By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
2026 Men’s Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships
Dates: Wednesday, February 25–Saturday, February 28 Location: Soderholm Family Aquatic Center, Madison, WI Defending champions: Indiana men (4x) Live Results (also available on Meet Mobile: “2026 Men’s B1G Championship”) Live Video ($): B1G+ Championship Central SwimSwam’s Meet Preview Teams: Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, USC, Wisconsin Live Recaps Finals: Day 1Ohio State shattered the Big Ten meet record in the 800 free relay on Day 1 of the 2026 championships, lowering Michigan’s 12-year-old record of 6:09.85 by over three seconds in 6:06.64. They led a quartet of teams under that mark, with Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan also under the old record.
The Buckeyes had all four legs under 1:32, as they took over the #2 time in the nation this season behind Texas’ 6:06.24 from SECs last week. OSU were led off by senior Tomas Navikonis in 1:31.77, just off his season best of 1:31.60, before sophomores Cornelius Jahn (1:31.62) and Jordi Vilchez (1:31.84) put anchor Tristan Jankovics into the lead by a tenth of a second over Wisconsin. Vilchez’s split was a full two seconds under his flat-start best of 1:34.06 from 2025 Big Tens.
The Canadian star cruised home in 1:31.41, the third-fastest split in the field, as Ohio State took the win by over two seconds and broke the previous meet record by 3.21 seconds. Their consistency across all four swimmers was a big reason for that, as they were faster on three of the four legs than both Michigan were in 2014, and Indiana were in 2018 for the overall Big Ten record.
Split Comparison
Leg Previous Meet Record – Michigan (2014) New Meet Record – Ohio State (2026) Big Ten Record – Indiana (2018) 1 Anders Nielsen – 1:33.52 Tomas Navikonis – 1:31.77 Blake Pieroni – 1:29.63 2 Michael Wynalda – 1:30.60 Cornelius Jahn – 1:31.62 Mohamed Hassan – 1:31.94 3 Justin Glanda – 1:33.26 Jordi Vilchez – 1:31.84 Vini Lanza – 1:32.23 4 Connor Jaeger – 1:32.47 Tristan Jankovics – 1:31.41 Ian Finnerty – 1:32.21 Total 6:09.85 6:06.64 6:06.01OSU also lowered their school record by over four seconds, demolishing the 6:10.99 they posted for 2nd at this meet last year. The only new swimmer here was Cornelius Jahn, who was 2.18 seconds faster than Alex Metzler on the second leg last year.
Wisconsin broke their own school record in 2nd, swimming 6:08.87 for their first time under 6:10. They were highlighted by a stunning 1:30.43 on the second leg from freshman Enzo Solitario, who looks one to watch in the individual event today with a flat-start best of 1:33.16. He was 43.22 at the 100 mark, only six-tenths of a second off his season-best 100 free split of 42.63, so looks primed for some big swims this week.
The Badgers led at halfway, touching in 3:02.75, and rebounded here after a tough 7th-place finish, a three place fall from last year. They were 7.88 seconds faster on the 800 free relay than they were in 2025 with only one new swimmer in Solitario, as Yoav Romano (1.77 seconds), Luukas Vainio (1.07 seconds), and Dominik Mark Torok (1.16 seconds) were all significantly faster this year, despite Vainio sliding from anchor to leadoff where he was 1:32.32.
Indiana also got a strong leg from a first-year swimmer, Andrew Shackell leading off in 1:32.93 to undercut his previous best by over a second, as the Hoosiers swam 6:08.90 for 3rd. Raekwon Noel was 1:32.40 on the third leg, with Owen McDonald (1:31.69) and Dylan Smiley (1:31.88) breaking 1:32.
The final school to dip under Michigan’s 2014 standard were the Wolverines themselves, who touched in 6:09.36 for their second school record of the evening. Canadian freshman Antoine Sauve led off in 1:32.37, just off his best of 1:32.26, and they had anchor Lorne Wiggington post the second-fastest split in the field as he closed in 1:31.30.
USC got a 1:32.02 leadoff for Oliver Sogaard-Anderson, who moves up to 19th in the NCAA this season.
MEN’S 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY — TIMED FINALS
NCAA Record: 5:59.75 – California, 2025 Big Ten Record: 6:06.01 – Indiana, 2018 Big Ten Meet Record: 6:09.85 – Michigan, 2014 2026 NCAA Championships Qualifying Time: 6:14.67 2026 NCAA Championships Provisional Qualifying Time: 6:16.69Results:
Ohio State – 6:06.64 *Meet Record* Wisconsin – 6:08.87 Indiana – 6:08.90 Michigan – 6:09.36 USC – 6:13.74 Minnesota – 6:15.82 Northwestern – 6:15.99 Purdue – 6:22.82 Penn State – 6:24.60The top four teams in the 800 free relay all broke Michigan’s longstanding meet record of 6:09.85.
The Buckeyes led through the first exchange thanks to Tomas Navikonis‘ 1:31.77 leadoff, but Wisconsin’s Enzo Solitario posted the fastest split of the race at 1:30.43 to give the Badgers a 64-hundredths lead at the halfway point.
Ohio State was too much for the field to handle over the final 400 yards, with Jordi Vilchez (1:31.84) and Tristan Jankovics (1:31.41) closing out a 6:06.64, the second-fastest in the NCAA this season, behind only Texas’ 6:06.24 from last week’s SEC Championships.
Wisconsin held second for the rest of the race, with Luukas Vainio (1:32.32), Solitario, Yoav Romano (1:32.58), and Dominik Mark Torok (1:33.55) finishing in 6:08.87.
Indiana made a hard charge on the anchor leg, where Dylan Smiley‘s 1:31.88 nearly caught the Badgers, with Aaron Shackell (1:32.93), Owen McDonald (1:31.69), Raekwon Noel (1:32.40), and Smiley finishing just three hundredths back in 6:08.90.
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