Julian Koch Leads Pitt Men Off With 1:31.95, 800 Free Relay Smashes School Record

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)
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Men’s 800 Free Relay – Early Heats

• NCAA Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025
• Championship Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025
• American Record: 6:00.08 – Texas (Hobson, Guiliano, Maurer, Carrozza), 2025
• U.S. Open Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025
• Defending Champion: California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux) – 5:59.75
• 2025 8th/16th Place Times: 6:06.96/6:12.82

Top 8:

1. Virginia (Williamson, King, Heilman, Aikins) – 6:06.85
2. Princeton (Balva, Schott, Lenoce, Dinu) – 6:09.16
3. Auburn (Youssef, Krichevsky, Russ, Bedsole) – 6:10.77
4. California – 6:10.91
5. USC – 6:11.62
6. Pittsburgh – 6:11.87
7. SMU – 6:12.02
8. Tennessee – 6:12.29

The Pitt men smashed their school record in the 800 free relay as Julian Koch, James Allison, Merlin Belmon, and Alan Vergine swam to a 6:11.87. Koch’s lead off 1:31.95 also marked a school record.

The program has dropped almost five seconds in the event over the last year from their school record setting 6:16.70 that they swam at the 2025 ACC Championships.

800 Free Relay Progression

• 2021-2022: 6:25.76
• 2022-2023: 6:19.45
• 2023-2024: 6:19.92
• 2024-2025: 6:16.70
• 2025-2026: 6:11.87

They first broke their school record with a 6:14.43 at last month’s 2026 ACC Championships before slicing another two seconds off that record with a 6:11.87 today at the 2026 NCAA Championships.

In addition to the relay swimming to a new school record, sophomore Julian Koch broke his own 200 freestyle record with a 1:31.95 lead off leg. Koch’s previous school record sat at a 1:32.79 from ACCs last month.

Like the women, the men’s program has made huge strides over the last four seasons under head coach Chase Kreitler. Just last week, the women’s 800 free relay made history with their 12th place finish, becoming the program’s first scoring relay in 39 years. The women’s 200 free and 400 free relays also scored last week before going on to finish a program record 16th place finish.

The men’s 800 free relay was 6th coming out of this morning’s prelims session, locking them in to a scoring swim. They entered the meet as the #21 seed.