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)
- Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile: “2026 Men’s B1G Championship”)
- Live Video ($): B1G+
- Championship Central – Big Ten
- Championship Central – Wisconsin
- SwimSwam’s Meet Preview
- Teams: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin
- SwimSwam Live Recaps
The breaststroke events may have been swept by Michigan’s Luka Mladenovic at the Men’s Big Ten Championships, but Indiana breaststroke is still alive and well.
The Hoosiers swept the top five spots in the 100 breast at the 2025 Big Tens, and have since graduated all five. They also earned the top four placements in the 200 breast, and lost three of those four, the lone returner this season being Toby Barnett.
This season, they’ve turned the page with a pair of freshmen who have taken over the mantle, Josh Bey and Noah Cakir.
Bey was a standout at his first Big Tens, setting a new conference record in the 400 IM, and in the 200 breast, he was the runner-up to Mladenovic in a lifetime best of 1:50.03, with Cakir taking a close 3rd in a time of 1:50.47 and Barnett right behind in 4th (1:50.75).
That swim from Cakir stands up as a new National Age Group Record for 17-18 boys, taking down the previous mark of 1:51.03 set by Louisville’s Jake Eccleston at the 2025 ACC Championships. Prior to that, the record stood at 1:51.38, set by former Hoosier and current Indiana pro Josh Matheny in 2020.
Split Comparison
| Matheny, 2020 | Eccleston, 2025 | Cakir, 2026 |
| 25.27 | 24.98 | 25.41 |
| 53.68 (28.41) | 53.19 (28.21) | 53.29 (27.88) |
| 1:22.10 (28.42) | 1:22.02 (28.83) | 1:21.52 (28.23) |
| 1:51.38 (29.28) | 1:51.03 (29.01) | 1:50.47 (28.95) |
Born in 2007, Cakir won’t turn 19 until May 11, while Bey turned 19 last July.
All-Time Performers, Boys’ 17-18 200 Breaststroke (SCY)
- Noah Cakir (Indiana), 1:50.47 – 2026
- Jake Eccleston (Louisville), 1:51.03 – 2025
- Josh Matheny (Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics), 1:51.38 – 2020
- Matt Fallon (Greater Somerset County YMCA Storm), 1:51.39 – 2021
- Reece Whitley (Penn Charter Aquatic Club), 1:51.43 – 2017
- Andrew Seliskar (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 1:51.57 – 2015
- Daniel Roy (King Aquatic Club), 1:51.69 – 2018
- Kevin Cordes (Arizona), 1:51.97 – 2012
- Zhier Fan (Metroplex Aquatics), 1:52.92 – 2021
- Noah Nichols (Virginia), 1:52.98 – 2021
The swim for Cakir improved on his previous best of 1:51.68, set this past November at the Ohio State Invite.
Split Comparison
| Cakir, Old PB |
Cakir, New PB/NAG
|
| 25.85 | 25.41 |
| 54.27 (28.42) | 53.29 (27.88) |
| 1:22.72 (28.45) | 1:21.52 (28.23) |
| 1:51.68 (28.96) | 1:50.47 (28.95) |
Prior to joining the Hoosiers, his lifetime best stood at 1:54.45, set in December 2024.
In addition to placing 3rd in the 200 breast, Cakir also placed 6th in the 400 IM (3:41.37) and 9th in the 200 IM (1:42.86) after setting a new PB in the prelims (1:42.47) to score 71 points and help Indiana win its fifth straight men’s Big Ten title.
Reece Whitley is traveling back from the future I see lol
Ethical freshman
Couldn’t even break 1:50. Just lol.
Such low effort rage bait
I thought it was moderate effort, actually.
Cool!
This guy is going to win NCAA titles in the next few seasons.
Josh Bey exists
Washed Bey is a 400 IM merchant going 3:34 and barely breaking 1:42 2 IM LMAOOOOO
Ah there he is
Dominance can be measured in many ways, and I’m sure Hoosier Haters will be quick to point out that IU hasn’t won any breaststroke events at NCAAs since 2019.
With that being said, their depth is ridiculous and the IU Program Top 10s in the 100+200 BR have to be so disgustingly fast
Didn’t Yep win just last year for IU?
Bro, are you even a fan of your own team? haha Yep won a title just last year
Pretty nice improvement and a note worthy swim by an IU youngster!