Half Of Day 3 Finalists Won’t Return Next Year

2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 26-29, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
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  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Day 3 finals will see a massive shake up next year, with 51% of the finals swims yesterday coming from either seniors or fifth-years.

A staggering 11 seniors made either the ‘A’ or ‘B’ final of the 200 freestyle. The current senior class is incredibly strong in this event: as juniors they took 12 spots, and even as sophomores had five finalists. Their graduation will leave a huge hole, especially for Cal and Texas who were responsible for nearly half of the senior finalists between them this year.

The other event where graduates dominated was the 100 breaststroke, long an event where older swimmers have held sway. There were 11 seniors or fifth-years in the finals last year as well, and ten in 2023. In fact, 2021 was the last year where seniors and fifth-years were outnumbered in the event’s ‘A’ final

The 400 IM and 100 backstroke are the most junior of the five events. Five of the six swimmers to make the podium in those events return next year, and a freshman made the ‘A’ final of each – Cooper Lucas in the IM and Johnny Crush in the backstroke to become Army’s first ‘A’ finalist since 1986.

Breakdown per event

100 Fly

400 IM

200 Free

100 Breast

100 Back

Every Day 3 event loses at least a quarter of its swimmers (David Johnston will return in the 400 IM next year after redshirting last season) so there will be a lot of turnover in 2026, likely to come from a diverse range of teams. That will lead to a more open team race, which after a decade of dominance from a small group of schools can only be a good thing. Notably, nine of these graduating swimmers are from Cal.

Looking at who is projected to be the top seed in these events next year, there’s a surprise – the fastest 200 freestyler for the 2025/26 season, Maximus Williamson, is not even in college yet.

It’s rare to see a high school swimmer who could slot straight into the ‘A’ final, let alone go straight to the top. The last three to do so were Caeleb Dressel, Joseph Schooling and Ryan Murphy: esteemed company indeed.

Williamson is part of a stacked recruiting class for Virginia along with Thomas Heilman, who would also be seeded for ‘A’ finals in the 100 and 200 fly. With no individual scorers for the Cavaliers this year, next year’s class cannot arrive soon enough.

As the fifth year of eligibility granted during the pandemic disappears from the NCAA, we’ll likely see finals times regress across the board. After what looks to be a historically quick NCAAs though that won’t mean the end of fast swimming, more a changing of the guard.