2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
- March 26-29, 2025
- Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
- Psych Sheet
- Eligible Relays
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Live Results
- Live Recaps
We’re over halfway through the 2025 Men’s NCAA Championships after today’s prelims sessions. After an explosive first night of individual finals, the stage is set for another thrilling night as swimmers take to the blocks for the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and 400 medley relay. On the boards, it’s 3-meter time, which will take place after the individual swim events and before the 400 medley relay.
100 Fly
The men’s 100 butterfly championship final is a star-studded affair that includes the last three NCAA champions in the event, multiple 100-meter butterfly Olympic medalists, a Fukuoka Worlds medalists, and the 200 butterfly NCAA record holder.
Josh Liendo (photo: Jack Spitser)
Defending NCAA champion and Olympic silver medalist Josh Liendo leads with a 43.49 in this morning’s prelims. Liendo placed second in the 50 freestyle yesterday. Today, he carries a .25 second lead advantage into the 100 butterfly ‘A’ final. Dare Rose and Ilya Kharun swam lifetime bests for the second and third seeds, with Rose cracking 44 seconds for the first time in his career.
Tyler Ray (44.00) nearly joined them under that barrier as he qualified fourth, a hundredths ahead of 200 butterfly NCAA record holder Luca Urlando and five-hundredths ahead of 2022 champion Andrei Minakov. 2023 champion Youssef Ramadan will aim for his second career title after swimming 44.44 in prelims, while Liendo’s teammate Scotty Buff rounds out the championship finalists.
Yale has its second ‘B’ finalist of the championships as freshman Nicholas Finch swam 44.58, a hundredth off his mid-major all-time record, to qualify ninth this morning. Yesterday, Noah Millard scored the Bulldogs’ first points since 2017 by winning the 500 freestyle ‘B’ final.
400 IM
Rex Maurer (photo: Jack Spitser)
Texas rallied from no finalists in the 100 butterfly by putting three men into the 400 IM ‘A” final: Rex Maurer, Cooper Lucas, and David Johnston. Four men broke 3:38 this morning, led by Maurer, last night’s 500 freestyle champion. who will chase his second title tonight. He got his hand on the wall in 3:37.17, seven-hundredths faster than Lucas Henveaux’s 3:37.24 from a non-circle-seeded heat. It was a big swim for the Golden Bear, who chose this event over the 200 freestyle. Henveaux was third in the 500 free yesterday and has been a driving force for Cal through four sessions of these championships.
Big Ten swimmers Tristan Jankovics (3:37.30) and Dominik Mark Torok (3:37.88) were the other two to break 3:38 this morning, setting themselves up well for tonight. Jankovics popped a 3:35 at the Big Ten Championships last month, but Torok’s swim undercuts the 3:39.20 lifetime best he swam at last year’s NCAAs.
Finally, last year’s third-place finisher Baylor Nelson and fifth-place finisher Jake Magahey return to the ‘A’ final this year.
200 Free
NCAA record holder Luke Hobson emphasized this morning he’s the man to beat in the 200 freestyle. Hobson set up his title defense this evening by breaking 1:30, winning the final heat with a 1:29.60 that puts him in full control for this evening.
Jack Alexy (photo: Jack Spitser)
He’ll be flanked by a pair of California swimmers, Jack Alexy and Gabriel Jett, from the Golden Bears’ record-setting 800 freestyle relay.
Jett rallied this morning after a disappointing 500 freestyle where he missed finals, swimming a lifetime best of 1:30.17 in the 200 freestyle to qualify third overall. Hobson will have a teammate in the final as well, as Chris Guiliano made it back as the sixth seed. That means six of last year’s ‘A’ finalists return, as Charlie Hawke (1:30.24) and Jordan Crooks (1:30.38) also booked a repeat championship final appearance.
The two additions this year are Georgia’s Tomas Koski, who has continued to shine in his sophomore season in Athens and Stanford’s Henry McFadden, who finished 11th last season. McFadden’s 1:30.83 marks his first sub-1:31 effort.
100 Breast
Indiana was projected to put six men into the 100 breaststroke finals. The Hoosiers executed on that goal, putting two into the ‘A’ final and four into the ‘B’ final as the psych sheet predicted. Finn Brooks and Caspar Corbeau went 1-3 this morning, with Brooks swimming the fastest time of the morning with a 50.28.
Credit: Jason Wang / Peak Images
The newly minted NCAA record holder Julian Smith will swim between the Hoosiers tonight. After blasting a 49.51 to win the SEC Championships, Smith posted a 50.30 in prelims, moving comfortably through to the ‘A’ final as the second seed, two-hundredths off Brooks’ time. Corbeau is just three-hundredths off Smith’s time with a season-best 50.33.
The entire ‘A’ final is separated by .36 seconds heading into tonight’s final. Texas sophomore Nate Germonprez swam 50.46 in prelims, while Stanford senior Ron Polonsky clocked 50.47. This is a veteran-laden field; Germonprez is one of only two underclassmen as Cal freshman Yamato Okadome earned an outside lane as the seventh-seed.
Jack Kelly is the first mid-major ‘A’ finalist of the meet, as he followed up his 200 breaststroke ‘A’ finalist appearance last year by making the 100 breaststroke ‘A’ final this morning. Kelly swam 50.64, four-hundredths off the lifetime best he swam at the Ivy League Championships.
100 Back
Top seed Jonny Marshall threw down a 43.88 to post the top time of the morning in the men’s 100 backstroke, .15 seconds off his lifetime best 43.73 from the SEC Championships. At that meet, he went head-to-head with Hubert Kos and Will Modglin, both of whom he’ll face tonight.
Hubert Kos (photo: Jack Spitser)
Kos won the 200 IM last night, tying Destin Lasco as the second-fastest performer in history. He swam 43.90 this morning, bringing his lifetime best 43.75 into view and setting up for a fantastic race with Marshall this evening.
The men’s 100 backstroke has become a chaotic race in the last couple of seasons, made more pronouced this year with the absence of last year’s top three finishers. It feels like the win could come from almost anywhere in the pool, as Cal’s duo of Lasco (44.07) and Mewen Tomac (44.16) qualified third and fifth. Lasco has never won this event throughout a decorated NCAA career.
Ruard van Renen returns to the ‘A’ final this year after a lifetime best 44.08 that checks in just behind Lasco’s prelims swim. Indiana junior Owen McDonald is also lurking after shaving a few hundredths off his best with a 44.31.
Army freshman Johnny Crush made it two mid-major ‘A’ finalists in as many events. He followed up Brown senior Kelly qualifying for the 100 breast ‘A’ final by swimming a lifetime best 44.52 to make the 100 backstroke ‘A’ final by four-hundredths.
400 Medley Relay
Marshall, Smith, Liendo, and Alex Painter obliterated the 400 medley relay record at the 2025 SEC Championships, blazing a 2:55.66. The swim crushed the former record, held by Arizona State, by over a second and puts Florida in the driver’s seat heading into tonight’s timed final.
Alexander Painter (photo: Jack Spitser)
They are seeded 3.57 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, with two other SEC teams, Texas (2:59.23) and Tennessee (2:59.69) rounding out the top three seeds. Crooks, last night’s 50 freestyle champion, has been on fire through two days of these championships, dropping two sub-18 second 50 freestyles last night, including a lifetime best 17.82 that led off Tennessee’s first NCAA relay title since 1996. The Vols have a strong back half in him and Gui Caribe, even if they are behind at the final exchange, Crooks is capable of tracking down multiple teams.
Indiana is the only other program seeded sub-3:00 (2:59.87) though Arizona State (3:00.55) and California (3:01.92) are lurking. As the seventh seed, the Golden Bears will have an outside lane in the final heat of relays.
