2026 M. NCAA Previews: Many Pretenders To The 500 Free Throne, But There Can Only Be One King

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Texas (1x)
• Championship Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Scored Psych Sheets

Men’s 500 Free

• NCAA Record: 4:02.31– Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• Championship Record: 4:02.31 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• American Record: 4:04.35 – Rex Maurer, Texas (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 4:02.31 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• 2025 Champion: Rex Maurer, Texas – 4:05.35

We have a barnstorming prelims session incoming in the 500 free, with three seconds separating the top 13 athletes and multiple of those having set a best time this season. Defending champion Rex Maurer leads the psych sheets in 4:08.46, off the 4:05.35 which he won with last year and his 4:04.45 American Record, but has a pair of world champions breathing down his neck.

They are not the only swimmers in the field with long course prestige – Luke Whitlock, Ethan Ekk, and Zalan Sarkany all have world championship or Olympic experience, and Ryan Erisman is 3:46.01 in the long course 400 free. The final may be a slugfest – the winning time may end up slower than Luka Mijatovic‘s 15-16 NAG Record of 4:05.76 – but the morning heats will be cutthroat.

Rex By Name, Rex By Nature?

At this point last year Rex Maurer certainly looked regal in the 500 free, owning the American Record of 4:04.45 from midseason, and backed that up by taking the NCAA crown thanks to a swim of 4:05.35. He was chased by Luke Hobson (4:06.34) and Lucas Henveaux (4:06.74), and while both of those swimmers have graduated the field looks as though it will be close again.

Part of the reason for that is that Maurer has been quieter in-season this year, having a season best of 4:09.13 prior to SECS which was nearly five seconds slower than 12 months ago. He did enough to take the win in 4:08.46 to defend his SEC crown, and still comes into NCAAs as the top seed and only swimmer under 4:09.

A lot has happened since his NCAA title last year – Maurer qualified for his first World’s team and became the #3 U.S. man in the 400 free – but a lot has stayed the same – he is still the fastest man in the NCAA. In a field where there is not a lot of clarity for who will finish where, Maurer is one of the few aspects that look crystal clear. Bob Bowman has had athletes win the last two NCAA titles in the 500 free, and this year Maurer should make it three in a row.

Two World Champions Walk Into An NCAA Final…

Ahmed Jouadi and AHmed Hafnaoui are both Tunisian, both world champions in the 800 free and 1500 free, both in their first year at Florida, and – hopefully for them by this time next week – will both be NCAA ‘A’ finalists in the 500 free.

Jaouadi has had a meteoric rise over the last couple of years, making a pair of Olympic finals in Paris before moving up to take gold in both the 800 free and 1500 free last summer. He has gone from strength to strength at Florida, winning the SEC title in the mile and taking 2nd in the 500 behind 2025 NCAA champions Maurer in a time of 4:09.28. He negative split that swim, 2:04.80-2:04.44 (which he also did in his 800 free at 2025 worlds) and may need to show some early speed to be in the hunt – setting a new PB of 1:33.34 in the 200 free at SECs was a good sign for that. He should be in the title mix.

His teammate, countryman, and fellow world champions Ahmed Hafnaoui was one of the more arcane figures coming into the season. Having competed at just two meets for Indiana in his freshman season, we had not seen the Tunisian in action since the 2024 World Championships, where he failed to defend either his 800 free or 1500 free titles and did not make a single final. Heading into his first NCAAs, he looks well on track to be near his best after popping a time of 4:10.18 in the 500 free at SECs for 3rd.

He dropped well over 13 seconds from his season best of 4:23.90, and should be a sure bet to make the top eight in the morning – he has the Olympic and world medals to prove it. He is in the first of the circle seeded heats however, and will need to make sure he throws the gauntlet down to ensure an evening swim. Once there, he has the talent to be among the best in the field and his wicked closing kick could come in handy.

Year Of The Freshman

We have three freshman seeded in the top 12, and all three have made some noise already this year. Max Carlsen, Ethan Ekk and Ryan Erisman swept the podium at ACCs, with Carlsen taking the win in 4:09.44.

Carlsen was just a BOTR in our senior re-rank last summer, a casualty of the immense depth of the class in the 500 free and the mile, but has dropped a staggering nine seconds so far this season to rank 4th on the psych sheets. He certainly has the speed to be in the top eight conversation, but may not have quite the same experience as his compatriots and was only 4:14.49 in the heats at ACCs. Coupled with the relatively poor taper the NC State distance guys seemed to have for NCAAs last year, and he could find himself just outside the ‘A’ final.

For Ryan Erisman however, the taper is a big reason for optimism. Even with their infamous NCAA taper still to come Erisman has dropped dropped 1.61 seconds at ACCs, and has taken 3.33 seconds off his best coming into the season. He was at his fastest in prelims at ACCs, clocking 4:11.17 there before going 4:11.50 in the final, and with both the national-level and international experience he has, dropping a fast time in prelims should not be a worry.

Possibly a better indication of where he is at are is long course times – he was 1:46.66 in the 200 free and 3:46.75 in the 400 free at the Austin TYR Pro Swim Series in January, beating out a field including Luke Hobson, Gabriel Jett, and Bobby Finke. Erisman negative split both of his 500s at ACCs so certainly has the strength to close hard – how fast he goes out may decide where he falls in the final, which could be his sixth race in three days.

Ethan Ekk is the third of this trio, and is possibly underrated – he, like Erisman, is 3:46.01 in the long course 400 free, and placed 9th in the event at Worlds last summer. He was 4:11.10 at midseason and only just faster for 2nd at ACCs, clocking 4:11.07. However, he did not seem particularly rested – with his invite pretty much assured with that 500 free swim in November, he did not need to be. Stanford haven’t always tapered their top swimmers that well for NCAAs, but both he and fellow freestyler Henry McFadden appear to be building towards the meet this year. Ekk is certainly capable of the sub-4:10 it will take for an evening swim, and he looks in good shape to hit that time when it matters.

There are a couple more freshman seeded just outside top 16, with Georgia’s Sean Green (4:12.01) and Harvard’s Will Mulgrew (4:12.03) swimmers with the potential to move up. Both men had strong summers in long course, as Green was 1:47.97/3:47.07 in the 200/400 free and Mulgrew was 7:51.99/15:05.97 in the 800/1500 free. Green has more front-end speed and may have more left from his taper, but Mulgrew had a phenomenal Ivies which included an Ivy League record of 14:26.79 in the mile. With the field as congested as it is, a bolter from an outside lane could break open the race for the ‘A’ final, but that may require more early speed than either of them have this year – they were 2:04.88 (Green) and 2:05.53 (Mulgrew) in their PB swims and a 4:09 should be required for the top eight.

Indiana Dreamin’

Indiana are proving themselves to be a good place for distance freestylers, and have three swimmers seeded in the top eight as well as one who would break into that group. Zalan Sarkany (#2), Luke Whitlock (#5) and Alex Shackell (#11) were the top three finishers at Big Tens and will be aiming to bring some serious points home for the Hoosiers.

Sarkany moved up from the ‘B’ final at NCAAs in 2024 to the ‘A’ final in 2025, and set a new best to win the 500 free at Big Tens in 4:09.14. He has had a great last few months which has included a world final in the 1500 free and a pair of European short course titles in the 800 free and 1500 free, and is the defending champion in the mile. He dropped time at NCAAs last year, and perhaps importantly for this year he was half a second faster in prelims than in finals. That may be a positive with only eight spots available in the evening, but holding seed in the final could be an issue.

Whitlock has had a fantastic first season at Indiana since transferring from Florida, hacking more than six seconds from his former best of 4:15.76. He was 4:11.82 at midseason, before blasting a 4:09.60 at Big Tens to break 4:10 for the first time. He has the experience to compete with the best, as he showed at Olympic Trials in 2024 as he led prelims in the 400 free and finished 2nd in the 800 free final. Another swim under 4:10 would not be a surprising outcome.

Aaron Shackell is the fastest of the three Indiana swimmers in the long course 400 free after winning U.S. Nationals in 3:45.03. He has been 4:11 twice this season, 4:11.14 at midseason and 4:11.33 at Big Tens, and may have a drop in store at NCAAs. He was off his bests slightly in all three individual events he swam at Big Tens last month, likely with one eye on next week, and will be one to watch out of the penultimate heat as the #11 seed

The Rest

Noah Millard is the swimmer who has played his cards closest so far this year, and the aim will be to reverse the trend of adding time from Ivies to NCAAs in this event. He clocked 4:07.68 at the 2025 Ivy League Championships, but added over two seconds in prelims at NCAAs to miss out on the ‘A’ final in 4:09.94. He did win the ‘B’ final in 4:08.69, and has the potential to be around that time again this year.

Despite being one of the top distance freestylers in the NCAA, Millard has technically never made an ‘A’ final – he was fourth in the timed-final mile last year for his only top-eight finish. In his final season with Yale, he is entered in only two events – the mile and this one, forgoing the 200 free after finishing 21st last year. That should be seen as a statement of intent.

Alabama always seem to have someone in contention in the 500 at the moment, and this year’s candidate is Leonardo Alcantara. He set a best of 4:10.45 at SECs for 5th, nine seconds faster than he was at 2025 SECs, and has hacked four seconds off his 200 free best this season after formerly being a miler. Shifting his focus shorter this season could reap some benefits here.

Cooper Lucas was 4:11.59 at midseason but only 4:4:15 at SECs, and will need be back at his best to have a chance at the top eight but was clearly unrested last month. Gio Linscheer has finished in the top eight of both the mile and the 400 IM at NCAAs previously, but has never placed higher than 13th in prelims of this event. With a focus on the longer events he may not have the speed to hang with the field – he negative split hi PB of 4:10.23 at SECs.

The Verdict

Rex Maurer is the only swimmer in this field who was on the podium in the event last year, and after a more reserved showing during the season should have enough in the tank to rise above the field. Only two other ‘A’ finalists from last year return in Georgia’s Tomas Koski, the #29 seed, and Zalan Sarkany.

Ahmed Jaouadi and Ahmed Hafnhoui have both the speed and the experience to get through a tight prelims, but the other spots could go to any of several contenders. Max Carlsen has had a phenomenal freshman season for NC State, but after a poor 2025 NCAAs from the Wolfpack’s distance squad and some iffy performances from the women he may just miss out.

Cal’s taper should be enough for Ryan Erisman even though he could be on his sixth swim of the week, and Ethan Ekk looks to be building towards something big at NCAAs. Indiana should get a couple of swimmers in, and Noah Millard may run the gauntlet and make the top eight in his final individual swim at NCAAs.

SwimSwam Picks:

Dark Horse: Mitchell Schott (Princeton) – The new event lineup had forced a decision on Schott, who went with the 200 fly over the 200 IM on the final day and opened up his schedule to take on another event. He has gone for the 500 free, and while he is seeded all the way down at #34 in 4:15.55 he has the pedigree to be in the mix not just for points but also for an appearance in the evening. He was 1:46.0 in long course in the 200 free last summer, dropped a 3:41 400 free in short course meters at the World Cup in October, and threw down a 1:30.30 split on the 800 free relay at Ivies – with nothing to lose, watch for him to blast a time in clean water that will worry those in the centre of the circle-seeded heats.