2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

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)
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Psych Sheets
• Preview Index
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet

If you thought last night was exciting (a new NCAA record in the mile, a meet record in a tight 200 medley, and a come from behind win in the 800 free relay), then prepare yourself for this morning’s session as we see not only our first preliminary events, but also the early heats of the splashiest and dashiest of relays, the 200 free relay. However, before we get to that, things kick off with what you, our readers, picked as the most anticipated event of the meet, the 100 fly.

Josh Liendo of Florida is the top seed, entering with a seed time of 43.06. The Gator will have Caeleb Dressel‘s NCAA record of 42.80 in sight, but he is not the only one, as ASU’s Ilya Kharun will be looking for the mark as well. The junior was 18.70 on ASU’s winning 200 medley relay last night, and will be buoyed by collecting a meet record in the event. Liendo and Kharun are joined by two others with sub-44 seeds as seniors Tyler Ray and Gui Caribe of Michigan and Tennessee enter with 43.83 and 43.93, respectively.

With no B-finals in play, all of the swimmers need to bring their best this morning, especially those seeded near 8th place. With half a second separating Aiden Hayes‘s 5th seed from Michael Chmielewski‘s 12th, expect the fight for a berth in the A-final to be even more intense than in past years.

The 400 IM is a prime example. The longest event of the morning sees just .05 separating the 8th and 9th seeds, Dominik Mark Torok and Josh Zuchowski, so while this event in the past gave some swimmers the chance to rest in the morning, it would be unwise to do so today. Texas would like to pick up where they left off last night, with Baylor Nelson and Rex Maurer the favorites to win the event. The pair were on the victorious 800 free relay last night, but don’t sleep on their fellow Longhorn, Cooper Lucas, who is coming into the event with fresh legs. So too is the 2nd seed Josh Bey, a first-year from Indiana, who set a new Big Ten record of 3:34.90 last month.

If you weren’t watching the early heats yesterday morning, you really missed out as Tennessee first-year Koby Bujak-Upton became the 9th fastest performer in the history of the 200 free as he joined the storied sub-1:30 club with his 1:29.79 lead-off. The first freshman ever under the mark and lone man in the NCAAs currently, the Australian looks in good stead to defend his top seed, but would be wise to not rest on his laurels as other’s too had strong performances last night, with Henry McFadden of Stanford anchoring his relay in 1:29.72, Camden Taylor helping Texas win the event, and Virginia’s Max Williamson pulling UVA into 4th place from the early heats.

The 100 breaststroke rounds out the individual events, and while last, it is certainly not least. Texas’s Nate Germonprez leads the field, seeded with the lone sub-50 time, but the Longhorn faces pressure from all around. California’s Yamato Okadome, the 3rd seed (50.32), had the fastest 50 split from last night, going 22.35, and will be looking to make a statement in the first of the circle-seeded heats as he and Army’s Kohen Rankin go head-to-head. Indiana’s Travis Gulledge posted the 4th fastest split, so watch out for the sophomore who is seeded dangerously low at 16th. Florida’s Koen de Groot was a little off his best relay split last night, but look for the Gator to rebound to help his team remain in first place.

The 200 free relay sees Indiana as the 9th seed and this morning’s top seed. Seeded with a 1:15.36, the Hoosiers sit less than a second back of the 3rd fastest entry time but also are less than a second ahead of the 24th placed team, so the pressure is on every team to be firing on all cylinders, as any misstep could smell doom for those valuable relay points.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 42.80 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Championship Record: 42.80 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• American Record: 42.80 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 42.80 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2025 Champion: Josh Liendo, Florida – 43.06
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Times: 44.52/44.94

Top 8:

1. Josh Liendo (FLOR) – 42.54 ***NCAA, CHAMPIONSHIP, & U.S. OPEN RECORD***
2. Hubert Kos (TEX) – 42.97
3. Tyler Ray (MICH) – 43.32
4. Ilya Kharun (ASU) – 43.54
5. Julian Koch (PITT) – 43.85
6. Aiden Hayes (NCSU) – 44.04
7. Thomas Heilman (UVA) – 44.07
8. Scotty Buff (FLOR) – 44.10

Scored 9-16th:

9. Nicholas Finch (YALE) – 44.19
10. Michal Chmielewski (USC) – 44.42
11. Gui Caribe (TENN) – 44.55
12. Abdalla Youssef (AUB) – 44.65
13. Arsenio Bustos (NCSU) – 44.67
14. Ruard Van Renen (UGA) – 44.78
15. Stuart Seymour (NU) – 44.80
16. Kyle Peck (TEX) – 44.95

Ben Irwin outdueled James Winterfield in the first heat in a battle of the services academies as the junior from Navy went 46.35, finishing .01 ahead of the Air Force senior. Irwin’s time didn’t last long, however, as heat 2 saw fireworks of an enormous magnitude.

Seeded dangerously low, Texas senior Hubert Kos, who swam the fly leg on their relay last night, opened in a shocking 19.67, with a 9.02 first 25. The Longhorn continued his pace and closed in 23.30 to stop the clock in 42.97, a drop of 2.85 from his seed. However, a near three-second drop is nothing compared to the fact that the time clocks in as the second fastest result of all time, sitting only behind Caeleb Dressel‘s 42.80 NCAA record from 2018.

Kos’s time survived the 3rd and 4th heats, but it came under pressure in the 4th, which was the first of the circle-seeded heats. 3rd seed Tyler Ray of Michigan entered with a seed of 43.83, his personal best and a Michigan and Big Ten record. The senior opened in 8.98, faster than Kos did, and was sub-20 at the halfway turn, hitting the wall at 19.97. He, like Kos, kept up the strong pace on the last 50, coming home in 23.35 to stop the clock at 43.32, making him the fifth fastest performer of all time. First-year Thomas Heilman took 2nd in the heat, cutting .07 off his seed time, as he stopped the clock in 44.07.

The penultimate heat was a slower affair, which is an odd statement as Ilya Kharun, who won the heat, joined Kos and Ray under the old pool record of 43.71, but was off his entry time. The ASU junior opened in 20.41, slower than the pair of leaders, but had a stronger backhalf closing in 23.31. Kharun, who had represented Canada but recently switched his sporting nationality to the US, hit the wall in 43.54 ahead of Pittsburgh’s Julian Koch, who has been on fire this week, as he dropped from 44.56 to 43.85, to break yet another school record.

Kos and Ray’s swims were fast, but were nothing compared to Josh Liendo‘s performance in the last heat. The senior from Florida was out in 8.92, faster than Kos but at the 50, he was 19.96, .29 back of the Longhorn, and at the 75 he slipped back further by .02. However, the defending champion, who Kos has displaced as the 2nd fastest performer in the heat closed like a freight train, going downhill, with a rocket on its caboose as the Gator closed in 11.28 to obliterate the NCAA, Championships and US Open record as he hit the wall in 42.54. A half-second PB, his time makes him the fastest in the event ever, and gives the Gators the top seed for tonight’s final. He’ll be joined in the final by his teammate Scott Buffy, who touched 2nd in the heat, dropping .43 from his seed to hit the wall in 44.10.

Last year it took a 44.52 to make the A-final, with this year’s mark being close to half a second faster. Yale’s Nicholas Finch nearly made the A-final, but had to settle for 9th-place points with his 44.19.

Men’s 400 Individual Medley – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 3:28.82 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• Championship Record: 3:28.82 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• American Record: 3:33.42 – Chase Kalisz, Georgia (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 3:28.82 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2023)
• 2025 Champion: Rex Maurer, Texas – 3:34.00
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Times: 3:38.56/3:40.38

Top 8:

1. Ryan Erisman (CAL) – 3:36.09
2. Rex Maurer (TEX) – 3:36.46
3. Lorne Wigginton (MICH)/Joshua Staples (NU) – 3:36.58
5. Josh Bey (IU) – 3:36.86
6. Baylor Nelson (TEX) – 3:36.88
7. Cooper Lucas (TEX) – 3:37.48
8. Tristan Jankovics (OSU) – 3:37.59

Scored 9-16th:

9. Jackson Millard (LOU) – 3:38.17
10. Zalan Sarkany (IU) – 3:38.54
11. Josh Zuchowski (STAN) – 3:38.63
12. Charlie Hutchison (FLOR) – 3:39.09
13. Gio Linscheer (FLOR) – 3:39.75
14. Cale Martter (UGA) – 3:39.95
15. Louis Dramm (UNC) – 3:40.14
16. Dominik Mark Torok (WISC) – 3:40.28

The men’s 400 IM did not stick to script as California’s Ryan Erisman upended things by claiming the top seed despite entering as the 10th seed and righting the missteps from yesterday’s mile. The first year was out in 49.26 and had a strong backstroke, but his improvements in the breaststroke kept him ahead of the top seed, Baylor Nelson, and the Cal swimmer used his legs to come home in 49.67 to stop the clock at 3:36.09.

Nelson, who entered the meet with a time of 3:34.83, was nearly two seconds off his PB from the Texas Hall of Fame Invitational in November, but his 3:36.88 safely moves him into the final as the 6th seed. The Longhorn senior and Erisman were actually 2nd and 3rd at the 300 turn as Joshua Staples of Northwestern was leading. The Australian, who entered college as a distance swimmer, has turned things around with his emergence as an IMer and breaststroke, with the results obviously paying off as he hit a new PB of 3:36.58 to qualify for the final.

The last heat was very fast with four swimmers advancing from it, but Rex Maurer and Lorne Wigginton from heat 3 looked very controlled in their heat, with the pair touching in 3:36.46 and 3:36.58, respectively. Maurer, the defending champion, was 3:37.17 last year in prelims, so expect the Longhorn to be much faster tonight, as he holds a PB of 3:34.00, and closed in 24.93, nearly half a second slower than Wigginton’s last 50 of 24.51.

Men’s 200 Free – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• Championship Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• American Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• 2025 Champion: Luke Hobson, Texas – 1:28.33
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Times: 1:31.06/1:31.88

Top 8:

1. Koby Bujak-Upton (TENN) – 1:30.67
2. Tomas Navikonis (OSU) – 1:30.77
3. Henry McFadden (STAN) – 1:30.81
4. Kaii Winkler (NCSU) – 1:30.83
5. Keaton Jones (CAL) – 1:30.99
6. Remi Fabiani (ASU) – 1:31.07
7. Mitchell Schott (PRIN) – 1:31.15
8. Maximus Williamson (UVA) / David King (UVA) – 1:31.17 ***SWIM-OFF REQUIRED***

Scored 9-16th:

10. Jere Hribar (LSU) – 1:31.30
11. Guy Brooks (LOU) – 1:31.48
12. Brendan Whitfield (VT) – 1:31.49
13. Nikoli Blackman (TENN) – 1:31.55
14. Logan Robinson (FSU) – 1:31.56
15. Rafael Fente-Damers (TEX)/ Tomas Koski (UGA) – 1:31.62

The 200 free prelims were a close affair, with half a second separating the top nine swimmers, as Virginia’s Max Williamson and David King tied for 8th in 1:31.17, with the top seed Koby Bujak-Upton taking the top time in 1:30.67. The time is nearly a full second off his PB of 1:29.78 from yesterday, but it was enough to win the last heat, which was a very tight affair.

The Tennessee Volunteer was out in 43.43, and led Tomas Navikonis, Henry McFadden, and Keaton Jones, but the trio closed hard on the freshman, and the quartet came into the final way nearly in a line. Bojack-Upton got to the wall first, but Navikonis was just .10 back with McFadden and Jones joining them under 1:31 with times of 1:30.81 and 1:30.99.

The only other swimmer to join the quartet under 1:31 was NC State’s Kaii Winkler. The #2 seed from NC State, Winkler cut .09 off his seed, stopping the clock at 1:30.83. The sophomore opened in 43.65, the second fastest opening 100 of the top 8, so expect him to be out fast tonight. Taking 2nd in the heat was David King, who, swimming out of lane 8, cut nearly a full second off his seed time, stopping the clock at 1:31.17, a very fast time, especially considering he was 1:31.09 with a flying start on UVA’s 4th place 800 free relay last night.

Also moving into the A-final are ASU’s Remi Fabiani and Princeton’s Mitchell Schott, who battled back and forth in the first of the circle-seeded heats. Schott, a senior, had the lead at the 150 turn, but Fabiani’s 23.51 last 50 was enough to go over the top of Schott, with the pair touching in 1:31.07 and 1:31.15, both drops from their seeds of 1:31.23 and 1:31.52. Rounding out the field will be UVA first-year Max Williamson. The Cavalier placed 5th in the last heat of the event in 1:31.17, tying his teammate, King, for 8th place.

UVA staff have told SwimSwam that David King has deferred the event in favor of Williamson. Williamson led off UVA’s relay yesterday morning in 1:30.43, a time that would have made him the top qualifier had he performed that time this morning.

The time to the final this year was slower than last year, but that was to be expected, as the final last year contained six seniors, with only Stanford’s McFadden earning a return trip to the final.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 49.51 – Julian Smith, Florida (2025)
• Championship Record: 49.53 – Liam Bell, Cal (2024)
• American Record: 49:51 – Julian Smith, Florida (2025)
• U.S. Open Record: 49.51 – Julian Smith, Florida (2025)
• 2025 Champion: Julian Smith, Florida – 49.55
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Times: 50.64/ 51.45

Top 8:

1. Nate Germonprez (TEX) – 49.80
2. Campbell McKean (TEX) – 50.36
3. Yamato Okadome (CAL) – 50.48
4. Matvei Namakonov (DEL) – 50.49
5. Koen de Groot (FLA) – 50.61
6. Luka Mladenovic (MICH) – 50.67
7. Alexei Avakov (IU) – 50.89
8. Will Modglin (TEX) – 50.93

Scored 9-16th:

9. Gabe Nunziata (TENN) – 51.17
10. Hank Rivers (CAL) – 51.19
11. Logan Kelly (IUPUI) – 51.24
12. Mariano Lazzerini (PSU) – 51.41
13. Kohen Rankin (ARMY) – 51.47
14. Travis Gulledge (IU) – 51.50
15. Andy Dobrzanski (ASU)/Toby Barnett (IU) – 51.53

Texas rebounded from a rough 200 free in a strong way, putting three swimmers into the final of the 100 breaststroke. Top seed Nate Germonprez nearly bettered his seed as the junior went 49.80. Out in 23.17, the Longhorn was being stalked by his teammate Campbell McKean (the 4th seed), who touched at 23.51. McKean, swimming out of lane 5, earned that lane tonight as his 50.36 jumps him up from the 4th seed entering the meet to the 2nd seed tonight.

The pair of longhorns will be flanked by California’s Yamato Okadome and Delaware’s Matvei Namakonov. Okadome, the 3rd seed, was just a little off his seed time of 50.32, with the sophomore adding just .16 from his entry time. Okadome had the 2nd slowest first 50 of the top 8, opening in 23.85, but had the fastest last 25, by nearly half a second, closing in 13.18 to stop the clock at 50.48. Namakonov is a completely different story. The senior entered the meet as the 23rd seed with his entry time of 51.47, but crushed that by nearly a full second, going 50.49 in the penultimate heat.

Namakonov trailed Florida’s Koen de Groot 23.65 to 23.48  in the 4th heat, but closed .27 seconds faster on the last 25 to take the heat win from lane 8, with his 50.49, besting de Groot by .12, with the Gator going 50.61, an add of .39 to his seed.

The Delaware senior wasn’t the lone swimmer to drop a chunk of time as Indiana sophomore Alexei Avakov cut .45 off his seed to go from 51.34 to 50.89 and will occupy lane 1 tonight. On the opposite side of the pool will be Texas’s 3rd swimmer, Will Modglin. The fastest 50 backstroker of all time, the junior defended his 8th seed, adding just .02 to stop the clock at 50.93.

Men’s 200 Free Relay – Early Heats

• NCAA Record: 1:12.80 – Tennessee (Crooks, Caribe, Taylor, Blackman), 2025
• Championship Record: 1:12.84 – Tennessee (Crooks, Caribe, Blackman, Taylor), 2025
• American Record: 1:14.13 – NC State (Henderson, Miller, Fox, McCarty), 2024
• U.S. Open Record: 1:12.80 – Tennessee (Crooks, Caribe, Taylor, Blackman), 2025
• 2025 Champion: Tennessee (Crooks, Caribe, Blackman, Taylor), 1:12.84
• 2025 8th/16th Final Times: 1:15.25/ 1:15.83

Top 8:

1. Texas (Gould, Fente-Damers, Kos, Peck) – 1:14.40
2. Michigan (Eidam, Ray, Geer, Wilkening) – 1:14.64
3. Virginia (Aikins, Williamson, Heilman, Powers) – 1:15.17
4. UNC – 1:15.28
5. Indiana – 1:15.32
6. Stanford – 1:15.68
7. Texas A&M – 1:15.70
8. Kentucky – 1:16.03

What can’t Hubi Kos do?

It wouldn’t surprise me if he is talented in macrame, glass blowing, whistling 0r even blowing bubbles in bubble gum. Four things that I have no ability in, but we are not here to talk about my inadequacies.

For that matter, I can’t equal Kos’s 18.22 split on the 200 free relay. Remember, this came just a few events (and a break) after having gone the 2nd, 3rd fastest time ever in the 100 fly. And while the 18.22 won’t be the fastest split after the top 8 team swim tonight, Kos is the Olympic gold medalist in the 200 back, so the split is extremely noteworthy.

Kos was the 3rd leg on the relay following after Garrett Gould’s open leg of 18.92 and Rafael Fente-Damer’s 18.63, and when Kos dove into the water, the Longhorns were sitting 2nd in the heat to Michigan who were .01 ahead thanks to Tyler Ray‘s 18.22 2nd leg, However, when Kos turned things over to their anchor Kyle Peck, Texas led by 3/4s of a second and with Peck’s 18.63 anchor leg bringing them home, Texas touched first at 1:14.40.

The Longhorn sprint freestyle corps is not one of the team’s strengths, but they showed up today, crushing their season best time of 1:15.64 and breaking their school record from 2022 by .01.

Michigan, too, showed up in a big way, cutting over a second off their season best time, finishing .24 back of Texas in a time of 1:14.64. Ray’s 18.22 and fellow senior Jack Wilkening’s 18.24 were big factors in the Big Ten program’s results and moved the Wolverines up from 14th place to no worse than 10th. Virginia, too, jumped up from their 15th seed to no worse than 11th, thanks in large part to a pair of 18.4s from Max Williamson and Thomas Heilman, both of whom already made A-finals this morning in their individual events.

UNC and Kentucky made even bigger moves, jumping up into the scoring from their 24th and 28th spots in the seeding. The Tar Heels cut 1.01 seconds off their seed to finish 4th this morning (no worse than 12th overall) in a time of 1:15.28. They cut it as fine as possible to being DQed, however with their fastest leg, Martin Kartavi, splitting 18.45 employing a legal reaction time of -.03 on his takeoff.