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
- Live Stream
- Live Results
- Live Recaps
At the halfway point of the Men’s 2026 NCAA Championships, Texas are still the favorites but are being closely tracked by Florida, with a cluster of teams a ways behind. The Gators had a strong day on the boards with two ‘A’ finalists, but Texas scored over 40 points more than anyone else today and look the class act in the pool.
Cal returned to gaining points from seed but are -15 for the meet as a whole, moving up six tonight to sit in 5th overall. They are in a cluster of four teams separated by just 11.5 points, led by ASU with 133.5. Yesterday’s joint-leaders Indiana fell to 4th with 132.5 points, as they had no scoring divers on the 1-meter.
Tennessee also had a big day on the boards with 1 ‘A’ finalist and 1 ‘B’ finalist as they scored 87 points in total today for 107 overall, and stay in touch with Michigan in 7th on 115 points. Virginia sit in 9th after a big day where they scored 58 points, and have already scored 74 points more than they managed at the 2025 NCAA championships.
Top 10 Teams After Night 2
- Texas — 215.5
- Florida — 205
- ASU — 133.5
- Indiana — 132.5
- California — 124
- NC State — 122
- Michigan – 115
- Tennessee — 107
- Virginia — 88
- Stanford — 83
Now that we have the overall picture out of the way, it’s important to look at how all of the projected and actual scoring teams fared relative to their seeds. While small point margins might not appear to make a difference it can be a huge factor in momentum as the meet continues, especially when the battle is as tight as 3rd-6th is this year.
You can see the scored psych sheet here, including an event-by-event breakdown.
| Team | Psych Points | Points Scored | Diving Points Scored | Difference vs Seed |
| Texas | 138 | 132.5 | 1 | -4.5 |
| Florida | 80 | 91 | 28 | +11 |
| Arizona St | 79 | 71.5 | 0 | -7.5 |
| Tennessee | 68 | 65 | 22 | -3 |
| California | 59 | 65 | 0 | +6 |
| Michigan | 54 | 67 | 0 | +13 |
| Virginia | 24 | 58 | 0 | +34 |
| NC State | 66 | 58 | 0 | -8 |
| Indiana | 39 | 46.5 | 0 | +7.5 |
| Louisville | 35 | 37 | 4 | +2 |
| Ohio St | 35 | 31 | 0 | -4 |
| Stanford | 38 | 28 | 9 | -10 |
| VA Tech | 29 | 23 | 0 | -6 |
| LSU | 31 | 15 | 0 | -16 |
| UNC | 0 | 14 | 0 | +14 |
| Northwestern | 16 | 13 | 0 | -3 |
| Delaware | 0 | 12 | 0 | +12 |
| Princeton | 5 | 11 | 0 | +6 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 11 | 0 | +5 |
| Yale | 12 | 9 | 0 | -3 |
| Georgia | 19 | 7.5 | 0 | -11.5 |
| USC | 5 | 7 | 14 | +2 |
IU Indianapolis |
0 | 6 | 0 | +6 |
| Auburn | 6 | 5 | 3 | -1 |
| Penn State | 12 | 5 | 0 | -7 |
| Texas A&M | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 |
| Army | 13 | 4 | 0 | -9 |
| Florida St | 33 | 3 | 0 | -30 |
| Kentucky | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 |
| Wisconsin | 11 | 1 | 0 | -10 |
| Missouri | 11 | 0 | 0 | -11 |
| Penn | 4 | 0 | 0 | -4 |
| Arizona | 3 | 0 | 2 | -3 |
| Miami (FL) | 0 | 0 | 22 | – |
| SMU | 0 | 0 | 20 | – |
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 12 | – |
| GT | 0 | 0 | 11 | – |
| Purdue | 0 | 0 | 7 | – |
Florida moved up again by 11 points compared to the psych sheets, with Scotty Buff moving from 10th to 6th in the 100 fly and Charlie Hutchison scoring 5 points in the 400 IM having been projected for zero. Alongside the 28 points they got from two divers making the ‘A’ final tonight, the Gators are just 10.5 points behind Texas at the halfway point.
The Longhorns were slightly under their projections today, with Camden Taylor falling from 3rd to 20th in the 200 free a big blow for them. They put three up in the 400 IM and 100 breast final, but had Will Scholtz fall out of scoring in the latter after being seeded for 9 points. Hubert Kos placing 2nd in the 100 fly having been seeded down in 40th was a big boost though, and they were just 4.5 points of their seed.
UNC had a rapid 200 free relay to take 10th, gaining 14 points as they moved up to 24th overall. Michigan were +13 on seed as well, gaining 18 points in the 200 free relay as they moved from 14th to 7th, more making up for some slight drops elsewhere in the 100 fly and 400 IM. Cal were +6 after being -21 yesterday, with Ryan Erisman‘s 400 IM final a nice bounceback after adding time in the mile yesterday and Keaton Jones making the 200 free ‘A’ final. They sit in 5th, just 90.5 points behind an ASU team that went -7.5 points against their seed with Andy Dobrzanski missing scoring in the 100 breast.
Virginia were once again the team who gained most vs the psych sheets, and sit 9th in the overall standings. They had two top-four finishes tonight in Thomas Heilman (100 fly ) and 200 free champion Maximus Williamson, while the 200 free relay was 10th for 14 points, a ten-point gain. David King moving up to 9th for +9 points against his seed was a boost as well.
Indiana turned to breaststroke today, and had Alexei Avakov move up to 6th from 17th on the psych sheets for a gain of 13 points. They were +7.5 on the day, as Josh Bey fell to 7th in the 400 IM, and the 200 free relay dropped four places.
FSU again lost big points compared to the psych sheets. Seeded for 25 points individually between Michel Arkhangelskiy in the 100 fly and Logan Robinson in the 200 free, they ended up with just 3 courtesy of Robinson’s 14th place finish in the latter event. The 200 free relay added half a second, with Arkhangelskiy splitting slower on the second leg than he led off in last year, as they fell from 13th to 18th for a net loss of 30 points today.
Penn and Army both had a single swimmer seeded to score today both in the 100 breast. Mariano Lazzerini and Kohen Rankin both dropped out of the top eight, placing 12th and 13th respectively for a net loss of 7 points for Penn and 9 for Army, who needed to recoup after being DQed on what would have been a scoring 200 medley relay last night.
Kentucky, who were seeded for no points today and only four in total for days 2 through 4, got on the board again with a 16th-place finish in the 200 free relay.
Missouri scored zero points after being seeded for 11 in the 200 free relay, adding 1.21 seconds to place 29th in 1:16.85. Georgia also fell out of the points on the relay, although they only lost two points there. A bigger loss for the ‘Dawgs was Drew Hitchcock and Tomas Koski scoring just 1.5 points between them in the 400 IM and 200 free after being seeded for 14. Ruard van Renen moved up to gain 3 points in the 100 fly, but they still ended the day down 11.5 points on seed.
Wisconsin’s Dominik Mark Torok moved down eight places from 8th to 16th in the 400 IM as they gained just 1 point today, while LSU’s 200 free relay dropped from 7th to 13th for a 16 point swing. Stanford moved down four places for a drop of eight points on the 200 free relay too, despite adding just 0.23 seconds.
As a big UVA hater, I have to hand it to them, Williamson and Heilman lived up to the hype and went PBs. However, I’m still not convinced that UVA is a top tier team on the men’s side yet. We knew that Williamson and Heilman were going to make an immediate impact in college regardless if they went PBs or not. Now I’m interested to see if the rest of the team can improve. Can DeSorbo create a deep men and women’s team? Or is he stretched too thin?
If the sport is trying to make itself more catchy for a general TV audience, the team battle makes it way more interesting.
Spread the wealth!!
I noticed UNC false started in the 200 FR – is it still visual 1st, and has to be backed up by pads? What’s the differential – 0.02?
No. -.09 to +.09 from the setpoint (which isn’t always 0.00) is an automatic DQ. Beyond that, officials eyes rule. BUT they do have cameras in place at this meet to appeal any RJP or officials’ calls.
“Are Virginia…” this sounds incorrect. “Are the Cavaliers…” or “Is Virginia….” Sounds better. I don’t know why🤷🏼
It’s a British vs. American English thing. Sam is British.
“Is Virginia back?”
When were they last here? 20 years ago?
They finished 10th in 2022. 9th in 2021. 10th in 2019.
I think a couple of bad years and some high profile recruits not working out has made the problems with the men’s team seem more perpetual than they really were.
David King is for the people
Every single Gator tonight equaled or improved their seed from prelims and all but one equaled or improved their seed from the psych sheet to prelims to finals. No one wanted to be the team to break the conference win streak last year, but it might end up being the best thing that ever happened to UF at NCs now and in the future.
I think you’re bang on. I definitely had them underranked on Power Rankings – their divers are doing great and I didn’t recognize that pattern change that you described.
OBVIOUSLY, I’ve been enjoying how the Longhorns have been swimming and dealing with the incredible pressures! But, I also have got to say, the competition is SUPERB. So many schools are really showing their metal and doing a great job in the pool. So much to celebrate and enjoy in this major event!
Mettle, not metal.