The Story Behind Northwestern Swimming’s Largest Men’s NCAAs Contingent Since 2007

At the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, viewers may have seen a purple-and-white “N” appear on the ESPN+ TV screen or the scoreboard at a greater rate than usual. That’s because the Northwestern men had as big of a squad as they’ve had in nearly two decades.

In a historic showing, the Wildcats qualified four swimmers individually for NCAAs (David Gerchik, Stuart Seymour, Tyler Lu, Joshua Staples) for the first time since 2022 and the second time since 2007. In addition, they qualified one diver (Kyle Ly) and contested three relays (400 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay), racing relays at the championships for the first time since 2008. The last time Northwestern had this many individuals and relays competing at NCAAs, Matt Grevers, arguably the program’s greatest swimmer, was still competing.

“It’s been amazing,” said Northwestern second-year head coach Rachel Stratton-Mills, prior to the start of men’s NCAAs. “What I tried to do is set markers for each year and be patient. And I think that’s really worked well. We made some big jumps year one in terms of culture, and we can see it paying off now in year two.”

Northwestern’s actual showing at NCAAs may not seem headline-grabbing, as it didn’t score any points or set any season-best times. However, its results during the championships don’t account for the progress that the team made during the season. Some milestones came during the regular season, like when the Wildcats defeated conference rivals Wisconsin in a dual meet for the first time since 2013. Others occurred during the postseason, like the NCAA qualifications and the program records set across four different events.

All of the ups and downs are part of Stratton-Mills’ efforts toward building the program toward greater heights.

“We’re an incredibly young team, and so what I also want is to make sure every experience they’re having this year, they’re learning from it, so they can come back even stronger next season,” Stratton-Mills said before the start of NCAAs. “Any time you’re rebuilding a program, it’s really important to make sure these athletes are learning from each experience.”

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The progress can be seen in swimmers like the 21-year-old freshman Staples, who came to Northwestern from Australia. Down under, he felt that swimmers’ academic lives were dragged out to make space for their athletic career, so he pursued the NCAA so he could have school and sports. But when he came to Evanston, he struggled with student-athlete life under the quarter system, adjusting to short course yards and a bout of sickness midseason.

Joshua Staples at NCAAs (photo: Northwestern Athletics)

In Australia, Staples was used to a training and fitness-focused regimen. So when he started competing consistently in college, sometimes he’d go times that he said would “hurt [his] pride a little bit.” However, he eventually got better, improving from a time of 4:24.60 in the 500 free from his first dual meet to a 4:15.83 to make the Big Ten Championships ‘A’ final.

“I decide to not believe I could be ordinary, I had to believe I could change, believe I could almost sustain the pain,” Staples said of his Big Tens mindset. “I just went out for it that first heat and really enjoyed it. That’s what made me find something within myself to go even faster next week.”

Surely enough, a week later, Staples swam the race of his life, going a time of 4:13.28 to break Northwestern legend Jordan Wilimovsky‘s program record from 2017. That swim punched his ticket to NCAAs and seeded him 23rd, making him the highest-seeded freshman in the event.

Staples struggled at NCAAs, adding time in his 500 free to finish 47th overall (4:24.44). And while the result wasn’t what he wanted, it was just one part of a rocky, adjustment-filled freshman season that showed more potential than pitfall.

“It’s just a different sport in my eyes to train for this compared to long course, which I’m so used to,” Staples said of college swimming. “It’s nice to both transition, but it’s not nice in a way, because I’m a bit stubborn with my training. I didn’t want to change anything.”

“I wanted to think I can be good just doing the same thing, but realizing now through my journey as a student athlete, I couldn’t do that.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum was Lu, a senior making his first-ever NCAA Championships. Coming into college as a former top 20-ranked high school recruit, he made incremental improvements in the 200 IM throughout his time at Northwestern. But in his final year, he dropped over a second in the event to hit a best time 1:42.49, just getting over the qualification cutline. At NCAAs, he nearly matched that time, going 1:42.59 to finish 25th.

What made the meet so special for Lu was that he was competing at his hometown pool, the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way. Growing up in Kirkland, Washington, he regularly trained at the pool, but prior to NCAAs, he hadn’t been there since 2019.

“Nostalgia, I guess, just looking and seeing how far I’ve come,” Lu said, when asked about his emotions returning to Federal Way. “It’s kind of surreal, being back home. [It’s] really full circle, kind of like the best way to send off my career.”

Stuart Seymour at NCAAs (photo: Northwestern Athletics)

Lu was a highly versatile swimmer throughout college. During his freshman and sophomore seasons, he primarily raced the 200 back, 200 IM and 400 IM. As a junior, he started implementing breaststroke, racing the 200 breast at Big Ten. He then fully converted into a breaststroker his final year, racing both the 100 and 200 breast at Big Tens while swimming as Northwestern’s breaststroker on medley relays.

Throughout all of Lu’s event changes, the 200 IM stuck with him the entire way. But make no mistake — the freedom he had to change and choose his secondary events contributed toward his progress within his best one.

“I think Tyler really found his love for the sport again this year, and part of that is him feeling like he was a part of this discussion,” Stratton-Mills said. “It wasn’t us saying ‘these are your events, no questions asked.’ I think that really helped.”

Then there was Seymour — the one who finally took down the coveted Grevers records. Improving from a 46.87 to a 45.07 in the 100 back over a year, he wiped out Grevers’ mark of 45.61 from 2007 to finish third overall at Big Tens. Not only was Seymour now the fastest 100 backstroker in school history, but he was also taking the record from someone who was both a two-time NCAA champion and an Olympic champion.

Seymour also went 19.22 in the 50 free, breaking Grevers’ program record of 19.35 from 2005. Gerchik was under Grevers’ old 100 back record as well, clocking a time of 45.25 during prelims of Big Tens.

Stuart Seymour, times progression:

“It’s very weird. It’s very surreal. I don’t know if it’s really kicked in,” Seymour said of breaking Grevers’ record. “Just knowing that our program is elevating in a way that we have two people that can break an Olympic gold medalist’s record is pretty cool.”

Luck wasn’t on Seymour’s side at NCAAs, as he tied with Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger for 16th in the 100 back and eventually lost a swim-off for the final spot of the ‘B’ final against the Golden Bear. However, having dropped so much time to qualify for his first-ever national championships, the future still looks bright.

The same goes for Gerchik, who after competing for Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer, qualified for NCAAs to race the 100 and 200 back. Within a season, he improved from a 46.52 to a 45.25 in the 100 back and a 1:41.53 to 1:41.31 in the 200 back, setting both best times at Big Tens.

“The culture of this men’s team is really special,” Stratton-Mills said. “We talk a lot about this being their team, and us as a staff, being there to help facilitate their goals and where they want it to go. Any time a group like that take ownership for what the direction the team’s going in, that’s when you’re going to see big things happen.”

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Many of Northwestern’s training strategies are technical. The Wildcats wore tech suits at every dual meet so that each of their races could feel important, rather than like a training session. They use data to track aspects of their performance, like when they peak and how that correlates to their training. As a former assistant at Arizona State, Stratton-Mills is current Texas head coach Bob Bowman‘s protege, and she carries his wisdom within her coaching.

“We’re very close. And so it’s like a really great working relationship, and we stay in touch,” Stratton-Mills said of her relationship with Bowman. “It’s really great to bounce ideas off each other and get to know what [Texas] is doing. Especially being at new places, there’s always the challenges and learning curves, so we stay in touch. He’s a great resource.”

But beyond the technicalities, Northwestern’s swimmers also believe that the environment has gotten them to where they are. Even as a senior, Lu is motivated by the younger swimmers. It’s clear that the Wildcats are a team driven by their youth, given 10 of the team’s top 12 scorers at Big Tens were freshmen or sophomores.

However, even with the underclassmen running things, older alumni are impacted too. Although Grevers himself hasn’t reached out, Stratton-Mills said that older swimmers like those from Northwestern’s most successful era — its stretch from 2004 to 2008 where it recorded four consecutive top-12 finishes at NCAAs — have shown support for this NU team.

“I feel really proud whenever alumni come by. They’re very excited to see us getting back to it, because they have that pride in their school and their institution as well,” Stratton-Mills said. “A big part of this rebuild is getting really dialed in with our alumni.”

This season was a monumental one for the Northwestern men. However, there are still several aspects where improvements are needed. And with the team’s most promising prospects still having several years left in college, there’s plenty of time to make that progress.

“We’re obviously on the right path, but we have great drivers in the front seat,” Seymour said. “Our coaching staff is phenomenal, but we have a bunch of people in the underclassmen classes that are super motivated to do well and get better. So I think it’s all a perfect recipe for success in the future. I’m very excited to see where it goes.”