Stanford’s Gibson Holmes Swims Huge PB in the 200 Fly to Lock Up NCAA Invite at SMU Last Chance

2026 SMU Last Chance Meet – Men

• March 5-7, 2026
• Robson & Lindley Aquatic Center, SMU, Dallas, Texas
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Full Meet Results

After a fruitful women’s Last Chance Meet last weekend, the SMU Mustangs hosted a big men’s Last Chance on Thursday through Saturday this week, with teams in attendance from the University of North Carolina, Cal, Stanford, USC, and TCU, in addition to the host Mustangs.

While several season-best and personal-best times went on the books there was really only a few swims that will have an impact on NCAA Championship qualifying – the main purpose of these meets.

The big one was Stanford junior Gibson Holmes, who posted a 1:39.45 in the 200 fly. His 1:40.81 at the ACC Championships, where he placed 6th, ranked him 26th in the NCAA this season. While most years, that would have been a clearly-inviteable time, this year with auto qualifiers, it was likely on the wrong side of the bubble.

A trip to the home pool of their ACC foes SMU, however, removed any doubt. The question for Holmes is now no longer about NCAA qualifying, and instead about NCAA scoring potential. That swim ranks him 9th in the country so far this season and jumps him to #2 in Stanford history in the event behind only Andrei Minakov.

Holmes’ previous best of 1:40.67 came from last year’s NCAA Championship meet where he earned Honorable Mention All-America honors with a 14th-place finish.

That gives Stanford three likely entries in this race at the NCAA Championships. Josh Zuchowski ranks 23rd nationally with a 1:40.63 and Henry McFadden ranks 46th nationally with a 1:42.20. Zuchowski and McFadden are both well under the invite line in other races, and both swam the 200 fly at ACCs – though it was not a primary event for either.

Holmes and the now-graduated Minakov were Stanford’s two entries in this event at NCAAs last year and both scored points.

Holmes also snagged a best time in the 100 fly in 45.59, making him eligible to swim that event at NCAAs as well. His previous best time was a 46.77 done during his junior year of high school. He hasn’t swum that event since January 2024, and never at a collegiate taper meet. He also has the option to swim the 200 IM and 400 IM.

Other Notable Swims

• Stanford’s Henry Morrissey swam 14:57.58 in the 1650 freestyle. That took five-and-a-half seconds off his previous season best, but still leaves him ranked outside of the top 40 in the NCAA this season.
• USC’s Junhao Chan swam 51.62 in the 100 breaststroke final to win over Cal’s Zachary Tan (51.79). That’s a new season best for Chan but is unlikely to earn him a return trip to the NCAA Championships. He took five cracks at the swim: prelims and finals of the 100, a time trial, and opening splits in prelims and finals of the 200. Tan, meanwhile, who wasn’t on Cal’s ACC Championship roster, tried to get his cut at two Last Chance meets, but ultimately came up short in both.
• The UNC men took two cracks at a qualifying time in the men’s 200 medley relay. They finished in 1:24.39 in prelims and 1:23.89 in finals with a couple of tight exchanges in the middle of the race (.02, .09). They have an “A” cut in the 400 medley relay (3:04.84) and “B” cuts in the 200, 400, and 800 free relays, but came up painfully short of the 1:23.85 “B” standard in the 200 medley that would have let them swim the race at NCAAs.