Josh Bey Drops 6 Seconds in the 400 IM, Becomes 5th Fastest Frosh Ever, After Big Ten Prelims

2026 Men’s Big Ten Championships

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When Josh Bey first committed to Indiana University, generational hater Andrew shared this prediction in the comments:

Bey, the #9 recruit in the high school class of 2025, was the fastest 100 and 200 yard breaststroker in the class at the time, and with Indiana’s recent reputation in the breaststrokes (though the women’s group isn’t as good as it used to be), it was natural to presume that he would carry on to an Indiana breaststroke group in college where lots of swimmers have dropped lots of time.

But that lost sight of the forest for sake of the trees.

This was what we listed as his best times when we wrote the article on October 2, 2023:

On Thursday morning, in prelims at the Big Ten Championships, Bey became the 5th-fastest freshman in the history of the 400 IM with a 3:36.92 – and he still gets at least three more tapered cracks at the event this season. He chose that event over the 100 breaststroke on Thursday morning, a marked shift for him.

But you’re never going to guess where his biggest drop came:

Splits Comparison:

We don’t have definitive evidence (yet) that his breaststroke has taken a huge leap forward in his one season at Indiana. At a minimum, he has learned to use that breaststroke better in the 400 IM. The circumstantial evidence points toward a big time in the 200 breaststroke later in the meet as well – he swam 1:52.51 midseason, a 1.2 second drop from high school, at the same meet where he went a 3:43 in the 400 IM.

Combined with evidence that he’s clearly developed a breaststroke geared toward efficiency with those 400 IM splits, look out Fridays’ 200 breaststroke.

Swimmers go to college to learn. While not every swimmer drops huge time in their freshman season, or at all in their college careers, there is sometimes some magic in the ability of a college coach to identify a better path for an athlete who otherwise probably were sorted into a house at 11 or 12 years old.

The best college coaches all do it. Todd DeSorbo does it, Bob Bowman does it, Braden Holloway does it, and Indiana coach Ray Looze does it.

All Freshman in NCAA History With Sub-4:40 Times in the 400 IM