2025 College Swimming Previews: #6 Tennessee Benefits From Speed In Events NCAAs Values Most

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2024 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel and the 2025 College Swimming Preview Compendium. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#6 Tennessee Volunteers

Key Losses: Flynn Crisci (7 NCAA points, 2 NCAA relays), Jacob Reasor (2 NCAA points)

Key Additions: Kevin Houseman (grad transfer — breast), Lamar Taylor (grad transfer — sprint free) Ben Bricca (WA — back), Koby Bujak-Upton (Australia — free), Bennett Greene (TN — diving), Aidan Hill (NC — fly), Anthony Laurito (TX — back/IM), Grayson Nye (NC — breast/IM), Noah Smith (GA — free/fly)

Returning Fifth Years: Bryden Hattie (30 NCAA points), Micah Chambers (2 NCAA relays)

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

• 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
• 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
• 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
• 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

2023-24 LOOKBACK:

For years, Tennessee appeared to peak for SECs (or if they weren’t, they had trouble carrying their speed to the NCAA Championships). After finishing fifth in a tight race between second and fifth at 2024 SECs, Tennessee finally figured it out at the 2024 NCAA Championships.

At last, NCAAs was their best meet of the season. They finished in 6th place, which was their highest finish since 2001 and marked their first back-to-back top 10 finish since the 2008 and 20009 seasons. They swam six program records, and had 11 podium finishes, again the most since 2001. Perhaps most importantly, their four qualified relays all finished in the top five.

It’s the kind of season to build on as Tennessee now hopes to sustain that national-level success and try to get involved in the fight for the top five.

SPRINT FREE: ★★★★

Tennessee is running it back for another season with Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe, the best sprint-free duo in the NCAA. Together, they combined for 30 points in the 50 free and 32 points in the 100 free. Cal was the only other program to have two swimmers in both the 50 and 100 free (Jack Alexy and Bjorn Seeliger) and while the Golden Bears matched the Volunteers with 30 points in the 50 free, Tennessee outscored them in the 100 free, 32 points to 27.

Crooks scored 45 individual points at the 2024 NCAAs, making the ‘A’ final in the 50/100/200 freestyles. Caribe scored 30, making the pair the Volunteers’ backbone in the pool at 2024 NCAAs as they also contributed heavily to the relays.

As the only man currently racing in the NCAA to have broken the 18-second mark in the 50 freestyle, Crooks will remain an NCAA title threat in that event this season. He lost the crown to Josh Liendo last season, but the pair will renew their rivalry for a third season, promising exciting races in the 50/100 free at the conference and national level.

The 50 freestyle is an increasingly competitive event at the NCAA level, and in his sophomore season, Caribe showed he cannot be counted out, throwing down an 18.57 lifetime best for 6th place at NCAAs. He carried that speed to the final day of the meet; while Liendo surged ahead to win the 100 free, Caribe upset the rest of the big names in the event to finish second with a huge swim of 40.55. Crooks finished 4th in 40.61—he owns a lifetime best of 40.39, meaning he and Caribe form a pair that threatens to go 1-2 in both the 50 and 100 free.

Tennessee has added Bahamian Olympian Lamar Taylor to the roster this season. In his fifth year, Taylor is making the jump to Division I after a successful career at Henderson State where he won multiple Division II championships. Pre-season, it looks like his 50 freestyle brings the most value at the DI level as 19.03 (his lifetime best) would’ve made the ‘B’ final. His 42.30 PB in the 100 free needs some work to make it back for NCAA finals, but will score at the conference championships and give Tennessee some interesting choices to make for the 400 freestyle relay.

He joins a sprint group that also includes fellow fifth-year Micah Chambers (19.31/42.65), 2023 World Junior champion Nikoli Blackman (19.59/42.30), and multi-stroke sprinter Björn Kammann (19.81/42.53) all of whom were relay-only swimmers at 2024 NCAAs. Incoming World Juniors qualifier Pedro Sansone and Australian freestyler Koby Bujak-Upton will also likely find a home in the sprint group with LCM PBs of 23.30/50.26/1:49.65 as they look to be the next international sprinting recruits to make big drops while training in the Tennesse system. Free/fly specialist Noah Smith (44.43/1:40.31) will likely also spend time with this crew as well.

This would be a five-star group if we did not include the 200 freestyle in the discipline. But we do and that hurts the Vols since it’s one of their weak spots as a team. The 800 freestyle relay is the only relay they did not qualify for NCAAs as they missed the ‘B’ cut in the event. The bright spot is Crooks, who veered into this event last season instead of the 100 fly.

Crooks showed off this range extension at the midseason Tennessee Invite, turning heads with a 1:32.07. He dipped below 1:32 at SECs with a 1:31.07, then lowered his lifetime best again at 2024 NCAAs with a 1:30.41 in prelims before finishing 6th (1:31.03). If Crooks’ attention stays on the 200 free this season, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with. He was Tennessee’s only sub-1:34 200 freestyler last season, which knocks a star off their otherwise powerful sprint group.

DISTANCE FREE: ★

There’s not a lot to talk about when it comes to Tennessee distance, their freestyle strengths are the 50/100 freestyle. They’ve lost Joey Tepper and Jake Narvid, their only NCAA qualifiers in the 500 and 1650 freestyle, and Rafael Ponce de Leon. That means they do not return their three fastest 500 and 1650 freestylers from last season—and per SwimCloud, they only had four swimmers register a 1650 free time last season.

That puts a lot of pressure on Joaquin Vargas, their fastest-returning 50 freestyler. Vargas owns a lifetime best of 4:15.71 but didn’t break 4:20 last season. At 2024 SECs, he swam the 200 free/500 free/200 backstroke, but with a lifetime best of 15:14.61 in the 1650 free from 2023, it will be interesting to see if he shifts back to the mile because of the needs of the team.

Something else worth watching for on the Tennessee distance front is if they try to develop someone into a 500 freestyler. They could try with someone like Bujak-Upton, though given that he’s making the transition to yards and the fact that Tennessee’s strengths are so clearly in the sprints, it’s more likely that this is an area where they punt.

Someone’s going to have to swim the 500 and the 1000 freestyle at duel meets, though. On paper, it looks like the distance freestyle job is going to fall to Vargas and senior Jack Stelter (4:25.08/9:39.09).

BACKSTROKE: ★

Life gets better for Tennessee in the backstroke events, even if the star total doesn’t reflect that. Their top 100/200 backstroker Harrison Lierz is back after swimming bests of 44.98/1:40.06 last season and much closer to being an NCAA scorer than their returning distance freestylers. Lierz finished 22nd in the 100 back at NCAAs and was even closer to a second swim in the 200 back, where he finished 17th and missed the ‘B’ final by .14 seconds. Tennessee’s team configuration means they get the bulk of their NCAA points from relays, but it would be a boost if swimmers like Lierz can sneak into ‘B’ finals this season.

Kammann, a sprinter, sticks to the 100 backstroke and gives Tennessee more conference points in the event. Last year, he finished 11th with a 45.65 personal best. Ryan Williams also scored points for Tennessee in the ‘C’ final and incoming freshman Ben Bricca would’ve given them a fourth scorer in the event with a 46.75 personal best that would’ve landed in the ‘C’ final. Bricca also owns a 1:44.57 personal best in the 200 backstroke, which would’ve just missed SEC scoring. Though he’s got a ways to go before scoring at NCAAs, Bricca coming in with one conference scoring time already does help boost the Vols backstroke depth.

The 200 backstroke was already a sparser event for the Vols and they lost a key piece with the departure of Landon Driggers. Senior Griffin Hadley joins Bricca in the 1:44 lifetime best range, meaning that unless there are some significant drops, Lierz will once again be Tennessee’s primary hope of NCAA points in the discipline.

BREASTSTROKE: ★

Breaststroke is a weak spot for the Vols, but they have more to be optimistic about than the single star implies. Yes, Flynn Crisci’s graduation is a loss—he was their fastest breaststroker last season, served on both medley relays, and finished 10th in the 100 breast at the 2024 NCAAs. But the Volunteers have taken the sting out of the loss by adding graduate transfer Kevin Houseman and freshman Grayson Nye.

The two should immediately take over as the fastest breaststrokers on Rocky Top. Houseman, who returns to the pool after a medical redshirt, owns lifetime bests of 51.23/1:54.61 while Nye arrives with bests of 53.71/1:55.23. In the 100 breaststroke, Houseman’s 100 breast PB would’ve made the ‘A’ final and Nye’s the ‘C’ final at 2024 SECs. Their bests in the 200 breast both would’ve made the ‘A’ final.

So, while the Vols graduated their top breaststroker from last season, this is a net positive situation for the Vols as they’ve now got two swimmers capable of scoring at the conference level in both distances. Sophomore Jed Garner didn’t touch his lifetime bests of 53.76/1:56.82 during his first year at Tennessee, but improvements this season could also put him in SEC scoring range.

In 2024, it took a 51.89 in the 100 breast to be above the “invited” line of the NCAA psych sheet and a 1:53.12 in the 200. They’ve got some work to do on the national level, but both swimmers have the potential to make the big meet, where it then took 51.87 and 1:52.71 to make finals last season.

BUTTERFLY: ★★

We’re hedging our bets a bit here as we don’t know if Crooks will focus on the 200 freestyle or 100 butterfly, but we’re assuming he’ll stick with the 200 free. That said, Crooks is an elite 100 butterflier with a lifetime best of 44.04 and the fastest 50 butterfly split in history (18.90). If he goes back to the 100 fly, he’s a likely NCAA ‘A’ finalist and would boost Tennessee’s points ceiling in the butterfly events.

With him focusing on the 200 free, Caribe was Tennessee’s highest finisher in the 100 fly at NCAAs in 35th, adding from his lifetime best 45.87. They had two other 45-point 100 flyers on the roster last season, with Lierz swimming a lifetime best 45.40 and Kammann swimming 45.52 for 4th and 6th respectively at the 2024 SEC Championships. Kammann has been as fast as 45.32 during the 2022-23 season.

Martin Espernberger also raced the 100 fly at 2024 NCAAs (46.81) but where he shines is the 200 fly. Versatility is increasingly valuable in the NCAA and we’re seeing swimmers shift away from hyper-specialization, but there is still value in doing one thing very well. And that’s Espernberger in the 200 fly for the Vols. After winning the 2024 SEC title, Espernberger finished 11th at NCAAs, swimming a 1:40.64 as he lowered his lifetime best for the third time in the 2023-24 season.

Up next on the 200 fly depth chart is Aidan Crisci’s 1:42.94 from 2024 NCAAs, where he chopped over two seconds from his personal best. It was a dramatic drop for the sophomore and though he’s still got about a second to go before entering NCAA scoring range, it will certainly move him up from the ‘C’ final at SECs where he was last season, giving him 45-points in both the 100 back and 100 fly.

In terms of additions to the butterfly group, the Vols bring in Aidan Hill (47.99/1:46.70) to their butterfly group. He’ll need to drop from those bests to score at SECs.

IM: ★

We mentioned Driggers’ retirement in the backstroke section, but his departure is more strongly felt here in the IM. He led the team in both the 200/400 IM last season (1:43.93/3:42.93). A three-event NCAA qualifier, his highest finish was 25th place in the 400 IM.

Without Driggers, Gus Rothrock and Aidan Crisci are the fastest returning IMers. Rothrock, a senior, is faster in the 200 IM (1:45.64) and Crisci’s got the upper hand in the 400 IM (3:42.93). Crisci swam that time at Tennessee’s Last Chance Meet, giving him another NCAA swim. He finished 28th in the event, three spots behind Driggers, meaning that at least in the 400 IM, they still return a likely NCAA qualifier, even if needs to drop some time to score.

Tennessee is bringing Tony Laurito (1:46.44/3:45.76) into their IM group. Laurito, an IM/backstroker from Texas, would’ve given Tennessee a third scorer in the IMs at 2024 SECs as his 400 IM personal best was worthy of the ‘B’ final.

DIVING: ★★★

If Crooks and Caribe are the backbone of Tennessee swimming, it’s Bryden Hattie who plays that role for the team on the boards. His role on this team should not be underestimated, and it’s huge that he’s returning for a fifth season.

He’s the two-time defending SEC Diver of the Year and after six top-three finishes at SECs, finally won his first title last season on the platform. His 81 points at the conference championships were second on the team only to Crooks. Hattie also contributed 30 points at the 2024 NCAAs, finishing 3rd on platform and 5th on 3-meter.

Their other diver at NCAAs last season was sophomore Nick Stone, who just missed scoring at back-to-back NCAAs with an 18th place on platform. He scored 63 points on the boards at 2023 SECs, so watch for him to get back in on the NCAA action this season.

Owen Redfearn is back on the boards this season as well, and they’ve added former Junior National diving champion Bennett Greene, so Tennessee’s diving corps remains solid.

RELAYS: ★★★★

With swimmers like Crooks and Caribe on the roster, any sprint relay the Vols coaches put together is already off to a good start. All four of their NCAA-qualified relays finished in 5th place, racking up 112 points—or about 48% of the team’s total NCAA points. On top of that, they’ve retained 18 of their 20 relay legs, losing only Crisci, their breaststroker, to graduation. Again, they’ve brought in several solid options to replace Crisci, and we’ll likely see both Houseman and Nye get their chance on the medley relays during the season.

But similarly to the sprint freestyle discipline, what hurts Tennessee here is the lack of 200 freestylers and the fact that they didn’t qualify an 800 freestyle relay to the NCAA Championships in 2024. And as relays score double, it’s a miss more keenly felt than not having depth in the individual 200 free.

Ultimately, it didn’t make a difference in the standings as NC State was 87 points ahead of them in 5th. But if the Volunteers want to make that jump to the top tier of the NCAA standings, it is essential that they not only qualify all five relays for NCAAs but that they all score. That’s likely a multi-season project for the team, but they need to start taking steps in that direction—and take advantage of Crooks’ 1:30-flat start while they’ve got it.

Total Stars: 17/40

2024-25 OUTLOOK:

The stars paint a rather dire picture for Tennessee. The star ratings reward teams that are well-balanced across disciplines. Tennessee isn’t—they have their strengths and little depth in their weaknesses.

But the Tennessee men’s team isn’t built for our star ratings, they are built for the NCAA postseason. The NCAA system rewards sprinters and strong relays and those are the things that Tennessee is best at, with diving third. This is a team configured to thrive in the NCAA postseason, which they should do as they are once again led by Crooks and Caribe. This is a better team than the stars give them credit for.

After years of peaking at SECs and not being able to replicate their performance two weeks later at NCAAs, it seems like their focus has fully shifted to NCAAs or they’ve figured out the double taper (or a little of both). In 2024, the Volunteers were hanging out on an island in 6th place, 87 points behind NC State and 42 points ahead of Texas. The Longhorns’ influx of talent gives them a lot of firepower to help close that gap, while Tennessee is going to rely on their strengths and hope they can sneak swimmers like Lierz into ‘B’ finals to supplement huge point totals from a few stars and their relays (which is where a bulk of their points will come from again.)

It’s going to be tough for Tennessee to break into that top level of NCAA teams this season. They’ll likely be in a battle to retain 6th, but are once again a top ten team as they reap the benefits of being strong in exactly the right disciplines to score lots of postseason points.

MEN’S PREVIEW INDEX: