, the team’s top scorer at last year’s championships. It isn’t all bad news though, as Danny Berlitz, Justin Heimes, Ian McKinney, and Christian Simpson—all of whom scored over 40 individual points last season—will suit up.

Berlitz scored 57 points at 2024 Big 12s, the second most points for the West Virginia men. He’s the the reigning champion in the 400 IM but has some ground to make up as he comes into the championships with a season-best of 3:48.39 and ranks 6th overall. He’s also sitting 10th in the 200 IM and 11th in the 200 breast.

Meanwhile, Heimes, who placed 4th in both backstrokes last season, is 7th in the 100 backstroke and 24th in the 200 back. Watch for him to move through the field during prelims.

Showdowns

200 Freestyle — The men’s 200 freestyle ‘A’ final in Federal Way won’t have the widest range of Big-12 schools represented. But, it should be a great race, primarily between the Sun Devils and the Wildcats. Sammon leads the way on the psych sheet with his 1:31.85 but will be flanked by a pair of Arizona swimmers in Daleiden (1:32.17) and Lukminas (1:32.22). Sammon’s teammate Kulow hit a lifetime best 1:32.72 at the Eddie Reese Invite and could be an interesting addition to this field. But even if Kulow opts to stick to the sprints, this should still be a great race. In his first season and yards and his first in the NCAA, Lukminas is a real wild card here.

200 Backstroke — If Arizona State has a weakness, it’s backstroke—at least compared to their depth in the other disciplines. Still, the Sun Devils have four of the top seven 200 backstroke times this season, so let’s not get totally carried away. But this year, it’s a rare sight when an ASU swimmer isn’t seeded 1-2 and in the 200 backstroke, it’s Cincinnati’s Gubeno (1:40.49) and Arizona’s Will Meyers (1:41.15) that occupy the top two spots. ASU’s Quinlan Gould is third (1:41.70) with Utah’s Miller (1:42.17) in fourth, which sets up an interesting race for the win between four different programs—a rarity at this meet.

100 Breaststroke — On paper, it looks like we’re set for a showdown between TCU’s Wuilliez and ASU’s Andy Dobrzanksi for gold in the men’s 100 breaststroke. Wuilliez owns the fastest season-best, 51.84, while Dobrzanski sits at 51.92. They are the only two men in the conference sub-52 this season but both have been faster. Dobrzanski popped a 51.52 at Pac-12s last year, while Wuilliez has been 51.70. This should be an exciting race to watch, both for the win and also to see if any swimmer can bridge the gap and get involved in the title fight.

SwimSwam Picks:

1. Arizona State
2. Arizona
3. TCU

Arizona State’s depth will shine and they will run away with the Big 12 Championship their first year in the conference, continuing the trend established on the men’s side of the SEC and ACC Championships. As we mentioned above, it projects to be a close race for second between newcomers Arizona and the returning TCU. Arizona seems to have stronger depth in the sprint freestyles, giving them the firepower for the relays, which we expect to be the difference maker and help Arizona edge ahead of TCU.