2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, February 25–Saturday, February 28
• Location: Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, Madison, WI
• Defending champions: Indiana men (4x)
• Teams: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin
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• Championship Central – Big Ten
• Championship Central – Wisconsin
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Day 2 Prelim Heat Sheet

The first full day of action at the 2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships gets underway this morning with preliminary heats in the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free and 100 breast.

Defending champions will be in the field in three of the four events, with Michigan’s Tyler Ray aiming to repeat in the 100 fly, Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics looking to make it back-to-back titles in the 400 IM, and his teammate Tomas Navikonis in the hunt for a third straight title in the 200 free.

Navikonis and Jankovics teamed up to help lead the Buckeyes to victory in last night’s 800 free relay, shattering the Championship Record.

Wisconsin was the runner-up in the event, led by freshman Enzo Solitario, who will be one to watch in the 200 free today after he put up a 1:30.43 leg last night.

• Day 2 Prelim Heat Sheet

Although Ray is the defending champion, he is seeded 3rd coming into the meet in the 100 fly, with Ohio State’s Matthew Klinge (44.63) and Indiana’s Owen McDonald (44.68) holding the top two times this season.

In the 100 breast, Michigan’s Luka Mladenovic (50.92) and Penn State’s Mariano Lazzerini (50.96) lead the conference this season and are the only two swimmers under 51 seconds. Lazzerini won the conference title in 2024, but was a distant 15th last season, when Indiana swept the top five spots in the final. All five of the Hoosier swimmers have graduated, leaving Alexei Avakov (51.34) as their fastest in the event so far this season.

MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 42.80, Caeleb Dressel (Florida) – 2018
• Big Ten Record: 43.85, Tomer Frankel (Indiana) – 2024
• Big Ten Meet Record: 44.28, Tyler Ray (Michigan) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 46.11
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 45.12

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Tyler Ray (Michigan), 44.29
2. Matthew Klinge (Ohio State), 44.61
3. Stuart Seymour (Northwestern), 44.66
4. Michal Chmielewski (USC), 44.85
5. Jacob Johnson (Minnesota) / Owen McDonald (Indiana), 44.86
6. –
7. Ole Eidam (Michigan), 44.94
8. Colin Geer (Michigan), 45.17

Defending champion Tyler Ray fired off a season-best time of 44.29 to lead the 100 fly out of the prelims on Thursday morning, coming just one one-hundredth shy of his championship record set last year.

The Michigan senior won the 2025 Big Ten Title in a time of 44.28—after going 44.30 in the prelims—and went on to set a new lifetime best of 44.00 at the NCAA Championships, where he placed 7th.

Coming into the meet, Ray’s season-best stood at 44.78, set at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge in November

Ohio State sophomore Matthew Klinge topped the seventh and final heat in a time of 44.61, advancing 2nd overall into tonight’s session. Klinge, who placed 8th in the event as a freshman, improved on his personal best time of 44.63, which he set on the last day of January.

Northwestern junior Stuart Seymour shattered his school record to qualify 3rd into the final, clocking 44.66 to erase his previous mark of 45.43 set in November.

USC junior Michal Chmielewski (44.85), Minnesota sophomore Jacob Johnson (44.86) and Michigan sophomore Ole Eidam (44.94) also broke 45 seconds for the first time to advance 4th, 5th and 7th into the final.

Tying Johnson for 5th was Indiana’s Owen McDonald, the #2 seed coming into the meet, who clocked 44.86 after hitting a PB of 44.68 earlier this season.

Michigan’s Colin Geer, who was 4th last year, snuck into the ‘A’ final in 8th in a time of 45.17, two one-hundredths ahead of Penn State’s Matthew Bittner (45.19).

MEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 3:28.82, Leon Marchand (Arizona State) – 2023
• Big Ten Record: 3:34.98, Tristan Jankovics (OSU) – 2025
• Big Ten Meet Record: 3:35.51, Tristan Jankovics (OSU) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 3:46.19
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 3:41.61

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Lorne Wigginton (Michigan), 3:36.46
2. Josh Bey (Indiana), 3:36.92
3. Tristan Jankovics (Ohio State), 3:38.15
4. Josh Staples (Northwestern), 3:40.65
5. Dominik Mark Torok (Wisconsin), 3:41.24
6. Ryan Healy (Michigan), 3:41.40
7. Noah Cakir (Indiana), 3:41.61
8. Mason Edmund (Ohio State), 3:41.80

Michigan sophomore Lorne Wigginton and Indiana freshman Josh Bey stepped up in a big way in the last heat of the 400 IM, producing a pair of massive best times to qualify 1-2 into tonight’s final, with the defending champion lurking close behind.

Wigginton, who was the runner-up last season in a best time of 3:39.76, chopped more than three seconds off that mark to clock 3:36.46, running down Bey on the freestyle leg to claim the top seed.

Bey leaned on his breaststroke prowess to open up an advantage on Wigginton and Tristan Jankovics at the 300-yard turn, and though he was overtaken by Wigginton coming home, he still dropped nearly six seconds off his lifetime best in 3:36.92. Bey’s old PB stood at 3:42.61, set last March, and he had been as fast as 3:43.34 so far this season.

He also obliterates Zalan Sarkany‘s Indiana school record of 3:39.73 by nearly three seconds. Sarkany was 18th this morning in 3:46.05 after placing 7th in last year’s final.

Wigginton now ranks 3rd in the NCAA this season, while Bey moves into 5th in the nation.

2025-26 NCAA Rankings, Men’s 400 IM 

1. Baylor Nelson (Texas), 3:34.83 – 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational
2. Cooper Lucas (Texas), 3:35.28 – 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invitational
3. Lorne Wigginton (Michigan), 3:36.46 – 2026 Big Ten Championships
4. Rex Maurer (Texas), 3:36.74 – 2026 SEC Championships
5. Josh Bey (Indiana), 3:36.92 – 2026 Big Ten Championships

Jankovics, last year’s Big Ten champion and NCAA runner-up, touched in 3:38.15 to place 3rd in the heat and qualify for the final in the same position. The swim improved on his season-best of 3:38.91, and is significantly faster than he was in last year’s prelims (3:41.81).

Northwestern sophomore Josh Staples (3:40.65) and Indiana freshman Noah Cakir (3:41.61) went 1-2 in the first circle-seeded heat to qualify for the final in 4th and 7th, respectively, both adding a little bit of time to their season and lifetime bests, while Wisconsin senior Dominik Mark Torok (3:41.24) topped the penultimate heat to qualify in 5th.

Michigan junior Ryan Healy, 6th in last year’s final, qualified in the same position this morning with a new lifetime best of 3:41.40.

MEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 1:28.33, Luke Hobson (Texas) – 2025
• Big Ten Record: 1:29.63, Blake Pieroni (Indiana) – 2018
• Big Ten Meet Record: 1:31.01, Tomas Navikonis (OSU) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 1:33.93
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 1:32.27

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Enzo Solitario (Wisconsin), 1:32.09
2. Tomas Navikonis (Ohio State), 1:32.24
3. Aaron Shackell (Indiana), 1:32.57
4. Eitan Ben Shitrit (Michigan), 1:32.59
5. Oliver Sogaard-Andersen (USC), 1:32.63
6. Luukas Vainio (Wisconsin), 1:32.64
7. Antoine Sauve (Michigan) / Jordi Vilchez (Ohio State), 1:32.68
8. –

After delivering a blistering split on last night’s 800 free relay, Wisconsin freshman Enzo Solitario kicked off his individual program at his first Big Ten Championships in style on Thursday morning.

Solitario pulled away from Indiana’s Aaron Shackell down the stretch to win the first circle-seeded heat in a time of 1:32.09, knocking more than a second off his personal best time of 1:33.16.

Solitario split 1:30.43 on the Badgers’ runner-up 800 free relay last season, which by all accounts is one of the fastest splits ever from a first-year swimmer.

Shackell clocked 1:32.57 to advance 3rd into the final, while Michigan senior Eitan Ben Shitrit won the following heat in 1:32.59 to qualify 4th.

Two-time defending champion Tomas Navikonis topped the eighth and final heat in a time of 1:32.24 to earn Lane 5 tonight and set himself up for a run at a third straight conference title.

Navikonis came into the meet as the only swimmer in the Big Ten sub-1:32 this season at 1:31.60.

Seven of the top eight seeds coming in ended up earning a berth in the ‘A’ final, with Ohio State’s Jordi Vilchez being the only one to move up, as he shattered his best time of 1:34.06 in 1:32.68 to advance in a tie for 7th with Michigan freshman and fellow Canadian Antoine Sauve.

Vilchez notably split 1:31.84 on Ohio State’s victorious 800 free relay on Wednesday.

MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS

• NCAA Record: 49.51, Julian Smith (Florida) – 2025
• Big Ten Record: 49.69, Ian Finnerty (Indiana) – 2018
• Big Ten Meet Record: 49.94, Finn Brooks (Indiana) – 2025
• 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.58
• 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.58

‘A’ Final Qualifiers: 

1. Luka Mladenovic (Michigan), 50.95
2. Mariano Lazzerini (Penn State), 51.32
3. Alexei Avakov (Indiana), 51.38
4. Travis Gulledge (Indiana), 51.41
5. Ben Wiegand (Wisconsin), 51.77
6. Toby Barnett (Indiana), 51.84
7. Dylan Smiley (Indiana), 52.04
8. Drew Gaerthofner (Wisconsin), 52.10

The top three seeds coming in defended their positions in the 100 breaststroke, with Michigan freshman Luka Mladenovic leading the way.

The Austrian native fired off a time of 50.95 to win the fifth and final heat of the event, coming just three one-hundredths shy of the personal best he set at the CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge in November (50.92).

Penn State senior Mariano Lazzerini, the 2024 Big Ten champion, won the penultimate heat in a time of 51.32, earning him the #2 seed for the final after hitting a PB of 50.96 earlier this season.

Indiana landed four swimmers in the ‘A’ final, led by sophomore Alexei Avakov, who clocked 51.38 out of the first circle-seeded heat to qualify 3rd overall, adding four one-hundredths to his season-best time.

He’ll be joined in tonight’s championship heat by teammates Travis Gulledge (51.41), Toby Barnett (51.84) and Dylan Smiley (52.04), who all set new personal best times.

Wisconsin put two swimmers in the top eight, with fifth-year Ben Wiegand dropping six one-hundredths off his PB in 51.83 to place 5th, while freshman Drew Gaerthofner smashed his lifetime best of 53.48 in 52.10 to advance in 8th.