Maximus Williamson Becomes First Freshman 200 Free Champ Since Townley Haas, #1 U.S. Freshman Ever

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)
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

Men’s 200 Free – Final

• NCAA Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• Championship Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• American Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:28.33 – Luke Hobson, Texas (2025)
• 2025 Champion: Luke Hobson, Texas – 1:28.33
• 2025 8th/16th Prelims Times: 1:31.06/1:31.88

Top 8 Finishers

1. Maximus Williamson (UVA) — 1:30.03
2. Koby Bujak-Upton (TENN) — 1:30.11
3. Henry McFadden (STAN) — 1:30.13
4. Tomas Navikonis (OSU) — 1:30.78
5. Remi Fabiani (ASU) — 1:30.81
6. Kaii Winkler (NCST) — 1:30.93
7. Keaton Jones (CAL) — 1:31.08
8. Mitchell Schott (PRIN) — 1:32.01

Maximus Williamson, who tied for 8th in 1:31.17 this morning and was given the last spot in the final after his teammate David King ceded the position, delivered a blast of outside smoke to take the win tonight in 1:30.03. That makes him the first freshman to win the event since Townley Haas did so in 2016, and keeps him ranked as the #2 freshman all-time.

All-Time Freshman 200 Freestyle Performers:

1. Koby Bujak-Upton– 1:29.79 (Tennessee, 2026)
2. Maximus Williamson– 1:30.03 (Virginia, 2026)
3. Townley Haas– 1:30.46 (Texas, 2016)
4. Matthew Sates– 1:30.72 (Georgia, 2022)
5. Alex Painter– 1:31.13 (Florida, 2025)

He is behind only Australian redshirt freshman Koby Bujak-Upton, who yesterday became the first freshman to break 1:30 as he led off Tennessee’s 800 free relay in 1:29.79. Williamson was 1:30.43 on that same relay, lowering his year-old best time and positioning himself as a contender for the title tonight. He dropped another four tenths tonight, reversing the trend from ACCs where he added a second from the relay to the individual event.

Williamson was out fast tonight, hitting the 50 wall first in 20.57, but was second at halfway in 43.37 as Bujak-Upton flipped first in 43.25. Both swimmers were off the identical 42.94s they split last night, which for Williamson ended up paying dividends. He swam a blistering 23.02 on the third 50 to move into the lead by three tenths of a second, before holding off the Tennessee swimmer on the final 50 by just 0.08 seconds.

For Williamson, this swim delivered on the promise he showed coming into the year and gives Virginia their first individual NCAA champion since Matt McLean‘s 500 free title in 2011. He did have the fastest PB of any swimmer coming into the meet, but struggled at U.S. Nationals last year and had been off his bests so far at Virginia.

While Bujak-Upton and Williamson were out fast, it was a swimmer closing like a freight train who nearly caught them at the finish. Stanford’s Henry McFadden closed in a stunning 22.99, the 9th-fastest final 50 in history, to finish just 0.10 seconds behind Williamson and 0.02 behind Bujak-Upton. Six of the eight swimmers in tonight’s final broke 1:31, with four of those due to return next year.

Townley Haas, the last first-year athlete to win the event at NCAAs after going 1:30.46 in 2016, went on to win the event again in both 2017 and 2018, only failing to take the crown in his senior season. He also won World Championships silver the year after his freshman title, which Williamson has the potential to replicate if he can get back into the long course form which saw him claim multiple gold medals at World Juniors in 2023.

Haas also won the 500 free that year, which was the event in which there was the most recent freshman champion – Georgia’s Matt Sates in 2022. Leon Marchand (200 breast, 200 IM) also won titles as a first year in 2022, while Ryan Murphy (100 back & 200 back, 2014), Caeleb Dressel (50 free, 2015), Joe Schooling (100 fly & 200 fly, 2015) have also been recent freshman champions, with all except Sates becoming an individual World or Olympic medalist later on in their careers.

With Thomas Heilman placing 4th in the 100 fly earlier in the session, Virginia have three top-four finishes already at the halfway point of this meet. Before the meet started, their most recent top-four finish was back in 2019, and they had not been in the top four on a relay since 2012. With Heilman in the 200 fly and Williamson in the 200 IM on the final day, as well as the pair of Jack Aikins and David King in the 200 back, they may yet not be finished.

King was the swimmer who matched Williamson in the heats this morning, clocking an identical 1:31.17 to set a new PB by 0.66 seconds. The two did not swim off for the place, with King ceding the final spot to Williamson after the freshman appeared to miss his final turn in prelims.