2026 NJCAA Championships: Indian River Men Break Two NJCAA Records on Day 3 of Competition

2026 NJCAA Championships

• March 4-7, 2026
• Hosted by Indian River State College
• Anne Wilder Aquatic Complex, Fort Pierce, Florida
• Defending Champions:
  • Men: Indian River (51x)
  • Women: Indian River (47x)
• Meet Central 
• Results on Meet Mobile
• Recaps: Day 1 & 2

Indian River State College looks to be well on its way to defending both the men’s and women’s championship titles at the 2026 NJCAA Championship. Day 3 of the competition saw both squads extend their leads over the other teams, with the women leading the pack by over 400 points with a total of 920 points while the men boast 887 points to lead by a margin of over 250 points.

On the women’s side, Indian River swept the night’s events, prevailing in all six races. Khloe de Santana Guidry kicked off the night with a gold medal-winning performance in the 100 IM (58.65), charging into the wall over four seconds ahead of runner-up Macrae Haluszczak (1:02.88) from Genesee. Guidry knocked about eight-tenths of a second off of her lifetime best, marking her first time breaking the 59 barrier.

The River turned in a 1-2 finish in the 500 free, led by Tazmyn Robson in 5:01.60. Paulina Chavis followed close behind in 5:03.20, just .13 off of her lifetime best.

Indian River continued to shine in the very next event, logging a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 back; Wiktoria Maciuszek led the charge in 55.37, followed by Maria Kopacova (56.95) in 2nd and Jackie Conroy (58.59) in 3rd. Kopacova’s performance marked a huge personal best time by almost 1.5 seconds for the freshman, while Conroy shaved .41 off of her lifetime best.

The 100 breast went to Cara Ralfe, who stopped the clock in 1:03.03 to log a new personal best time and best runner-up Andy Garcia Jimenez (1:08.21) of Southwestern Oregon by over five seconds.

Indian River’s Paola Negrin picked up the victory in the 200 fly, touching in 2:03.24 and just missing her lifetime best (2:03.06). Teammate Dyara Tohom followed in 2:09.53, shaving .11 off her best time.

Maciuszek, Ralfe, Kelly Zwart and Conroy joined forces for the 200 medley relay to close out the evening, throwing down a time of 1:42.17 and clinching the title by a margin of over eight seconds. Southwestern Oregon’s team of Cami Tovar, Garcia Jimenez, Nicole Angelova and Sammy Diaz took the runner-up spot in 1:50.46.

The men’s side of the competition was highlighted by two broken NJCAA records courtesy of Indian River. Marcus Johnson stunned in the 100 breast, throwing down a time of 51.72 to win by three-and-a-half seconds and knocking .85 off the NJCAA record, which previously stood at 52.57 and was set by Craig Emslie in 2016.

Johnson took down another national record later on in the night, joining Noah Smith [22.44], Zackary Gresham [23.57] and Oliver Nell [18.84] to post a winning time of 1:25.75 in the 200 medley relay. Johnson split 23.57 on the breaststroke leg, while Nell notably had the only sub-20 split in the field on the freestyle leg. The squad lowered the NJCAA record in the event by .85, beating the previous standard of 1:26.60 set by another Indian River team in 2024, which also featured Nell.

Nell was a big winner on Friday, as earlier in the night he prevailed in the 100 IM with a time of 48.54, dropping over a second and marking the only sub-50 performance of the night. Southwestern Oregon’s Victor Dyrhauge took 2nd in 50.20, closely followed by teammate Gustaf Stokholm in 50.57.

Gresham also claimed an individual victory on night 3, winning the 100 back in a best time of 48.09. The River logged a 1-2-3 finish in the event, with Smith taking 2nd in 48.44 and Tomas Fermin touching 3rd in 49.34.

Indian River’s Knut Robinson won the 500 free in 4:20.88, narrowly beating out Iowa Western’s Sam Brunel (4:21.06) for the title. Meanwhile, Bernat Marsol picked up another victory for Indian River in the 200 fly, stopping the clock in 1:48.42 to knock 1.5 off of his lifetime best.

Women’s Team Scores Through Day 3:

1. Indian River State College – 920
2. Southwestern Oregon CC – 510
3. Iowa Western Community College – 373.5
4. Jamestown Community College – 301
5. Genesee Community College – 183.5
6. Barton Community College – 146
7. Fashion Institute of Technology – 143
8. Iowa Central Community College – 70
9. Iowa Lakes Swimming and Diving – 46
10. Erie Community College – 17
11. Meridian Community College – 6

Men’s Team Scores Through Day 3:

1. Indian River State College – 887
2. Southwestern Oregon CC – 629
3. Iowa Western Community College – 442
4. Barton Community College – 293
5. Iowa Central Community College – 289
6. Iowa Lakes Swimming and Diving – 148
7. Jamestown Community College – 147
8. Genesee Community College – 139
9. Erie Community College – 64
10. East Central Community College / Meridian Community College – 2