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
With just one day left to go at the Men’s 2026 NCAA Championships, the gap between the top two is under ten points. Texas lead Florida by just 9.5 points with six events left to go – four individual, one relay, and the platform diving.
Texas were seeded for 137 points in the pool, but finished at -37 compared to seed after some big misses in the 500 free and 200 breast. Florida, on the other hand, ended the day up 9.5 points thanks to going three-up in the 500 free final, including a 1-2 from Ahmed Hafnaoui and Ahmed Jaouadi.
Indiana moved ahead of ASU in the fight for third, while Tennessee had a great day compared to seed and on the boards to move into 5th, leapfrogging Cal, NC State, and Michigan.
Top 10 Teams After Night 3
- Texas — 340.5
- Florida — 331
- Indiana — 254
- ASU — 245
- Tennessee — 199
- California — 186
- NC State — 175.5
- Michigan – 163
- Virginia — 110
- Stanford — 95
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 it looks at the top and for 5th-8th this year.
You can see the scored psych sheet here, including an event-by-event breakdown.
| Team | Total | Psych Points | Points Scored | Diving Points Scored | Difference vs seed |
| Florida | 331 | 102.5 | 112 | 14 | 9.5 |
| Texas | 340.5 | 137 | 100 | 25 | -37 |
| Indiana | 254 | 110 | 121.5 | 0 | 11.5 |
| Arizona St | 245 | 100.5 | 111.5 | 0 | 11 |
| Tennessee | 199 | 50.5 | 72 | 20 | 21.5 |
| California | 186 | 65 | 62 | 0 | -3 |
| NC State | 175.5 | 62.5 | 53.5 | 0 | -9 |
| Michigan | 163 | 57 | 48 | 0 | -9 |
| VA Tech | 67 | 23.5 | 36 | 0 | 12.5 |
| Georgia | 50.5 | 40 | 33 | 0 | -7 |
| Virginia | 110 | 12 | 22 | 0 | 10 |
| Louisville | 72 | 7 | 19 | 0 | +12 |
| Alabama | 27 | 12 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
| Florida St | 25 | 31 | 18 | 0 | -13 |
| Northwestern | 29 | 9 | 16 | 0 | 7 |
| UNC | 29 | 14 | 15 | 0 | 1 |
| Auburn | 44 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 8 |
| U.S. Military Academy | 17.5 | 14 | 13.5 | 0 | -0.5 |
| Stanford | 95 | 16 | 12 | 0 | -4 |
| Notre Dame | 16 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 9 |
| Yale | 17 | 12 | 7 | 0 | -5 |
| USC | 52 | 0 | 6 | 17 | 6 |
| Texas A&M | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Pittsburgh | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 52 | 4 | 1 | 0 | -3 |
| LSU | 29 | 14 | 0 | 0 | -14 |
| Ohio St | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | -13 |
| Princeton | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Missouri | 20 | 4.5 | 0 | 20 | -4.5 |
| Penn State | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -6 |
| Harvard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SMU | 41 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| Penn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Miami (FL) | 46 | 0 | 0 | 24 | – |
| Purdue | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | – |
| Utah | 17 | 0 | 0 | 5 | – |
| GT | 17 | 0 | 0 | 6 | – |
Starting at the top, Florida had a 46.5 point swing against Texas in the pool today, moving up from seed in the 500 free thanks to a 1-2-5-13 finish from Ahmed Hafnaoui, Ahmed Jaouadi, Gio Linscheer, and Charlie Hutchison. Campbell McKean and Baylor Nelson missed the 200 breast final for Texas, while Will Scholtz fell from 4th to 16th for -14 points alone.
Florida moved down in the 100 back with Jonny Marshall missing scoring, but moved up or held serve everywhere else.
Indiana moved up in the 200 breast, scoring 46 points against 32 on the psych sheet, despite graduating all three of their scorers in the event from last year. Getting three scorers in the 100 back in Owen McDonald, Mira Knedla and Kai van Westering saw go +7.5 in that event, as they held off ASU for 3rd at the end of the day.
ASU where +11 themselves thanks to a huge 55.5 points in the 50 free, +14.5 against their projections. That was due to Jonny Kulow moving up to 6th from 22nd, but they held seed in the 400 medley relay and saw Adam Chaney take 3rd in the 100 back.
The biggest risers were Tennessee, who were +21.5 against the psych sheets. They split those gains across four races, going +1 in the 200 breast, +7.5 in the 50 free, +5 in the 500 free, and +8 in the 400 medley relay. With their divers performing well, they could come out on top in the battle for 5th.
Virginia were +10 as they moved from 11th to 8th in the 400 medley relay, their only scoring swim of the day. Virginia Tech were +13.5, thanks to Eli Martin moving up from 16th to 8th in the 200 breast. Louisville were +12, thanks to Nikita Sheremet moving up from 10th to 7th in the 50 free, and the 400 medley relay scoring 4 points in 14th.
Beyond Texas, the biggest drop today came from LSU, who saw Jere Hribar DQed in the 50 free heats having been seeded 5th. Ohio State scored zero points as well having been seeded for 13, with Matt Klinge and Jordi Vilchez falling well outside the points in the 50 free and 500 free respectively.
Florida state were -13 for the day, but finally moved up the standings with 18 points in the 400 medley relay, That was a loss of 4 points against their projections though, and Max Wilson missed scoring in the 100 back having been seeded 9th.
I’m glad to see Florida and Tennessee performing well, moving up from seed times / projected places / scores. There has been a lot of bus-tossing of Nesty and Kredich in recent years in the comment sections. Hopefully those same bus-tossers will also recognize it when those teams have a good meet too (?)
cmon ASU!
When was the last time Cal was out of the top two?
2009 I think. What a great run! Durden turned the men’s team around starting in 2008. Now he’s turned the women’s team around. Next year, both will be back in the top 3.
The only thing worse than rooting for Texas is the alternative of the Gators winning anything.
That’s why I’m a much bigger fan of the women’s side right now.
We will all learn to love UT, sooner or later.
And, after the tournament win (I hope!), we’ll learn to love them even sooner!
Unfortunately, Florida’s final day features no one in the 200 IM or fly, and nothing for their distance group to do. Wish it was more of a race since Texas is generally underperforming.
Texas only has to perform well enuf to get over the line to victory – I think that’s very doable for the Longhorns.
Now that I look at the 8pt spread today between Texas and Florida; and swimming ‘momentum’ in the final day (without DQs) may be largely even, I believe the winner will come down to Platform Diving in the 2026 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships!
This is not what I expected! What’s the balance of the surviving pick’ems say about tomorrow Braden???
‘Tip of the cowboy hat to Florida!’ Hook ‘Em Horns!
Wow for the first time the team in first is also the team leading the Reverse Donkey Riding Competition!
Well UT managed to turn a meet that looked like it wouldn’t be close into a nail biter. Seems like the 200IM results will decide the meet. On paper, Florida has about a 25 to 30 point advantage in the other events. But UT has 5 in the top 16 on the psych sheet in the 200IM, with no Florida swimmers in sight. But they have to overcome a rough performance overall so far. Should be interesting.