The opening night of the Men’s NCAA Championships delivered in a big way on Wednesday, as an exciting battle in the 200 medley relay was followed by an epic clash in the 800 free relay in Federal Way.
In a stunning performance, the Cal Golden Bears became the first team to break six minutes in the 800 free relay, clocking 5:59.75 to obliterate the previous NCAA and U.S. Open Record of 6:02.26 that they set at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Also going well under the previous record was Texas, which combined for a time of 6:00.08 to shatter the American Record of 6:03.24 set by the Longhorns at last month’s SEC Championships.
Cal’s squad featured three Americans, Jack Alexy, Gabriel Jett and Destin Lasco, and Belgian Olympian Lucas Henveaux, making them ineligible to break the American Record.
Texas’ quartet featured Luke Hobson, Chris Guiliano, Rex Maurer and Coby Carrozza.
RACE VIDEO
Courtesy of NCAA Championships on YouTube.
Hobson led off in a time of 1:28.90 for Texas, just nine one-hundredths shy of his all-time record of 1:28.81 in the 200 free set last season, and then three swimmers had sub-1:30 splits across the two teams after that, with Maurer splitting 1:29.91 for the Longhorns on the third leg, while Cal had Alexy’s 1:30.02 lead-off followed by Jett (1:29.16) and Lasco (1:29.10) with two blistering legs.
On Cal’s anchor leg, Henveaux had to recover from a shaky start, as he slipped off the blocks and then had a botched streamline as a result.
NCAA Record Split Comparison
| Cal, 2025 NCAAs (NCAA record) | Texas, 2025 NCAAs |
Cal, 2024 NCAAs (Former Record)
|
| Jack Alexy — 1:30.02 | Luke Hobson — 1:28.90 | Gabriel Jett — 1:30.32 |
| Gabriel Jett — 1:29.16 | Chris Guiliano — 1:30.13 | Destin Lasco — 1:29.60 |
| Destin Lasco — 1:29.10 | Rex Maurer — 1:29.91 | Jack Alexy — 1:30.50 |
| Lucas Henveaux — 1:31.47 | Coby Carrozza — 1:31.14 | Robin Hanson — 1:31.84 |
| 5:59.75 | 6:00.08 | 6:02.26 |
Compared to the previous American Record, Texas’ Guiliano and Carrozza had roughly the same splits as last month, but Hobson was more than a second and a half faster on the lead-off leg, and Maurer was 1.79 seconds faster on his split.
American Record Split Comparison
| Texas, 2025 SECs | Texas, 2025 NCAAs |
| Luke Hobson — 1:30.45 | Luke Hobson — 1:28.90 |
| Rex Maurer — 1:31.70 |
Chris Guiliano — 1:30.13
|
| Chris Guiliano – 1:30.04 | Rex Maurer — 1:29.91 |
| Coby Carrozza — 1:31.05 |
Coby Carrozza — 1:31.14
|
| 6:03.24 | 6:00.08 |
The Cal Bears have now won the 800 free relay national title for two straight seasons after Texas won four consecutive titles from 2019 until 2023.
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