It’s the week of midseason invites and before the first event dives in, we’re taking stock of how each event looks so far this NCAA season. To do that, we’ve gathered the top three times in each event so far this season.
Note that we’re only including yards times in this table, which mainly affects the Virginia and Florida men who raced their season-opener in short-course meters.
| EVENT | Fastest | 2nd Fastest | 3rd Fastest |
| 50 free | Ilya Kharun (ASU), 18.59 | Quintin McCarty (NCSU), 18.91 | Jonny Kulow (ASU), 18.95 |
| 100 free | Ilya Kharun (ASU), 41.56 | Patrick Sammon (ASU), 41.80 | Jack Alexy (CAL), 41.87 |
| 200 free | Luke Hobson (TEX), 1:31.86 | Tomas Koski (UGA), 1:31.93 | Rex Maurer (TEX), 1:32.13 |
| 500 free | Rex Maurer (TEX), 4:11.20 | David Johnston (TEX), 4:12.45 | Zalan Sarkany (IU), 4:12.56 |
| 1650 free | Matthew Chai (CAL), 14:58.22 | Levi Sandidge (UKY), 15:00.74 | Jon Jontvedt (MICH), 15:14.06 |
| 100 back | Will Modglin (TEX), 44.81 | Ruard van Renen (UGA), 45.03 | Miroslav Knedla (IU), 45.27 |
| 200 back | Owen McDonald (IU), 1:38.13 | Hubert Kos (TEX), 1:38.14 | Luca Urlando (UGA), 1:39.39 |
| 100 breast | Denis Petrashov (LOU), 51.50 | Nate Germonprez (TEX), 51.60 | Carles Coll Marti (VT), 51.61 |
| 200 breast | Carles Coll Marti (VT), 1:50.77 | Jassen Yep (IU), 1:51.94 | Josh Matheny (IU), 1:52.28 |
| 100 fly | Ilya Kharun (ASU), 43.95 | Luca Urlando (UGA), 44.16 | Hubert Kos (TEX), 44.93 |
| 200 fly | Ilya Kharun (ASU), 1:38.74 | Luca Urlando (UGA), 1:39.03 | Andrei Minakov (STAN), 1:40.86 |
| 200 IM | Hubert Kos (TEX), 1:40.51 | Owen McDonald (IU), 1:41.25 | Carles Coll Marti (VT), 1:42.60 |
| 400 IM | Rex Maurer (TEX), 3:40.90 | Owen McDonald (IU), 3:41.69 | Mitchell Schott (PRIN), 3:42.58 |
| 200 free relay | ASU, 1:14.35 | NC State, 1:16.11 | Indiana, 1:16.57 |
| 400 free relay | ASU, 2:46.58 | NC State, 2:48.63 | Tennessee, 2:49.23 |
| 800 free relay | ASU, 6:13.18 | Stanford, 6:15.51 | Cal, 6:16.89 |
| 200 medley relay | ASU, 1:21.83 | NC State, 1:22.75 | Cal, 1:23.53 |
| 400 medley relay | ASU, 3:02.04 | Texas, 3:03.69 | Indiana, 3:04.01 |
The only man hurt by the “yards only” consideration is Josh Liendo, who otherwise would have made the table in both the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. However, like Gretchen Walsh and Claire Curzan on the women’s side, it stands to reason that he’ll make his way into the top three of at least one event during Florida’s trip to Athens for the Georgia Fall Invite.
Ilya Kharun’s sensational start to his sophomore year has been well-documented, as has the fact that he currently leads the NCAA in four individual events (50 free, 100 free, 100 fly, 200 fly). It’s one example of how, despite massive changes in the offseason, ASU has maintained a remarkably steady course doing what they do best—going fast no matter what part of the season it is.
In addition to Kharun’s exploits, the Sun Devils lead the NCAA in all five relays, all with NCAA ‘A’ cuts. That makes them the program with the most top times in the NCAA so far this season. Kharun isn’t the only Sun Devil on the chart in an individual event either; Jonny Kulow and Patrick Sammon both appear; Kulow is third in the 50 freestyle and Sammon second in the 100 freestyle.
Without the relays, Texas has the most top times in the league this season. Sophomore transfer Rex Maurer leads the field in the 500 freestyle (with a personal best of 4:11.20) and 400 IM (3:40.90). He’s also sitting third in the 200 freestyle with another lifetime best of 1:32.13 behind teammate and league leader Luke Hobson (1:31.86) and Georgia’s Tomas Koski (1:31.93).
Will Modglin leads the 100 backstroke (44.81) and Hubert Kos leads the 200 IM (1:40.51), rounding out the events where Texas ranks first.
As for the other programs vying for the NCAA title in March, the Indiana newcomers are making a huge impact—Owen McDonald, Zalan Sarkany, and Miroslav Knedla all appear on this list, as do returning breaststroke stars Jassen Yep and Josh Matheny. Cal, known for swimming quietly during the regular season and yet to have all their stars compete, only has two entries on the list. Jack Alexy ranks third in the 100 freestyle and Matthew Chai sits first in the 1650 freestyle.
Finally, after a strong start to his season, Princeton’s Mitchell Schott is the only mid-major swimmer to appear on either the men’s or women’s chart. It’s not the 200 freestyle—the event where he broke the Tigers’ school record—instead, he ranks third in the 400 IM with a personal best of 3:42.58.
Matthew Chai a dawg
Ilyas pec in this picture looks crazy, haha – a popped balloon.
I’m for the fast swimming year round, I like this game
4:12 being second in the NCAA really puts luka’s 500 in perspective
It’ll be interesting to see if what Marchand did last year leads to a big leap forward in the 500. Of course very few can swim half that race underwater.
I think we’ll see someone break 4 minutes within the next 20 years. They’ll probably be a rangy 100-500 guy with strong underwriters.
Wow bold predictions