2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships
- Dates: Wednesday, February 25–Saturday, February 28
- Location: Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, Madison, WI
- Defending champions: Indiana men (4x)
- Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile: “2026 Men’s B1G Championship”)
- Live Video ($): B1G+
- Championship Central – Big Ten
- Championship Central – Wisconsin
- SwimSwam’s Meet Preview
- Teams: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin
- SwimSwam Live Recaps
- Prelims: Day 2
- Finals: Day 1 Relays
Team Scores After Day 1
- Michigan – 116
- Ohio State – 114
- Indiana – 110
- Wisconsin – 102
- Northwestern – 100
- USC – 98
- Purdue – 96
- Minnesota – 92
- Penn State – 40
Thursday Ups/Mids/Downs Scoring Projection
Night two of racing has arrived at the 2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships in Madison. The second finals session will feature the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 1-meter diving, and the 200 free relay.
Tonight’s shaping up to be a big evening for the Indiana Hoosiers, who claimed eight lanes in ‘A’ finals—half of which are in the 100 breaststroke—and six in ‘B’ finals. They also own the fastest 200 free relay time of the season (1:16.57), and are ranked 1st, narrowly ahead of Ohio State in 2nd (1:16.56) and Michigan in 3rd (1:16.65).
Michigan swimmers logged the fastest times of the morning in three out of four individual events. Senior Tyler Ray will kick off the session as the top seed in the 100 fly, looking to defend his title from last year.
The one event that got away from the Wolverines in the morning was the 200 free, where Wisconsin freshman Enzo Solitario posted the fastest mark (1:32.09), just ahead of two-time defending champion Tomas Navikonis of Ohio State (1:32.24).
Top Seeds From Prelims:
- 100 Butterfly: Tyler Ray (Michigan), 44.29
- 400 Individual Medley: Lorne Wigginton (Michigan), 3:36.46
- 200 Freestyle: Enzo Solitario (Wisconsin), 1:32.09
- 100 Breaststroke: Luka Mladenovic (Michigan), 50.95
Stay tuned for live updates below.
MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 42.80, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
Big Ten Record: 43.85, Tomer Frankel (Indiana) – 2024Big Ten Meet Record: 44.28, Tyler Ray (Michigan) – 2025- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 46.11
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 45.12
Top 8 Finishers:
- Tyler Ray (Michigan), 43.83 *Big Ten Record*
- Matthew Klinge (Ohio State), 44.48
- Michal Chmielewski (USC), 44.57
- Owen McDonald (Indiana), 44.62
- Stuart Seymour (Northwestern), 44.69
- Ole Eidam (Michigan), 44.71
- Jacob Johnson (Minnesota), 44.92
- Colin Geer (Michigan), 45.04
Senior Tyler Ray shattered the Big Ten record, set by Tomer Frankel in 2024, as well as his own meet record from last year, to defend his title. This was a huge swim for Ray and marks his first time under 44 seconds. His lifetime best time going into this meet was 44.00, which earned him 7th place at last season’s NCAA Championships.
Ray is now the #10 all-time performer in the 100 fly, surpassing two-time Olympic gold medalist Tom Shields.
Men’s 100 Butterfly (SCY) Top 10 Performers All-Time:
- Caeleb Dressel- 42.80
- Josh Liendo– 43.06
- Youssef Ramadan- 43.38
- Ilya Kharun– 43.38
- Luca Urlando- 43.49
- Dare Rose- 43.52
- Andrei Minakov- 43.71
- Joseph Schooling- 43.75
- Jordan Crooks- 43.77
- Tyler Ray– 43.83
It was Michigan sophomore Ole Eidam in 1st at the 25, but Ohio State’s Matthew Klinge fired off a 20.33 first 50 to overtake the lead at the halfway mark. Klinge, who took 8th place last year, took two-tenths of a second off the Ohio State school record-setting time that he swam this morning (44.61) to secure 2nd.
Michal Chmielewski lowered his own, hours-old program record for the Trojans by one-third of a second to earn a spot on the podium. The junior from Poland blasted a 44.85 in prelims, which was his first time under 45.00.
MEN’S 400 IM – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 3:28.82, Leon Marchand (Arizona State) – 2023
Big Ten Record: 3:34.98, Tristan Jankovics (OSU) – 2025Big Ten Meet Record: 3:35.51, Tristan Jankovics (OSU) – 2025- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 3:46.19
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 3:41.61
Top 8 Finishers:
- Josh Bey (Indiana), 3:34.90 *Big Ten Record*
- Lorne Wigginton (Michigan), 3:35.21
- Tristan Jankovics (Ohio State), 3:36.69
- Josh Staples (Northwestern), 3:37.62
- Dominik Mark Torok (Wisconsin), 3:38.53
- Noah Cakir (Indiana), 3:41.37
- Ryan Healy (Michigan), 3:44.14
- Mason Edmund (Ohio State), 3:45.99
Freshman Josh Bey demolished his lifetime best time going into this meet, dropping nearly eight seconds in total between prelims and finals, to earn Indiana’s first title win in this event since 1992.
Bey attacked the race from the beginning, splitting a 100 fly of 49.73 compared to the 49.93 this morning. He really took over on the back half, splitting 1:00.02 on the breast and 50.39 on the free, to touch the wall in 1st.
Michigan’s Lorne Wigginton took down the Wolverine’s program record, set by Tyler Clary at 3:35.98 to win the 2009 NCAA Championships. He crushed his best time from before this meet, which earned him 2nd place at last year’s Big Ten Championships, by more than four seconds. Defending champion Tristan Jankovics finished in 3rd by shaving about 1.5 seconds off of his prelims swim.
Bey is now ranked 2nd-fastest in the NCAA this season, just behind Texas’ Baylor Nelson. Wigginton has moved into 3rd, and Jankovics in 5th:
2025-26 NCAA Rankings, Men’s 400 IM
- Baylor Nelson (Texas), 3:34.83 – 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational
- Josh Bey (Indiana), 3:34.90 – 2026 Big Ten Championships
- Lorne Wigginton (Michigan), 3:35.21 – 2026 Big Ten Championships
- Cooper Lucas (Texas), 3:35.28 – 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational
- Tristan Jankovics (Ohio State), 3:36.69 – 2026 Big Ten Championships
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 1:28.33, Luke Hobson (Texas) – 2025
- Big Ten Record: 1:29.63, Blake Pieroni (Indiana) – 2018
- Big Ten Meet Record: 1:31.01, Tomas Navikonis (OSU) – 2025
- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:33.93
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:32.27
Top 8 Finishers:
- Tomas Navikonis (Ohio State), 1:31.32
- Oliver Sogaard-Andersen (USC), 1:32.03
- Enzo Solitario (Wisconsin), 1:32.12
- Antoine Sauve (Michigan, 1:32.65
- Aaron Shackell (Indiana), 1:32.85
- Luukas Vainio (Wisconsin), 1:33.10
- Eitan Ben Shitrit (Michigan), 1:33.21
- Jordi Vilchez (Ohio State), 1:33.66
Ohio State senior Tomas Navikonis split the race 44.97/46.35, with blistering back-half speed to claim his third consecutive Big Ten title in this event. Navikonis came within three-tenths of his lifetime best time that earned him 1st place last season (1:31.01).
Oliver Sogaard-Andersen snagged 2nd for the USC Trojans by taking half a second off his prelims time to outtouch Wisconsin freshman Enzo Solitario. Sogaard-Andersen, a sophomore from Denmark, was first to flip at the 25 and at the halfway mark, and even Solitario’s faster back half wasn’t quite enough to overtake him.
This was still a strong swim for Solitario, who came within one-tenth of a second of the best time he swam in prelims (1:32.09).
MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINALS
- NCAA Record: 49.51, Julian Smith (Florida) – 2025
- Big Ten Record: 49.69, Ian Finnerty (Indiana) – 2018
- Big Ten Meet Record: 49.94, Finn Brooks (Indiana) – 2025
- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.58
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.58
Top 8 Finishers:
- Luka Mladenovic (Michigan), 50.69
- Mariano Lazzerini (Penn State), 50.88
- Travis Gulledge (Indiana), 51.39
- Alexei Avakov (Indiana), 51.40
- Dylan Smiley (Indiana), 51.70
- Toby Barnett (Indiana), 51.71
- Ben Wiegand (Wisconsin), 51.93
- Drew Gaerthofner (Wisconsin), 52.13
Michigan freshman Luka Mladenovic crushed his own school record, which he set at 50.92 in November, to touch the wall 1st and defend his top seed spot from prelims.
Penn State senior Mariano Lazzerini was right on his heels and even blasted the fastest 3rd 25 in the field by three-tenths of a second (13.09). Lazzerini, who finished in 15th place in this event last season, shattered his best time of 50.96 from November to lock in 2nd place.
After a 3-4-5-6 finish from the Hoosiers, led by sophomore Travis Gulledge, Indiana has now taken over the lead in team scoring with 421 points, ahead of Michigan in 2nd with 387 points.
MEN’S 1-METER DIVING – FINALS
- Big Ten Meet Record: 493.60, Michael Hixon (Indiana) – 2018
- 2026 NCAA Qualifying: 300
Top 8 Finishers:
- Maxwell Miller (Purdue), 378.15
- Andrew Bennett (Minnesota), 365.25
- Josh Sollenberger (Indiana), 360.25
- Julian Cardenas (Michigan), 359.25
- Ryan Augustine (Northwestern), 358.15
- Tyler Read (Ohio State), 342.60
- Maxwell Weinrich (Indiana), 333.15
- Emmitt Reesor (Michigan), 309.80
Junior Maxwell Miller has become the Boilermakers’ first men’s Big Ten diving champion on 1-meter since Purdue diving head coach and three-time Olympian David Boudia won in 2011. This was an incredible performance for Miller, who placed 4th on 1-meter last season.
Minnesota senior Andrew Bennett earned 2nd place in a tight battle with Indiana sophomore Josh Sollenberger, who completed the podium in 3rd.
MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINALS
NCAA Record: 1:12.80 – Tennessee (2025)
Big Ten Record: 1:14.83, Michigan (2025)
Big Ten Meet Record: 1:14.83, Michigan (2025)
2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:16.23
Top 8 Finishers:
- Indiana, 1:15.61
- Michigan, 1:15.71
- Ohio State, 1:15.93
- Northwestern, 1:16.03
- Purdue, 1:16.51
- Wisconsin, 1:16.78
- USC, 1:17.26
- Penn State, 1:17.66
Michigan’s Tyler Ray, fresh off his 100 fly victory earlier in the session, blasted the fastest 50 free in Big Ten history to lead the Wolverines to 2nd place. His leadoff split of 18.66 crushed both the Big Ten record set by Minnesota’s Bowen Becker in 2018 (18.69) and the Michigan program record set by Paul Powers in 2017 (18.80).
This swim was Ray’s first time cracking 19.00 (his previous best was a 19.02 relay leadoff split from November), and makes him the 7th-fastest 50 freestyler in the NCAA this season.
While Ohio State was seeded 2nd going into this meet, with a season-best time of 1:16.56, Michigan overtook the Buckeyes by two-tenths with their crew of Ray (18.66), Ole Eidam (19.02), Colin Geer (19.16), and Jack Wilkening (18.87).
Indiana’s quartet of Mikkel Lee (18.90), Dylan Smiley (18.56), Travis Gulledge (18.88), and Vidar Carlbaum (19.27) were able to defend their top seed spot and expand the Hoosiers’ lead in team scoring to 44 points. This time is more than seven-tenths faster than Indiana’s season best from November (1:16.37).
Team Scores After Day 2
- Indiana – 535
- Michigan – 491
- Ohio State – 414.5
- Wisconsin – 349
- Northwestern – 319
- Purdue – 313
- USC – 291.5
- Minnesota – 249
- Penn State – 170
Matt Bowe low key becoming one of the best coaches in NCAA swimming? Kind of hope Hunter Armstrong reconnects with him to get the magic man back on track.
I think he’s been one of them. All of those guys are developed by him and that coaching staff and they are showing up this week
Hold that thought lol.
huh?!
Incoming announcement about Hunter Armstrong announcing new training base in Ann Arbor? Both love it and hate it. Love it for Armstrong, hate it as a born and raised Ohio State fan.
No. That’s not it.
Looking back at Swimcloud, Wigginton was probably safely into NCAAs with his 3:40 400 IM from November, so he might have more than 3:35 left for March.
Tyler Ray was actually 18.83 at this meet last year, apparently.
It’ll be interesting to see who has more left in the tank for March. Ray was already safely in with a 1:39 200 fly this year, so he may be able to go even faster, and he may have a huge 200 fly coming up. Jankovics is probably not fully rested and I imagine will be faster than the 3:34.9 he went last year at NCAAs for 2nd. Bey and Wigginton are probably fully peaked just to safely make NCAAs.
Of course this is idle speculation since no one is ever rested…..time will tell.
Oh my lord Josh bey ikyk me and I just saw the article I’m wheezing
It’s ok you’re still Washed Bey at the breastrokes
Minnesota saved by the drivers not to be dead last
At least their relay dropped time. PSU taper seems off.
They aren’t swimming badly, to be honest. Two school records first day, almost everyone who swam this morning has dropped on minnesota. It just seems like everyone is getting so much faster.I’m thinking they can pass Purdue and maybe USC. Wisconsin is looking great. The coaching staff change really worked.
“divers”
IU enjoying the meet unrested, unshaved and loaded for bear at NCAAs
It seems every year one event takes a quantum leap in speed and depth at the NCAA level, and this year it’s the 400 IM for men, and the 200 free for women.
USC kind of mid
Reggie Bush