Cal Freshman Ryan Erisman Races 1650 Free/800 FR Double On Opening Day Of NCAAs

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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One of the more impressive feats from the first session at the 2026 NCAA Division I men’s championships came from California freshman Ryan Erisman, who went a time of 14:41.55 to finish fourth overall in the early heats of the 1650 free before suiting up just over an hour later to split 1:32.63 in the 800 free relay. With Cal also placing fourth in the early heats of the 800 free relay, he has guaranteed the Golden Bears points in both events despite coming off one of the more difficult doubles of NCAAs in his debut at the meet.

Yale senior Noah Millard was the only other 1650 free scorer to pull off this double. Though he placed eighth in the early heats of the mile with a time of 14:47.47, his Bulldogs squad finished 14th in the early heats of the 800 free relay. That said, he did split 1:32.73 on that relay as the fastest swimmer on his team.

The 1650 free/800 free relay double is new to the 2026 NCAAs, as in previous years, the 800 free relay fell on the first day of the meet while the 1650 free relay was on the final day of the meet. At the women’s NCAA championships, Erisman’s Cal teammate and fellow freshman Claire Weinstein also pulled off this double in the evening session, finishing second in the 1650 free (15:36.52) before splitting 1:41.44 to help the Golden Bears finish third in the 800 free a bit over an hour later.

It’s safe to say that Golden Bear freshmen are not afraid of daunting tasks in their NCAAs debuts.