Ranking The 2025 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #5-8

We have already looked at the schools with 2025 men’s recruiting classes ranked #9-#16, which means we are in the top half of our list for the 2025 Division I season. The penultimate round of rankings features those classes ranked #5-#8.

See Also:

• Men’s 2025 Recruiting Class Rankings: #9-12
• Men’s 2025 Recruiting Class Rankings: #13-16
• Men’s 2025 Recruiting Class Rankings: Honorable Mentions
• Individual Recruit Rankings: Boys Final Standings

A few important notes on our rankings:

• The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2025 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits.
• Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact, and team needs. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production.
• Transfers are included, though they are weighed less than recruits who arrive with four seasons of eligibility.
• For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive.
• Some teams had not released a finalized 2025-26 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.

Honorable Mentions

• Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Louisville

Previously Ranked

• #16 Michigan
• #15 Harvard
• #14 Navy
• #13 Princeton
• #12 Notre Dame
• #11 Georgia
• #10 Tennessee
• #9 Auburn

Best NCAA Swimming and Diving Recruiting Classes: Men’s Class of 2025

#8 NC State Wolfpack

• SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #7 Gavin Keogh (CO- back), BOTR Maximus Buff (OH – fly/back), BOTR Ian Stutts (NC – IM), BOTR Tyler Bardak (IL – IM), BOTR Max Carlsen (NV – free)
• The “Rest”: Aaron Davidson (NC – free/fly/IM),  Anton Kochu (Hungary- back), Bjørnar Laskerud (Norway – free), Mikolaj Filipiak (Poland – free), Przemyslaw Pietron (Poland – free)

The Pack have a quality incoming class, with #7 Gavin Keogh joined by four BOTR swimmers. Keogh is the top backstroker in the incoming class, and has been a force in long course this summer. He comes in with yards bests of 46.28 in the 100 and 1:40.53 in the 200, the latter of which is nearly enough for NCAA qualification already. However, his long course time in the 100, a 53.52 from the World Junior Championships, would convert to 45.39, nearly a second faster than his yards best. Combine his conversion in the 100 and his yards best in the 200 and he’s a two-time ‘A’ finalist at ACCs last year. With 43.87/1:36.27 free speed to go alongside, he has the potential to be a multi-relay threat too.

Max Carlsen will help restock the distance squad and is sub-15 in the mile already in 14:59.44, good enough for 10th at last season’s ACCs. He is 4:18.87 in the 500 too, and could develop in Raleigh in the same way Will Gallant and Owen Lloyd have done before him. BOTR swimmers Ian Stutts (1:45.09/3:47.36) and Tyler Bardak ( 1:46.60/3:45.47) are nice pickups for the IM group and would have both been scorers at ACCs in the 400, while fellow BOTR Maximus Buff is fantastic across backstroke (47.37/1:43.67) and fly (46.97/1:45.58) and has great potential for the future.

Landon D’Ariano transfers in from Texas after just one year, meaning he has three seasons of eligibility in Raleigh, and is already near the NCAA cut line with his 3:42.20 400 IM best time. He would have placed 6th at ACCs last year with that time, and his 1:45.87 is only just over a second off scoring. Aaron Davidson, a versatile free/fly/IM swimmer who is staying in-state, is their final domestic recruit, but the Pack bring in four quality international swimmers. Anto Kochu is 1:54.16 in the short course 200 back and 52.90/1:55.68 on fly, while Norwegian Bjørnar Laskerud is 22.43/50.11 in long course freestyle, along with splitting 48.99 on their National Record-setting 4×100 free relay this summer. Mikolaj Filipiak is 1:49.10 in the long course 200 free, and his Polish teammate Przemyslaw Pietron is 22.72/49.89 in the sprint freestyles – and NC State has had success with Polish swimmers previously in Kacper Stokowski and Bartosz Piszczorowicz, whose footsteps Pietron and Filipiak will hope to follow in.

#7 Arizona State Sun Devils

• SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: HM Noah Mudadu (NV – free), BOTR Seth Crow (AZ – free)
• The “Rest”: Ali Sayed (Qatar – free/fly), Hayden Hakes (IA – back), Harrison Smith (CA – fly/IM), Jack Troy (SC – back), Gur Jonathan Itzhaki (Israel – breast), Jagozar Zwaschka (CA – free), Jon Reiter (Cal Baptist Transfer – breast), Remi Fabiani (Cal Baptist Transfer – free/back), Brayden Taivassalo (Texas transfer – breast), Jordan Tiffany (BYU transfer – fly/free), JT Ewing (NC State transfer – back), Andrew Taylor (Florida transfer – free),  Adam Chaney (Florida transfer – free/back), Mattia Mauri (Switzerland – free)

Arizona State brings in a an absolutely huge class for this year. They have a staggering seven transfers coming in, and every single one should be a force at the conference level at a minimum. Adam Chaney, Remi Fabiani, Jordan Tiffany and Andrew Taylor have all scored at NCAAs before, and Brayden Tavallaisso and JT Ewing have been qualifiers. With a pair of top tier high school recruits as well, this is a deep class for the Sun Devils, although one that does look very focused on this coming year. A reminder – we do weight transfers based on the number of years they have with the team. Most of the swimmers coming in have just one.

Beginning with their freshman recruits, their top ranked recruit is in an area where ASU does currently lack depth. HM Noah Mudadu is 4:16/14:53 in the 500/1650 free, and will slot straight in as the fastest swimmer on the team at both distances after the graduation of Daniel Matheson. BOTR Seth Crow, an Arizona native, is a more familiar build as he will join the sprint free group, with bests of 19.46/44.03 in the 50/100. Jack Troy is 47.33/1:43.94 on backstroke, while Harrison Smith comes in with a best of 1:45.71 on the 200 fly, both of whom should be scorers at Big 12s. 

The rest of the domestic recruits are solid rather than spectacular. Hayden Hakes is a nice backstroke pickup with 48.42/1:45.26 best times, while Jagozar Zwaschka is 19.95 on the 50 free. Mattia Mauri will add to their mid-distance free options and Gur Johnathan Itzhaki, who is 27.95/1:00.58 on breaststroke but off his bests last season, could be a boost for the breaststroke group with a conversion of 51.58 in the 100, exactly on the NCAA qualification time from last year. Qatari swimmer Ali Sayed, who trains in Canada, is 22.42/49.10 in the long course 50/100 free, converting to 19.50/43.01. With the Sun Devil’s sprint prowess, he could make an impact in his first year.

The real fireworks come in the form of transfers, albeit the majority for just a single year. Remi Fabiani joins an already elite sprint free group, and has best times in the sprint freestyles of 18.82/41.23, to go alongside a 45.40 100 back. He was 13th in the 100 at NCAAs last year but added time from his season bests. With Jonny Kulow . Jordan Tiffany had a down year last season but was still 45.5 in the 100 fly, and has elite times across freestyle (19.41/42.25), fly (44.51), back (45.22) and IM (1:41.88). Adam Chaney is probably the biggest incoming transfer in his final year of eligibility, having placed 3rd at NCAAs in the 100 back in 2024, and is also elite across free (18.71/41.74) and back (20.19/43.99). He has taken most of the year off, but blasted times of 22.22 in the 50 free and 53.59 in the 100 back at the TYR Summer Championships just last month to show he could still be in elite form this coming year.

Andrew Taylor also had an off year last season, but was 14:37 in the mile just two seasons ago as a freshman. He will have two years in Tempe, as will Brayden Taivassalo, who brings 52.28/1:52.20 breaststroke speed over from Texas. JT Ewing from NC State is another who should be aiming for NCAAs in his senior season, and is 46.32/1:40.06 on backstroke. That would be ASU’s fastest time in the 200 back, and he should be aiming to add some points in an event in which they haven’t made much of a dent nationally – it took 1:39.61 to score last season. Jon Reiter is more of a conference than NCAA threat, with times of 52.45/1:55.21 in breaststroke, but will be part of a solid training group with Taivassalo and incumbent Andy Dobrzanski.

This is a top-heavy class for the Sun Devil’s, but that shouldn’t hold them back. While they lose a lot of the incoming firepower after this season, there is enough here to solidify ASU as one of the top programs in the country over the next few years. And for this year, this looks like the best transfer class we’ve seen since…Indiana 12 months ago?

#6 Stanford Cardinal

• SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #5 Ethan Ekk (FL – free/back), #15 Jason Zhao (OH – free), BOTR Connor Jones (TX – fly), BOTR Andy Kravchenko (FL – free), #2 Gunnar Grubbs (CA – diving), #9 Grant Schneider (CA – diving)
• The “Rest”: Ray Liu (CA – back/IM)

Stanford brings in a class of seven athletes, but one that should have an outsized effect. They bring in a pair of top-20 recruits in Ethan Ekk (#5) and Jason Zhao (#15), and both should make a splash. Ekk was already a potential NCAA qualifier for this season with his best in the 500 free of 4:13.55, but dropped three seconds in the long course 400 at Worlds to finish just outside the finals places in 9th. His 200 free (1:33.49) and 200 back (1:41.) are also stellar, and he should slot straight onto the 800 free relay, and could make his way onto the 400 free relay too. He should be a 50-60 point scorer at ACCs as a minimum in his freshman year, and we’d take the over on him hitting double figures for individual points at NCAAs this season already.

Zhao had a quieter senior season, but is still a strong sprint freestyler. He will add depth at all three free relay distances and should be a points scorer in the 200 free at ACCs, and with a little improvement could be a threat in the 100 free (43.46), 500 free (4:19.96) or 200 IM (1:46.54) as well. A 19.17 50 free split at Winter Juniors cold translate to a 200 free relay berth too. Connor Jones is a threat at the conference level in fly, holding bests of 47.01/1:45.72, along with a nifty 1:46.75 in the 200 back and 3:49.50 in the 400 IM. He has dropped a huge amount of time this year, two seconds in the 100 fly and 10 in the 200, and is not far away from scoring at ACCs already. Andy Kravchenko, who was a BOTR on our 2025 recruit rankings, will add even more sprint free depth with bests of 19.80/43.06. He has had some drops this year in yards, going from 19.90/43.66/1:40.06 to 19.80/43.06/1:37.51, and has split 19.60/42.79. He should be in the points at ACCs, and is in line for relay spots there too. Some big long course best times over the summer indicate he could be in store for more drops in yards this fall too – he went from 50.46/1:53.87 to 50.17/1:50.36 in the 100/200 free. Ray Liu has stayed in state, and adds to the backstroke and IM groups with his 47.66/1:44.49 times on backstroke and 1:46.38/3:50.70 on IM. Another who is slightly outside of ACC scoring range, he is nevertheless a good pickup for the Cardinal.

Stanford’s dive recruits set them apart from some of the teams behind them. In Grant Schneider (#9) and Gunnar Grubbs (#2), they picked up two of our top 10 diving recruits. Both should have an effect immediately, and could pick up points at NCAAs in their freshman seasons. Grubbs, 5th on the 3m at Junior Pan Pacs in 2023, is a three-event diver and could have a big impact.

This class, while on the smaller side, could be one of the most impactful of any this year, both at the conference and national level. With the era of roster limits now here, this is almost the ideal class – seven athletes, all of whom can contribute at a high level immediately. They add a potential star in the pool in Ekk, two on the boards, and strong depth pieces. After losing a strong senior class, they’ve restocked the pantry.

#5 Cal Golden Bears

• SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #16 Ryan Erisman (CA – free), #19 Kenneth Barnicle (NJ – free/back), HM Ian Platts-Mill (NC – free/IM), BOTR Caiden Bowers (MD – fly), BOTR Norvin Clontz (NC- free),
• The “Rest”: Casper Puggaard (Denmark – fly), Jack Brown (Great Britain – fly), J D Thumann (OK – free/fly/back), Martin Wrede (Germany – free), Maximus Goettsch (IL – free), Matteo Palmisani (Italy – fly), Dar Lavrenko (CA – free), Julien Rousseau (CA – free), Eduardo Moraes (Michigan transfer – free)

Last year’s NCAA runners-up will begin a new era in 2025-26, as they said goodbye to stalwarts Jack Alexy, Dare Rose, and Destin Lasco in the summer. The group they bring in is a good mix, but is highlighted by a trio of international recruits who will aim to fill a bit of a hole in sprint freestyle and butterfly. Denmark’s Casper Pugaard and GB’s Jack Brown are both 51-point in the 100 fly, and Germany’s Martin Wrede has been 22.42/48.75 in the long course 50 and 100 free. Puggaard split 50.80 on Denmark’s 4×100 medley relay at the European Championships last summer, and Brown has dropped from 54.32 to 51.87 this season. Both bring solid times in other strokes, with Brown 49.62 in the 100 free and Puggaard crossing over into backstroke with short course meter times of 52.89/1:53.25. BOTR Caiden Bowers (46.64/1:46.74) will also help swell the fly ranks, and he is joined by 52.82/1:57.62 long course swimmer Matteo Palmisani, who is also 48.02/1:45.93 in yards. Their other BOTR recruit, Norvin Clontz, is 1:35.21 in the 200 free and 4:17.26  in the 500, both of which project him to be a scorer at ACCs this year. He adds a nice 3:47.06 400 IM as well, giving him a nicely set out schedule for NCAAs.

From the internal recruiting class, #16 Ryan Erisman has the biggest upside and is poised to make a splash. He brings elite 4:14/14:57 speed in freestyle, but after a huge summer in long course where he went 3:46.01 in the 400, looks to be much faster this year. His time in the 400 converts to 4:13.18 in the 500 in yards, which would have been the fastest in the recruiting class. He is great in the 400 IM with a 3:46.35, but his Day 3 event may well be the 200 free. He is only 1:36.13 in yards, but 1:47.52 in long course – which converts to a rapid 1:33.39. Another incoming swimmer with a very similar profile to Erisman is HM Ian Platts-Mill, who is 4:23/15:01 in the 500/1650 free and 3:45.23 in the 400 IM. His mile would have placed 11th at ACCs, and his 400 IM would have made the ‘C’ final, and he adds depth to a thin-looking Cal distance group that lost Lucas Henveaux and Tyler Kopp last year. Their other top-20 recruit, along with Erisman is #19 Kenneth Barnicle, a finalist at the World Junior Championships this summer and another Cal recruit from New Jersey, following in the footsteps of Jack Alexy and Dare Rose. He is primarily a sprint freestyler in yards, with bests of 20.52/43.04/1:35.15 in the 50/100/200, but also crosses over into backstroke (46.99/1:43.07) and IM (1:45.07). He could be one of the bolters from this class, with some events ripe for big drops in yards for him, primarily the 50 free and 100 back.

Nathan Wiffen will come in for a year, training alongside his brother, Olympic Champion Daniel Wiffen. He has bests of 7:54.60/15:06.48 in long course freestyle, and was a world short course finalist in the 1500 last December in 14:32.65 – which converts to 14:26.68 in the mile. Julien Rousseau, who stays in-state, will be in the distance squad with him as he brings 4:20.90/15:12.74 speed in the 500/1650 free. Transfer Eduardo Moraes also shores up the mid-distance free group, with best times of 1:33.97 in the 200 and a 4:12.72 in the 500 that would have scored at NCAAs last year. Dar Lavrenko (19.93/43.76) and Maximus Goettsch (20.11/43.96/1:35.82) highlight the incoming sprint freestylers, joining a group which doesn’t return any sub-19 50 freestylers or sub-42 100 freestylers this year. JD Thumann, who has graduated early from the class of 2026 and started at Cal this fall, is another versatile sprint recruit who is sub-20 in the 50 free (19.93).

With so many of their standouts from the last few years graduating this summer, this class brings a lot of depth but not a true star in yards. However, there is a lot of potential here, and Erisman seems primed for a breakout and to become that star.