By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam
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) Championship Central Psych Sheets Live Results Live Video Scored Psych SheetsMen’s 400 Free Relay
NCAA Record: 2:42.15 – ASU (Kharun, Chaney, Fabiani, Kulow), 2026 Championship Record: 2:42.30 – Tennessee (Caribe, Taylor, Blackman, Crooks), 2025 American Record: 2:44.31– NC State (Held, Ress, Molacek, Stewart), 2018 U.S. Open Record: 2:42.15 – ASU (Kharun, Chaney, Fabiani, Kulow), 2026 2025 Champion: Tennessee (Caribe, Taylor, Blackman, Crooks) – 2:42.30We saw the 2:44 barrier broken in 2024. We saw the 2:43 barrier broken in 2025, led by a blazing 39.36 split from Jordan Crooks. Staggeringly, we could see the 2:42 barrier broken in 2026.
ASU has been a sprint powerhouse under Herbie Behm, but few could have predicted that Tennessee’s NCAA record would be gone less than 12 months after it was set. However, with a pair of grad transfers on the team the Sun Devils blasted a time of 2:42.15 to win Big 12s and shave 0.15 seconds of the Volunteers’ record.
They are the only team under 2:43 this season and one of three under 2:44, but there are only five under 2:46. With only the final heat swum in the evening session now, how much of a benefit will it be to swim against the top three seeds of ASU, NC State and Florida? There are nearly five seconds between the #1 seed and the #7 seed, but only 1.5 seconds between #7 and #20. The podium looks clear-cut. The rest of the field look decidedly less so.
Sun Devils Reign Supreme
Arizona State have placed in the top three at each of the last three championships, despite turning over pretty much an entire team. They placed 3rd in 2:45.12 in 2023, won the title in 2:43.40 in 2024, and placed 2nd behind Tennessee last year in 2:43.22. This year they are the favorites to return to the top of the pile, and again look to get faster.
Ilya Kharun and Johnny Kulow were the only two swimmers on the relay at Big 12s this year who swam on it at 2025 NCAAs for the Sun Devils, and looked at least as good as they did at NCAAs last year. Kharun led off in 40.86, a new best time and four tenths under the 41.24 he led off with in 2025, while Kulow was 40.08 to nearly match his 39.93 anchor – despite being a way off his best times individually.
Adam Chaney was 41.02 on the second leg, slower than Patrick Sammon‘s 40.55 in that position, but breakout Grad star Remi Fabiani split a scintillating 40.00, 1.50 seconds faster than Tommy Palmer last year. Fabiani’s breakout is what makes ASU the favorites this year – his drop in the 100 free from 41.23 to 40.67, and his ability to drop even more time on a flying split, give ASU three 40-point or better swimmers.
Kulow and Kharun both dropped time into NCAAs 2025, and it would not be a surprise to see both Fabiani and Chaney do so as well this year. All four swimmers should have individual finals earlier on in the session though – with the more condensed nature of the evening session this year, fatigue may be the only thing preventing them from breaking into the 2:41s
Wolfpack On The Rise And Gators Still Have Teeth
NC State have been a consistent threat in this relay in recent years, but it took until 2026 ACCs for them to break their 2018 school record of 2:44.31. They blazed a time of 2:43.53, winning by nearly four seconds, and got a trio of 40-point splits from Quintin McCarty (40.37), Jerry Fox (40.87) and Hudson Williams (40.89) after Kaii Winkler led off in 41.40.
It does not look like a tall order to repeat that performance – all four of those swimmers set best times at ACCs, ranging from Winkler’s 41.03 to Williams’ 41.48. Dropping time would be an ask – only Winkler on the leadoff (41.40) had what could even remotely be considered a less-than-ideal swim, but 2:44-low seems the floor. The Wolfpack dropped time on this relay from ACCs to NCAAs last year, but all four men added time in the individual 100 free – reversing that trend in 2026 will be key to their podium hopes.
Florida owed their SEC title win to Josh Liendo, who dropped a split of 39.47 on the anchor which ranks as the second-fastest in history. That turned a half-second deficit to Texas into a 1.35 second lead by the final touch, but the supporting cast will need to be on the top of their game to give him a chance at NCAAs. Devin Dilger dropping below 42 seconds at SECs is a good sign, and Alex Painter split 41.03 despite being off his bests individually For Painter that was faster than he was on this relay at NCAAs last year (41.18), but he has split 40-point multiple times and will need to deliver something similar again in Atlanta.
The Gators were the only team to finish in the top 12 to add time at NCAAs last year, and their performances at SECs did seem to indicate a team saving at least some taper for this month. Dropping time should be the aim, and one that is certainly achievable, but outside of the quartet who swam at SECs only one swimmer has broken 43 seconds this season – if anyone is out of form it could be game over.
A League Of Their Own?
Texas and Tennessee are out on their own in the mid-pack this season – too far away from the top three to be part of the podium fight but likely too good for anyone behind to catch them.
Texas are the #4 seed this year in 2:45.30, three places higher and 1.35 seconds faster than they were coming into the meet last year, but graduated their two fastest legs in Chris Guiliano and Luke Hobson. Rafael Fente Damers was 41.58 on the leadoff at SECs and looks to be adapting well to life in yards, but he will still likely be one of the slower leadoffs in the final heat. Garrett Gould (41.49) and surging Camden Taylor (40.97) join Hubert Kos (41.26), but there is no true 100 free star on the Texas team this year – they had just one individual qualifier. Alexey Glivinskiy (41.83) is another swimmer who could make the squad as a relay-only swimmer, but there doesn’t seem to be too much time left in the tank for NCAAs. Another 2:45-point would be a good result and should see them stay in the top five.
Tennessee are the team who have undergone the biggest change, and that is really only due to one man – Jordan Crooks. He was phenomenal last year on this relay, splitting 39.36 for the fastest 100 free split in history. Losing that kind of speed would seriously hurt any team, and Tennessee were 3.59 seconds slower at SECs in 2026 than in 2025, swimming 2:46.00 for 3rd. They bring in Australian freshman Koby Bujak-Upton (41.15) and Pedro Sansone (42.03 leadoff), but their key man is Gui Caribe.
The Brazilian placed 3rd at NCAAs in the individual 100 free last year in 40.15 and led off the relay in 40.57, but was only 40.71 on the anchor at SECs. He could be the next man to break 40 seconds on a flying start if he is kept off the leadoff, but they may need him there with none of Bujak-Upton (41.90), Sansone (41.83) or Nikoli Blackman (41.70) within a second and a half of his best. Blackman was just 42.01 on the second leg at SECs – if he is closer to the 41.13 he split at SECs last year this relay could be rapid again. It will be tough to catch NC State, but 3rd is on the cards.
Two Up For The Big Ten
The last time The Big Ten got two teams into the top eight was 2019, when Indiana finished 4th and Ohio State placed 8th, but they have two teams seeded for ‘A’ final points this year in Indiana and Michigan and both look good bets to stay there.
Indiana graduated their two fastest legs in Matt King (40.78) and Rafael Miroslaw (41.12), but Dylan Smiley has already been faster from a flat start (41.59) than he was on the relay (41.77) then and has split 41.01 and 41.21 this season. They were 2:46.51 at Big Tens, 1.43 seconds slower than the Big Ten record of 2:45.08 they set at 2025 NCAAs, but Owen McDonald (41.99 leadoff) and Mikkel Lee (41.90 split) can both drop time on their legs to help them back into the 2:45s.
Michigan were half a second behind them last month in 2:47.01, and could be one of the more interesting teams in the final heat. They were only 19th last year but have replaced three of the swimmers from that team, and seem to have even more time to take off. They were led off by Ole Eidam in 42.07, but as a 48.80 swimmer in long course a 41-mid in yards seems more than achievable. Jack Wilkening (41.63) and Antoine Sauve (41.30) were both about as good as could be expected, by Tyler Ray on the second leg was 42.01, just over a second faster than he split on fly on the medley relay (43.30). He set a Big Ten record of 18.66 in the 50 free as well last month, and it feels like he has about a second to give – that may depend on whether he makes the 200 fly final and how much that takes out of him if so. Breaking into the 2:45s, along with the rarefied air of the top eight, is on the cards.
ACC Dogfight In Heat 3
Five of the right teams in the penultimate heat of the 400 free relay will come from the ACC, after 2nd through 8th at the ACC championships were separated by just 0.91 seconds. Stanford and Virginia will be in the middle lanes after tying for 3rd in 2:47.51, and both have time to drop if they are at their best.
The Cardinal have a strong front half in Andres Dupont Cabrera and Henry McFadden, who hit halfway in 1:23.92 but whose best time add-up from ACCs is almost a second faster at 1:22.98. A time in the 2:46s beckons for them, with only two of their quartet slated to swim in the final morning session and McFadden coming in fresh.
Virginia may have a higher ceiling, with Thomas Heilman and Maximus Williamson both on the team in their freshman seasons. Heilman set a best time of 41.96 leading them off at ACCs and Jack Aikins neared his best-ever split in 41.84, but all four of their likely swimmers on this relay will have swims earlier on in the session – Heilman in the 200 fly, Williamson in the 200 IM, and Aikins and David King in the 200 back. With all four ‘A’ final candidates if they’re at their best there will be no coasting, which could hurt them in the relay.
Cal were 5th at ACCs after winning the title last year, but are in a transitional season and have turned over their entire quartet. Martin Wrede can lead them off faster than the 42.14 he led off with at ACCs, and Lucca Battaglini was 41.66, slower than the 40.89 he split at midseason. The Cal taper will need to come in strong if they want to be anywhere near their 4th place finish from last year, and making the top eight looks like it is the ceiling. They do have clear avenues to improve though, and Evan Petty set a best time individually at ACCs in 42.25 before splitting 41.69 on this relay – he could be a surprise star.
Pitt and Virginia Tech are in similar positions, led by a star in Julian Koch and Brendan Whitfield, respectively, but without the depth to back them up. Whitfield is the only returner from the Hokies 8th-place relay last year, but Pitt did not qualify this relay in 2025 – a points finish would be huge for them.
FSU will not be in heat 3 – they join conference champions NC State in the final heat in the evening, but will be an interesting team to watch. They added over a second last year to finish one spot outside the points in 17th, but look a more well rounded team than last year when only Michel Arkhangelskiy was under 42 seconds. Max Wilson was 41.81 individually at ACCs and junior Gustav Olsen split 41.55, while Arkhangelskiy was 41.64 on the anchor but looked almost entirely unrested. If the taper hits they can be in the top eight for definite and a 2:46-low looks possible – if not then they might miss out again.
The SEC Subplot?
LSU have the ingredients to gatecrash the top eight – a star in Jere Hribar, who is the #1 seed in the individual 100 free, an elite secondary swimmer in Stepan Goncharov, and some solid depth pieces. Hribar split 39.84 at SECs, making him just the 5th swimmer ever to break 40 seconds on a flying start, and has been in torrid form all year including winning European short course gold in the 50 free in December. However, they don’t appear to have much time to drop – Goncharov was eight tenths off his best on the leadoff at ACCs added significantly at NCAAs last year, and Hribar (0.58 seconds), Simon Meubry (0.72 seconds) and Albert Bouley (0.91 seconds) were all well under their flat-start times (although Meubry and Bouley almost exactly matched what they split at midseason). Getting into the points after finishing 22nd last year will be the aim.
Georgia were the only team in the top 16 whose seed time does not come from their conference championships, after they swam nearly a second slower at SECs than at midseason. The four swimmers on the relay stayed the same but Luca Urlando and Tomas Koski were swapped around on the first two legs. Urlando was 41.07 flying at midseason but only 42.27 leading off while Koski was 42.86 leading off and 42.77 flying, so the ‘Dawgs are likely to swap them back. They were 11th last year in 2:47.15, and they look likely to be in the same place on both position and time again this year.
The Verdict
ASU should have far too much firepower for the field this year, without any of the questions that Florida and NC State have hanging over them. Those three should make up the podium though, barring any implosions or a scorcher from Tennessee.
The Vols should break away from the rest to get a top-four finish behind Gui Caribe, while Texas and Indiana should duke it out again after being separated by just 0.04 seconds in 2025. Behind them the picture gets a little murkier – no team looks like they are a shoe-in, and no one has multiple seconds to drop. Michigan have maybe the highest ceiling and it would be a mistake to count out the infamous Cal taper, but there are five or six teams we could see making up the final two places in the top eight.
SwimSwam Picks:
Place Team Entry Time Last Season Finish 1 ASU 2:42.15 2nd – 2:43.22 2 Florida 2:43.95 3rd – 2:44.02 3 NC State 2:43.45 5th – 2:45.09 4 Tennessee 2:46.00 1st – 2:42.30 5 Texas 2:45.30 7th – 2:45.12 6 Indiana 2:46.51 5th – 2:45.08 7 Michigan 2:47.01 19th – 2:49.09 8 Cal 2:47.56 4th – 2:44.59Dark Horse: Northwestern (19th – 2:48.44) – The Wildcats are seeded a long way down the psych sheet, but with how condensed the teams are below the top eight they sit just 1.15 seconds off FSU in 8th. They swam their entry time at Big Tens as they finished 4th, and have a pair of 41-point sprinters in Cade Duncan (41.89) and Stuart Seymour (41.87) to lead them off, both of whom have set best times this year. Connor Schuster (42.76 best time) was only 42.77 flying at Big Tens, while Duncan (41.98 leadoff) and Seymour (41.79) could also both be quicker time. Add in a surging Oli Kos, who split 41.90 but has been dropping time with almost every swim, and if everything breaks right a top eight finish would not be out of the question.
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