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)
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- Prelims: Day 1
- Finals:
On the opening day of the 2026 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Tennessee’s redshirt-freshman Koby Bujak-Upton unleashed a fury of the opening leg of Tennessee’s 800 freestyle relay, clocking 1:29.79 in the 200 free, making him the first freshman ever to crack the 1:30 barrier, and putting him inside the top 10 performers all time in the event’s history at 9th all-time.
This swim took nearly a full second off of his newly minted best time from the SEC Championships of 1:30.77, which he swam as the leadoff leg to the Volunteers’ runner-up 800 free relay at those championships. This time also makes him the first man in the NCAA this season to dip under the 1:30 mark and the fastest in the NCAA this season by more than a second.
All-Time 200 Freestyle Performers:
- Luke Hobson– 1:28.33 (2025)
- Leon Marchand– 1:28.97 (2024)
- Dean Farris– 1:29.15 (2019)
- Chris Guiliano– 1:29.42 (2025)
- Kieran Smith– 1:29.42 (2021)
- Townley Haas– 1:29.50 (2018)
- Blake Pieroni– 1:29.63 (2018)
- Jack Alexy– 1:29.75 (2024)
- Koby Bujak-Upton– 1:29.79 (2026)
- Jordan Crooks– 1:30.00 (2025)
This 1:29.79 surpasses Townley Haas‘ 2016 performance of 1:30.46 for the fastest freshman performance in history, a mark not surpassed in a decade, with Georgia’s Matthew Sates coming the closest in 2022, when he went 1:30.72 at the NCAA Championships. In the same heat, Virginia’s Maximus Williamson also surpassed Haas’ mark in 1:30.43 as the leadoff man for the Cavaliers, marking the two fastest freshman 200 freestyles in history coming out of the same race.
All-Time Freshman 200 Freestyle Performers:
- Koby Bujak-Upton– 1:29.79 (Tennessee, 2026)
- Maximus Williamson– 1:30.43 (Virginia, 2026)
- Townley Haas– 1:30.46 (Texas, 2016)
- Matthew Sates– 1:30.72 (Georgia, 2022)
- Alex Painter– 1:31.13 (Florida, 2025)
Bujak-Upton, the son of 1988 Australian Olympian Simon Upton, currently sits as the top seed for tomorrow’s individual 200 free event with that 1:20.77 from the SEC Championships, and now further cements himself as a favorite to earn his first individual national title with this swim today.
Before SECs, Bujak-Upton had only been under 1:32 three times, with the best of those performances coming at the CSCAA Challenge in 1:31.30 against Michigan in November. Showing a timedrop of nearly two seconds in four months.
no splits… what am i to you SS? some uninterested fool i bet
The 200 free record was stuck at 1:31.20 for a DECADE. Now, a decade after that record was broken, we have a freshman going under 1:30, and that time may not even be good enough to win the championship race! Swimflation is so real.
Aussie stocks in the 4×200 Fr rising!
If Max Giuliani and Ed Sommerville can be consistent 1:44 performers (big if, I know), we then have Koby, Short, Kai Taylor, Charlie Hawke, and maybe even Lincoln Wearing as the other options in a few years’ time
Hope the Aussies get the silver in LA! Would be great.
Pulling for the home team USA USA USA
Koby is now a MAN VOL!
Just getting warmed up to be 1:28. tomorrow night.
🔥🔥🔥 Don’t turn you back on an Aussie Cattle Dog, the fight in them is strong and the bite is worse if you let your guard down. Rip in Koby, give them hell 😈.
Seems like a slow swim given he swam a 1:20.77 at SEC Championship. Slacker. /s
it’s cute, don’t judge
Shouldn’t Williamson move to 2nd on the all time freshman list since he simultaneously went 1:30.43?