2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championship: Day 3 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)
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Day 3 Prelims Heat Sheet

Good morning, swim fans. It’s moving day!!! A day where teams, who are unhappy with their placement on the leaderboard, try to make a move up the rankings, while those ahead of them do their best to stay there, and with just one day remaining after today, teams are beginning to run out of time.

Texas and Florida both had strong days yesterday and sit firmly at the top of the leaderboard, but with less than 20 points separating 3rd (ASU) from 7th (Michigan), expect the action to be even more intense this morning.

Things kick off quickly with the 100 back taking to the water first. Top seed and American Record holder Will Modglin is the top with his entry time of 43.26, but shouldn’t feel too comfortable in that position as the 2nd seed is teammate Hubert Kos. Kos is seeded, .60 back at 43.86, but his performances yesterday in the 100 fly, and as the defending champion, certainly appear to be the favorite. Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen had a strong 50 split on Georgia’s medley relay, and the senior will be looking to pick up big points for the Bulldogs as the 3rd seed. Adam Chaney, fresh off an NCAA record-setting performance in the 200 free relay, enters as the 4th seed and will be looking to earn ASU as many points as possible to keep the team in the top 3.

After an amazing last 25, where he out-split Campbell McKean by over half a second, the 100 breast champion from last night, Yamato Okadome of Cal, returns to the pool as the top seed. The sophomore leads a fast field with the 2nd seed Nate Germonprez, the 3rd seed Luka Mladenovic of Michigan, 4th seed Will Scholtz of Texas and Ben Delmar of UNC all joining him under 1:50. All five of them have at least one year of eligibility left and in fact the entirety of the top 8 are non-seniors, Baylor Nelson, the 9th seed and last night’s runner-up in the 400 IM is the highest seeded senior in this young event.

Nelson finished 2nd to his teammate Rex Maurer, who won the event in a new American Record, adding it to his record in the 500 free, where he is the defending champion. Maurer is one of five entrants under 4:10 and is going to be pushed in his heat by first-year NC State swimmer Max Carlsen. The pair will be chasing whatever the fastest time from the previous heats is, and with the way Ahmed Jaouadi has been swimming, it may be the Florida Gator and 3rd seed who posts the time to beat. Don’t sleep on the Indiana trio of Zalan Sarkany, Luke Whitlock, and Aaron Shackell, who find themselves all in a line occupying lanes 4, 5, and 6 in the penultimate heat.

We saw a lot of our athletes in this morning’s last event, the 200 free relay, last night. Ilya Kharun, the top seed, and Remi Fabiani, the 6th seed, will be buoyed by their record in the relay last night, but don’t sleep on the 20th seed Jonny Kulow, who anchored the relay in 17.99.  The 4th member of their relay, Chaney, who split 18.12, is going for the 100 back/50 free double and is the 18th seed. The event, while containing a lot of ASU swimmers (6 in the top 20), is not a forgone conclusion, as Josh Liendo, too, is coming off of an NCAA record from last night, and the Gator would love to add another title to his trophy case. Tennessee’s Gui Caribe is the 3rd seed and, like Kulow and Kharun, split sub-18 yesterday, so look for the Volunteer to be fast this morning. The only other swimmer to split under 18 was LSU junior Jere Hribar, who is the 5th seed, .02 back of NC State’s Quintin McCarty.

The final heat of the 400-medley relay will swim this evening, but the first three heats will take to the water this morning. Tennessee enters as the 9th seed, but will be under pressure from a pair of ACC programs with NC State and Virginia swimming well this meet, especially in relay. All three programs will be looking to post a time that survives the final heat and earns them a spot on the podium.

Men’s 100 Backstroke – Prelims 

• NCAA Record: 43.20 — Hubert Kos, Texas (2025)
• Championship Record: 43.20 — Hubert Kos, Texas (2025)
• American Record: 43.26 — Will Modglin, Texas (2025)
• U.S. Open Record: 43.20 — Hubert Kos, Texas (2025)
• 2025 Champion: Hubert Kos, Texas — 43.20
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Places: 44.52/45.22

Top 8:

1. Hubert Kos (TEX) – 43.08 ***NEW NCAA, CHAMPIONSHIPS, US OPEN RECORD***
2. Ruard Van Renen (UGA) – 43.41
3. Owen McDonald (IU) – 43.98
4. Marcus Reyes-Gentry (ND) – 44.07
5. Will Modglin (TEX) – 44.08
6. Adam Chaney (ASU) – 44.25
7. Johnny Crush (ARMY) – 44.32
8. Aiden Hayes (NCSU) – 44.45

Scored 9-16th:

9. Quintin McCarty (NCSU) – 44.49
10. Evan Petty (CAL) – 44.50
11. Stuart Seymour (NU) – 44.55
12. Ulises Saravia (TENN) – 44.60
13. Mira Knedla (IU) – 44.61
14. Kai Van Westering (IU) – 44.64
15. Jack Wilkening (MICH) – 44.69
16. Lysander Osman (UK) – 44.78

The time to beat before the start of the circle-seeded heats belonged to Indiana’s Kai Van Westering, who went a personal best of 44.64 to win the 4th heat. The first swimmer this morning under 45, the senior was out in 21.49 and closed in 23.15, cutting .71 off his seed. Joining him under 45 from the heat were Nick Simons of Tennessee and Tommy Hagar of Alabama, who touched in 44.93 and 44.98.

We mentioned above to watch out for Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen, and we were proved correct as the senior, who hails from South Africa, opened in 21.12 and had a strong lead at the 50 turn. Coming home in 22.29, the Bulldog hit the wall at 43.41, dropping over half a second from his seed. He was joined under 44 by fellow senior Owen McDonald of Indiana, who went 21.41 and 22.57 to stop the clock at 43.98, a time that is not only a new personal best but his first time under 44.00.

If you thought Van Renen’s time was fast, well then, have I got news for you: NEW NCAA RECORD. We asked, rhetorically, yesterday what Kos couldn’t do after he went 18.2 on the 200 free relay, and while we were a bit whimsical talking about macramé and whistling, we maybe should have been wondering how fast Kos could go. We have an answer now, and it’s 43.08.

The Texas senior, the NCAA record holder, was out in 20.71 and closed in 11.09 and 11.28 to chop .12 off his own PB and put a sub-43 100 back on the table for this evening. The Hungarian was pushed to the 50 by Notre Dame’s Marcus Reyes-Gentry, who was 21.04, and Army sophomore Jonny Crush, who was 21.05  at the 50, but Kos just pulled away from the pair, touching .99 ahead of the Notre Dame Junior.

The last heat saw Kos’s teammate and the top seed, Will Modglin, win the heat in 44.08. The junior was well off his seed time and American record of 43.26, but did enough to move into the A-final tonight, as the 5th seed. He was out fast in 21.01 but was considerably slower on the back half, coming home in 23.07. The only other swimmer to advance to the final from the last heat was ASU 5th year, Adam Chaney, who will be the 6th seed tonight with his 44.25.

Last year’s runner-up, Jonny Marshall of Florida, entered this year as the 7th seed with his time of 44.16. The junior looked good at the 50, flipping in 21.03, but struggled on the last 50 closing in 23.87 to finish in a time of 44.90 and outside of the scoring in 17th place.

Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• American Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, ASU (2024)
• 2025 Champion: Jassen Yep, Indiana – 1:48.30
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Places: 1:50.35/1:51.83

Top 8:

1. Ben Delmar (UNC) – 1:49.37
2. Nate Germonprez (TEX) – 1:49.59
3. Yamato Okadome (CAL) – 1:50.54
4. Luka Mladenovic (MICH) – 1:50.63
5. Gabe Nunziata (TENN) – 1:50.66
6. Josh Bey (IU) – 1:50.77
7. Eli Martin (VT) – 1:51.08
8. Toby Barnett (IU) – 1:51.22

Scored 9-16th:

9. Noah Cakir (IU) – 1:51.38
10. Alexei Avakov (IU) – 1:51.43
11. Daniel Li (STAN) – 1:51.53
12. Arsenio Bustos (NCSU) – 1:51.77
13. Logan Brown (TAMU) – 1:51.88
14. Jake Eccleston (LOU) – 1:51.96
15. Oscar Bilbao (VT) – 1:52.00
16. Will Scholtz (TEX) – 1:52.05

The 200 breaststroke was a topsy-turvy event with a few upsets and few team race implications. UNC’s Ben Demlar posted a new personal best to earn lane 4 tonight in the final. The junior was out in 52.45 and closed in a pair of 28 mids (28.33/28.59) to hit the clock in 1:59.37. The 5th seed will be flanked tonight by Texas’s Nate Germonprez and California’s Yamato Okadome.

Germonprez, a junior, was the lone swimmer to join Delmar under 1:50 this morning, going 1:49.59. More than half a second off his seed, the Longhorn was out faster than Delmar, opening in 52.04, but was slower by nearly 3/4s second on the backhalf, coming home in 28.68/28.87.

Okadome, last night’s 100 breaststroke champion, was nearly two seconds off his seed, going from an entry time of 1:48.87 to 1:50.54. His time though, was more than enough to advance to the final. A strong backhalfer, Okadome was out in 52.63, and closed in 28.62 and 29.29, but appeared to shut things down, winning his heat despite coming home in 29.29.

Indiana advanced two into the A-final, with Josh Bey and Toby Barnett going 1:50.77 and 1:51.22 to earn lanes 7 and 8 tonight. The Hoosiers also will earn 9 points from Noah Cakir’s 9th place finish and 7 points from Alexei Avakov’s 10th place finish, a massive jump up the leaderboard as the sophomore was the 28th seed entering the meet. Texas was seeded to pick up big points in the event with four swimmers in the top 16, but only Germonprez and Will Scholtz (16th – 1:52.05) are set to score points.

Men’s 500 Free – Prelims

• 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
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Places: 4:09.52/4:13.15

Top 8:

1. Rex Maurer (TEX) – 4:08.78
2. Ahmed Jaouadi (FLOR) – 4:09.08
3. Zalan Sarkany (IU) – 4:09.57
4. Ahmed Hafnaoui (FLOR) – 4:09.78
5. Leonardo Alcantara (ALA) – 4:10.82
6. Aaron Shackell (IU) – 4:11.01
7. Gio Linscheer (FLOR) – 4:11.28
8. Sean Green (UGA) – 4:11.34

Scored 9-16th:

9. Ryan Erisman (CAL) – 4:11.43
10. Noah Millard (YALE) – 4:11.44
11. Ethan Ekk (STAN) – 4:11.50
12. Koby Bujak-Upton (TENN) – 4:11.86
13. Charlie Hutchison (FLOR) – 4:12.13
14. Tomas Koski (UGA) – 4:12.34
15. Max Carlsen (NCSU) – 4:12.47
16. Keaton Jones (CAL) – 4:12.75

Princeton’s Mitchell Schott lowered his own PB and school record in the 2nd heat, going 4:14.17 in the 2nd heat, but his time was quickly overtaken by the next heat as Tomas Koski, Keaton Jones, and Carson Hick fought each other up and down the pool in the 3rd heat.

Koski, a junior from Georgia who finished 5th overall last year in a time of 4:09.15, was 1:38.47 at the 200 turn trailing Jones of California, who was 1:38.19. The two remained close with less than half a second separating the pair at the 400, but it was Hick who had pulled in front of the two, hitting the 400 wall in 3:21.65 to Koski’s 3:22.44 and Jones’s 3:22.87. Hick of Kentucky appeared to have the momentum but couldn’t stay in gear and closed in 51.51 with both Koski (49.90) and Jones (49.88) passing him in the closing legs. The trio touched in 4:12.34, 4:12.75, and 4:13.16 to sit atop the leaderboard with only the circle-seeded heats remaining.

The trio soon found themselves bounced off the top of the leaderboard with the Florida pair of Ahmed Jaouadi and Ahmed Hafnaoui posting a pair of 4:09s to occupy the top two spots. Jaouadi, the NCAA champion and newly minted record holder in the 1650, dropped .20 to record a new personal best of 4:09.08 with his fellow Tunisian cutting .40 off his seed to break 4:10 for the first time and stopping the clock at 4:09.78. The pair were out in 1:38.46 and 1:38.54, but Jaouadi was a little faster over the next 200, with the younger of the two hitting the wall at 3:19.91, 1.2 ahead of his teammate. But Hafnaoui closed faster on the last 100, closing the gap to just .7.

The penultimate heat was an Indiana affair as Zalan Sarkany, Aaron Shackell, and Luke Whitlock looked poised to have a showing for the Hoosiers. Sarkany, the 2nd seed, and Shackell, the 11th seed, safely navigated the heat and went 4:09.57 and 4:11.01 to sit 2nd and 5th with one heat remaining, but Whitlock, the 5th seed, had a rough 2nd 200 and wound up finishing well back in 22nd. Florida’s Gio Linscheer, who was sitting 8th in the opening legs of the race, moved up steadily through the back half and finished 3rd in the heat in 4:11.28, .06 ahead of Georgia freshman Sean Green.

Perhaps feeling some pressure to perform for his team or more likely because he is the fastest American and one of the fastest ever, Texas’s Rex Maurer opened up in a quick 1:36.73, and continued to build such a lead on his heat that he ended up winning it by nearly three seconds with his 4:08.78, besting Yale’s Noah Millard and his 4:11.44. Maurer’s early speed may have hurt those in the heat, as he was the lone swimmer to advance from the last heat, while Millard finished 10th overall, and 4th seed Max Carlsen finished in 15th in 4:12.47.

Men’s 50 Free – Prelims

• NCAA Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• Championship Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• American Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• U.S. Open Record: 17.63 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
• 2025 Champion: Jordan Crooks, Tennessee – 17.91
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Places: 18.73/18.92

Top 8:

1. Gui Caribe (TENN) – 18.39
2. Josh Liendo (FLOR) – 18.40
3. Ilya Kharun (ASU) – 18.51
4. Jonny Kulow (ASU) – 18.55
5. Remi Fabiani (ASU) – 18.61
6. Quintin McCarty (NCSU) – 18.62
7. Brendan Whitfield (VT) – 18.67
8. Nikita Sheremet (LOU) – 18.73

Scored 9-16th:

9. Tolu Young (ASU) – 18.76
10. Nikoli Blackman (TENN) – 18.77
11. Sean Niewold (ALA) – 18.79
12. Alexander Painter (FLOR) – 18.82
13. Adam Chaney (ASU) / Jerry Fox (NCSU) – 18.83
15. Julian Koch (PITT) – 18.85
16. Martin Wrede (CAL)/Lucca Battaglini (CAL) – 18.88

It took exactly the same time this year to make the Championship final as it did last year, with the mark sitting at 18.73.

Tennessee Senior, Gui Caribe, earned lane 4 tonight, as he hit the wall first in the 3rd to last heat going, 8.80 and 9.59 to stop the clock at 18.39, a season best by .07. Last year he was 18.26 for 3rd in the final of the event, finishing behind his now graduated teammate Jordan Crooks, and Florida’s Josh Liendo. Liendo, swimming out of the last heat, exactly equalled his seed time, going 18.40. He was a shade slower to the flip, opening in 8.87, but closed faster to sit just .01 behind his SEC rival.

While the SEC got two swimmers into the final, the Big XII’s ASU advanced three swimmers by themselves. It’s not too surprising, as they set a new NCAA record in the 200 free relay last night, but it will certainly help them in the team race, as they are currently locked in a battle for a top-three finish. Ilya Kharun leads the charge for the Sun Devils, with his 18.51 from this morning. While .11 off his seed, the junior had the fastest last 25 of the whole field (9.45), so he could make a late charge on Caribe and Liendo and steal the win. Directly behind him in the rankings are Jonny Kulow and Remi Fabiani, who went 18.55 and 18.61, respectively. Kulow has had a great meet, dropping .27 from his seed and moving up 16 places from 20th to 4th.

5th seed Jere Hribar of LSU was 8.95 to the feet at the first 25 and closed in 9.73 to stop the clock in 18.68, a time that would have been 7th into the A-final, but the junior was called for a false start and was disqualified. It’s a major blow for the Tigers, who also scratched their 400 medley relay this morning, where they were the 19th seed.

That was a tough watch. Hate to see it at this level. Feel for the guy. pic.twitter.com/M17koA1Dwa

— R.C. Weston (@RCWeston11) March 27, 2026

Update: We reached out to the LSU coaching staff and got the following message regarding the DQ

Starter & ref would not overturn Jere’s DQ. They held the heat, we heard a clap from the stands, he twitched. They would not review or consider my appeal. They said it was a fair start

Men’s 400 Medley Relay – Early Heats

• NCAA Record: 2:55.66 – Florida (Marshall, Smith, Liendo, Painter), 2025
• Championship Record: 2:56.10 – Florida (Marshall, Smith, Liendo, Painter), 2025
• American Record: 3:00.34 – Texas (Modglin, Germonprez, Gould, Taylor). 2025
• U.S. Open Record: 2:55.66 – Florida (Marshall, Smith, Liendo, Painter), 2025
• 2025 Champion: Florida (Marshall, Smith, Liendo, Painter) – 2:56.10
• 2025 8th/16th Times: 3:01.19/3:04.14

Top 8:

1. Tennessee (Saravia, Nunziata, Paula, Caribe) – 3:00.34
2. Virginia (King, M. Heilman, T. Heilman, Williamson) – 3:00.55
3. Auburn (Makinen, Zivanovic, Youssef, Krichevsky) – 3:01.68
4. Virginia Tech – 3:01.79
5. Northwestern – 3:02.18
6. NC State – 3:02.33
7. Southern California – 3:02.51
8. Louisville – 3:02.83

The 400 Medley Relay got a lot faster this year, with it taking a likely 3:02.83 placing no worse than 16th, as compared to the meet last season, when 16th place was 3:04.14.

The last heat was a back and forth affair between Tennessee and Virginia. The Volunteers got out to a strong start with freshman Ulises Saravia opening up the backstroke in 21.39, before ultimately hitting the wall in 44.39. His speed may have had a little extra motivation as he was just 44.60 this morning in the individual event, although he must be smarting a little as his relay time and second swim of the morning would have earned him a berth in the A-final.

Saravia turned things over to fellow first year, Gabe Nunziata, who split 50.85 to give the Volunteers a lead of 1.68 over the Cavaliers of UVA. However, as strong as Tennessee is on the front half, UVA is on the back half with Thomas Heilman dropping a hammer of a 100 fly, going 42.97 to bring his team into the lead, out splitting Tennessee’s first year flyer Lucio Paula by 1.82 seconds. With a small lead and handing things off to 200 free winner Maximus Williamson, UVA looked in good stead, especially with the first year opening in 18.99, but the experience and speed of Gui Caribe, the top seed from this morning’s 50 free, was a little too much as he reeled in the opposition and closed in 21.14 to Williamson’s 21.67 to give the Volunteer the win in 3:00.34, with Virginia back at 3:00.55.

Both times were massive drops for the programs and should easily contend for a podium position after the final heats swim tonight.

Fastest splits of the morning

• Back: 44.33 – Jonny Crush (Army)
• Breast: 50.46 – Joshua Staples (Northwestern)
• Fly: 42.97 – Thomas Heilman (Virginia)
• Free: 40.31 – Gui Caribe (Tennessee)