Walker Davis Throws Down 20.80 50 Back As Records Continue To Tumble At College Club Nationals

2026 Collegiate Club Swimming National Championships

• April 10-12, 2026
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Meet Central
• Live Stream
• Entries/Results

After six College Club national records were broken on night one, the momentum continued into Saturday’s finals session. Seven individual records bit the dust on the day, while three of the four relays on the night’s schedule also saw record-setting swims.

Two swimmers broke the national record in the men’s 200 freestyle: UNC-Chapel Hill’s John Donovan (1:38.23) touched the wall about half a second ahead of Georgia Tech’s Liam Long (1:38.65), both going under Ben Lawless‘ 1:38.86.

The same situation unfolded in the men’s 200 breast, where Cal Poly’s Alex Seybold (1:55.89) and KSSC’s Richard Kurlich (1:57.31) both went under Jayson Hanson’s longstanding 1:59.60 mark from 2019.

In the 100 fly, UNC’s Everett Oehler took down Thomas Askew‘s national record with a 46.55, edging Askew and CPSC’s Lucas Crother-Collado, who tied for silver with matching 46.93s.

The previous record was Askew’s 46.82 from 2024.

UNC’s Walker Davis had a record-breaking day in the 50 back, going under the former mark three times. He went 21.15 to lead prelims, 20.80 leading off UNC’s victorious 200 medley relay, and 20.97 to claim the individual title.

Entering the day, the record stood at 22.32, set by Winston Kuriger back in 2019.

Davis just missed his best time of 20.75 from the 2025 ACC Championships, when he was still competing for the varsity team.

UNC and Cal Poly both destroyed Purdue’s 1:29.08 record in the 200 medley relay, and the same situation played out in the 400 free relay, where UNC outdueled Cal Poly while ASU also dipped under the 3:01.81 record Michigan State set in 2022.

UNC’s record-breaking foursome consisted of Davis (42.97), John Donovan (44.50), James Bennison (45.07), and Everett Oehler (43.28). Davis’ 42.97 leadoff split also smashed Billy Cruz Zuniga‘s individual 100 free record from 2023, meaning he now owns four individual records with one night to go.

UNC’s Topher Roberts swam 49.20 to clip Ivar Ivarson’s 49.42 record from 2019 and take gold.

On the women’s side, North Georgia’s Meagan Davis obliterated the national record in the 200 breast, swimming 2:14.66 to win by nearly eight seconds and break Kasey Venn‘s 2022 mark of 2:17.17 by two and a half seconds.

Cal Poly commanded the women’s 200 medley relay from start to finish, as the quartet of Brooke Javor (26.56), Melia Costa (28.83), Jessica Chu (25.64), and Ella McCarron (23.44) stopped the clock in 1:44.47, breaking Georgia Tech’s record from last year by over a second.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

• Florida State’s Ruth Lucht finished a full lap ahead of the rest of the field in the women’s 1000 free; she finished in a time of 10:36.81, with Virginia’s Brynna Burke (10:51.20) and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Clara Carson (10:57.41) the only others to dip under 11 minutes.
• In the men’s 1000 free, Georgia Tech’s Ryan Altera (9:27.83) won by nearly six seconds over Florida State’s Jack Hall (9:33.82), who himself had a nice cushion over third-place finisher Chase Gravitt (9:38.52) of Georgia.
• Stanford’s Ella Blake swam 1:52.46 to win the women’s 200 free by over two seconds; she was just under three tenths off her 1:52.18 record time from a year ago.
• Alabama’s Hannah. Poynter (56.30) eeked out a win over Wisconsin’s Elisse Bennett on the women’s 100 fly, with UCSD’s Gabrielle Lan (56.93) the other sub-57 competitor in the field.
• Mizzou’s Ashley Gill swam 25.99 to dominate the women’s 50 back, just four hundredths shy of the national standard.
• CPSC’s Melia Costa won the 100 IM in 58.22.

TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 2

Women:

1. Cal Poly – 644
2. UVA – 407
3. Grand Canyon – 355
4. Georgia Tech – 353
5. Michigan – 310

Men: 

1. Cal Poly – 698
2. UNC – 535
3. Liberty – 480
4. UGA – 335
5. Georgia Tech – 328

Combined:

1. Cal Poly – 1342
2. UNC – 742
3. UVA – 725.5
4. Georgia Tech – 681
5. Florida State – 522