A Brief History of Breaststrokers From “Weird” Schools at NCAAs

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 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1

Breaststrokers are weird, so it’s fitting that sometimes they come from weird schools too. It has become almost custom at this point to see a mid-major swimmer drop an incredible swim at the NCAA Championships to earn a spot in the ‘A’ final amongst athletes from power-four schools, which generally dominate the championship final.

On Friday morning, University of Delaware senior Matvei Namakonov blasted a massive 50.49 to drop more than half-a-second from his previous best 51.16 that he set in 2025 and a full second from the 51.47 he was seeded in coming into the meet.

Namakonov is far from the first mid-major breaststroker we have seen accomplish this feat, something SwimSwam commenter James Beam pointed out on the live recap. The phenomenon isn’t just isolated to men’s breaststrokers, however. The women see the exact same thing happen, but not as much recently in the 100 specifically.

We spoke to Namakonov about his breaststroke and what he thinks makes mid-major breaststrokers so strong compared to other events. He said that, primarily, it depends on the school, but added that “being in a mid-major, there is less pressure on roster spots for conference and NCAAs. It takes away the pressure during the year, so it helps you keep a clear mind.”

This morning, Namakonov became the fastest men’s mid-major 100 breaststroker in history, overtaking Brian Benzing‘s 2024 record of 50.59. Namakonov and Benzing raced at the CAA Championships back in 2024 before Delaware moved to the ASUN. Benzing won that race in 51.30, and Namakonov, who was a sophomore, swam 53.16.

He spoke about racing Benzing, saying “Seeing someone at that level making NCAAs gives you a lot of hope and tells you that it is possible, and seeing him get 2nd at NCAAs fired up something in me, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete for a podium finish.”

Namakonov also touched on one of the other things that he thinks makes mid-major breaststrokers in particular so strong. He is only racing the 100 breaststroke at this meet. No relays, no non-breaststroke events. With a race that is as timing heavy as breaststroke, getting the opportunity to train and race only breaststroke is huge in producing fast swims.

We would be remiss to talk about the excellence of mid-major breaststrokers without also discussing the new Auto Qualifier system, which Namakonov spoke about as well. It is important to note that he would have earned a qualification without the AQs as his 51.47 from November was under the cutline of 51.51.

Even with being under the cutline, however, Namakonov said that the introduction of AQs took some of the pressure off the conference championships. He was able to fully taper for the NCAA Championships and train through the ASUN Championships for the first time. This allowed him to fully prepare to be his best at NCAAs, and it clearly worked out for him.

We went back in our results archive to find all the mid-major ‘A’ finalists in the 100 breaststroke since 2010. There are other swimmers who have made ‘A’ finals in the 200 breaststroke but not the 100 like Washington State’s Emily Lundgren and Penn’s Matt Fallon, but we are specifically focusing on the 100 today.

The men have had more 100 breaststroke finalists recently, and in 2016, there were three different mid-major swimmers in the ‘A’ final. Air Force’s Michael Barnosky finished 3rd. Oakland’s Devon Nowicki finished 6th, and George Washington’s Andrea Bolognesi was 8th. The winner of the 100 breaststroke in 2016 was Mizzou’s Fabian Schwingenschloegl, who spent the first two seasons of his college career at Western Kentucky (where he made the ‘A’ final both years) before being forced to transfer following the suspension of the program for hazing after the 2015 Championships.

While he was not a mid-major swimmer, Emory’s Andrew Wilson also deserves a mention here. In 2017, he won the men’s 100 breaststroke at the NCAA DIII Championships in 50.94, which would have been 3rd at the Division I meet.

The women have had more overall finalists, but there has not been a mid-major swimmer in the 100 breaststroke final since 2019 when Eastern Michigan’s Delaney Duncan finished 2nd in 57.83.

Men’s Mid-Major ‘A’ Finalists Since 2010

Women’s Mid-Major ‘A’ Finalists Since 2010