2026 Big 12 Championship
- Dates: Tuesday, February 24–Saturday, February 28
- Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
- Defending champions: Arizona State women (1x); Arizona State men (1x)
- Live Results
- Live Video ESPN +
- Championship Central
- Men’s Championship Preview
- Women’s Championship Preview
- Teams: Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Christian, Utah, West Virginia
- Psych Sheets
- Live Recaps
- Finals: Day 1
The ASU men kicked off their Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship title defense in style, lowering the meet record in the 200 medley relay by two tenths of a second as they roared to a dominant win in 1:20.96. That undercuts their winning time of 1:21.16 from last year, which previously stood as the meet record.
Adam Chaney, a transfer from Florida who looks in great form again this season after sitting out in 2024-25, led off for the Sun Devils in 20.45. That is a quarter of a second off his best of 20.19 from 2022 NCAAs, which ranks him #5 all-time, and a similar amount off his season best of 20.20 from October. He handed over to Andy Dobrzanski, who split 23.20, giving Ilya Kharun clean water when he dived in on fly.
The (recently-announced) American swimmer made full use of that, splitting 18.89 for his joint-4th-fastest split ever. He now owns all of the top five splits in history, and eight of the top ten. Five of those eight swims have come this season, including the #1 split in history of 18.68.
Top-10 All-Time Men’s 50 Yard Fly Splits
- 18.68 – Ilya Kharun (2025 CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge)
- 18.78 – Ilya Kharun (2025 NCAAs)
- 18.79 – Ilya Kharun (2025 ASU vs USC)
- 18.89 – Ilya Kharun (2024 Wolfpack Elite Invite)/Ilya Kharun (2026 Big 12 Championships)
- –
- 18.90 – Jordan Crooks (2023 SECs)
- 18.90 – Ilya Kharun (2025 Eddie Reese Showdown)
- 18.91 – Ilya Kharun (2025 ASU vs UNLV)
- 18.94 – Ilya Kharun (2026 ASU vs Arizona)
- 18.97 – Josh Liendo (2024 NCAAs)
Tommy Palmer was on the anchor leg for the Sun Devils tonight and led them home in 18.42. Notably, neither of ASU’s top sprinters, Jonny Kulow and Remi Fabiani, were chosen for this relay, setting them up to potentially be used on all four remaining relays including the 800 free relay – one Kulow has never swum at either a Pac-12 or Big 12 conference championships. Kulow owns a best-ever 50 free split of 17.78 from 2025 NCAAs.
The biggest difference between the swim tonight and the previous meet record came on the fly leg, where Kharun was 0.32 seconds faster than his split last year. Chaney was 0.21 seconds faster on the leadoff than Lucien Vergnes was, while Dobrzanski was a tenth of a second slower than last year and Palmer 0.23 seconds off Kulow’s 2025 anchor.
ASU were less than a tenth off their overall Big 12 record of 1:20.87 set at last season’s NCAAs. Adding Jonny Kulow back onto the anchor leg, after he was 17.78 last year, could see them blow past the record next month.
| Leg | Previous Meet Record – 2025 Big 12 Championships | New Meet Record – 2026 Big 12 Championships | Big 12 Record – 2025 NCAA Championships |
| Back | Lucien Vergnes – 20.66 | Adam Chaney – 20.45 | Lucien Vergnes – 21.29 |
| Breast | Andy Dobrzanski – 23.10 | Andy Dobrzanski – 23.20 | Andy Dobrzanski – 23.02 |
| Fly | Ilya Kharun – 19.21 | Ilya Kharun – 18.89 | Ilya Kharun – 18.78 |
| Free | Jonny Kulow – 18.19 | Tommy Palmer – 18.42 | Jonny Kulow – 17.78 |
| Total | 1:21.16 | 1:20.96 | 1:20.87 |
Arizona placed 2nd behind the Sun Devils tonight in 1:24.83, but got a rapid 20.84 on the leadoff from breakout freshman Duncan Henderson. He holds a best of 20.59 from a dual with ASU at the start of February, but was well under his pre-season best of 22.85 tonight.
Everyone off just a bit from season bests (SB)
SB PB
Chaney :20.20 :20.19
Dobrzanski :23.00 :23.00
Kharun :18.68 :18.68
Palmer :18.28 :18.17
SB Total 1:20.16, 0.13 short of Florida 1:20.04, 0.01 short of Florida-
Without Kulow or Fabiani or Young on freestyle, a decision which Coach Behm can make later.
khuran really normalizing 18s on 50 fly now
Yup, but he has to do it in the long pool.
22.68 in the 50, 50.07 in the 100, very shabby
he was a better 200m flyer at some point in time, no? He is consistently fast in the short pool, but less consistent in the long pool. Unfortunately, a win in the 100y fly in the NCAAs does not translate into a win at OTs.
He has the 2024 Olympic bronze medal in the 100 Fly and the 2025 World Championships bronze medal in the 100 Fly. How high did Americans finish in those races?
I almost thought you meant 18s in the long pool and was like “huh”?
Be hard to judge the 50yd line in a 50m pool, but okay?
It’s like a foot past the flags.
Dobrzanski needs to go 22, they can win the relay at NCAA’s
0.04 off the American record
Serious question: Is Ilya American at this point? When does the time constraint end from being “Canadian” under IOC rules?
He is not – he is only eligible for American Records at the point he is eligible to swim internationally for the U.S., so in October.
I got called out on this in a previous article, but ASU can’t use kharun to break any American records this ncaa season because his probation from changing nationalities doesn’t end until October – still cool to think about what could’ve been tho
damn, guess he still has another season at least
To be “THAT” guy: lowering the meet record in the 200 fly by two tenths of a second. I think you meant 200 medley relay, no?
I did indeed (three days too soon on the 200 fly post).
The BEHM effect at work