By Mark Wild 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) SwimSwam Preview Index Psych Sheets Preview Index Live Results Live VideoMen’s 800 Free Relay — By The Numbers
NCAA Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025 Championship Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025 American Record: 6:00.08 – Texas (Hobson, Guiliano, Maurer, Carrozza), 2025 U.S. Open Record: 5:59.75 – California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux), 2025 Defending Champion: California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux) – 5:59.75Last year, at the 2025 NCAA Championships. the University of California had a perfect storm of experience, strong tapers and maybe a little luck to destroy, demolish, obliterate the NCAA, Championship and U.S. Open records, lowering the old mark of 6:02.26 and bringing it to newfound territory as the quartet of Jack Alexy, Gabe Jett, Destin Lasco and Lucas Henveaux recorded a time of 5:59.75, the first team ever to break the vaunted 6:00 barrier. The 6:00 barrier equals out to the team averaging sub-1:30 splits, which is a remarkable feat, especially considering the fact that there have ever only been eight men under the 1:30 flat start barrier in the event, with Alexy, a senior, being the lone Cal Bear on the list.
Alexy led off in a very fast 1:30.02 but was a near body length back of Texas’s Luke Hobson. The fast man in the event, Hobson, a senior, got the Longhorns off to a blistering start, opening in 1:28.90, the 2nd fastest time ever. The senior was followed by Chris Guiliano‘s strong 1:30.13, but it was no match for the Cal senior Jett and his 1:29.16, which was closely followed by the 5th year Lasco’s 1:29.10, giving the Bears a lead of 4:28.28 to 4:28.94. Texas 5th-year Coby Carrozza did his best to close the lead down, but his 1:31.14 wasn’t enough to close on Cal 5th-year Lucas Henveaux, with the Longhorns finishing as the runners-up at 6:00.08, albeit with the consolation prize of lowering the American Record in the event, as Henveaux is a native of Belgium.
If you noticed that the words “senior” and “5th-year” appeared more often than expected in the previous paragraphs, don’t worry, it was intentional. California’s and Texas’s final time was just over and just under six seconds clear of the rest of the field last year, but in looking at who is returning this year, don’t expect both teams to be so far out in front again. Of their combined eight swimmers, only one returns to the meet this year, as all of Cal’s legs have exhausted their eligibility, and Rex Maurer (1:29.91) is the lone returner for the Longhorns. In fact, the podium is likely going to look very different as every team that finished in the top 8 last year is losing at least two legs, with 20 of the 32 legs not returning.
“I Want It That Way”
Maurer, last year, claimed two individual NCAA titles for Texas en route to his team winning the NCAA Championships, but the junior never stood atop the podium in a relay, finishing as high as 2nd in this event. If he wishes to have his way this year, he’ll need to ensure that he not only gets back to his best, but also that he has some help from a young Texas squad.
At the 2026 SECs, Maurer hit season bests in the 500 free and 400 IM as well as set a new PB in the 200 fly, but was off his best in the 800 free relay. He led off in 1:32.73, a time that is more than a second away from his PB of 1:31.59 and nowhere close to his flying start of 1:29.91 from NCAAs. That said, his times in the individual events, coupled with the more than likely chance that he wasn’t fully rested, point to him having a strong performance on the opening night of NCAAs.
However, things aren’t so certain behind him. At SECs, Maurer was followed by Camden Taylor (1:30.59), Rafael Fente-Damers (1:30.81), and Baylor Nelson (1:32.11). Taylor, a junior from Illinois, and Fente-Damers, a first-year from France, are both seeded to score in the individual 200, but so too is Jacob Wimberly, who was not on this relay at SECs, despite splitting 1:31.63 at mid-season and being seeded to score in the individual event as well, swimming 1:31.51 at mid-season. Wimberly was a little off at SEC’s finishing 5th with a 1:32.12, but as that time is a near second faster than Nelson’s season best 1:33.07, Wimberly likely will get the nod.
Whatever the quartet is, the Longhorns are the top seed thanks to their 6:06.24 from SECs, but without the likes of Hobson and Guiliano, who each have flat start bests of sub-1:30, it seems unlikely, but not impossible, that Texas becomes the 2nd program to break the 6:00 barrier.
“Everybody”
Henry McFadden (photo: Jack Spitser)
Not to downplay anybody’s chances, but with the top 8 teams from last year losing nearly 2/3s of their legs, it seems unlikely that this event will see many new school records from those programs at the top of the program. But that doesn’t mean programs like Stanford, NC State, and Indiana won’t be trying. Stanford and NC State, the top two from ACCs this year, and Indiana, the Big Ten Champion, are the lone programs, other than Texas, to retain a spot in the Top 8 from last year’s results to this year’s seedings, as they have seemingly weathered the storm of losing so many key legs.
Stanford finished 5th last year in 6:06.69, but could have easily been 3rd as Henry McFadden and Andres Dupont Cabrera had combined reaction times of 1.97, swimming the 2nd and 4th legs. The pair, the school’s two returners, will look to better those reaction times as the Cardinal enters as the 3rd seed, thanks to their ACC winning time of 6:07.40. Dupont Cabrera shifted from anchor to lead-off, going 1:32.85, which is less than half a second off his PB. More importantly, however, is McFadden, who joined the sub 1:30 200 free club, anchoring the relay in 1:29.84, which was a full second improvement upon his 1:30.94 from last year.
It will take more than just those two, however, to keep the Cardinal on the podium, but they have a pair of first-years, Ethan Ekk and Jason Zhao, who seem to be up to the task. The pair were 1:31.91 and 1:32.80 at ACCs, which are good starts but may need to be a little faster as they only touched .02 ahead of NC State, who will surely be looking for revenge.
Kaii Winkler (photo: Jack Spitser)
While Stanford reserved their strongest leg for the anchor leg, NC State did the opposite, using Kaii Winkler on the lead-off leg. Winkler, who grew up in the US but represents Germany internationally, opened in a new PB of 1:30.92 and got the Wolfpack off to a strong start. He was a little slower in the individual event, finishing 3rd behind McFadden at ACCs, but he has the speed and ability to get his team some open water. He was 1:33.33 opening up the relay for his team last year at NC State, so the team is already in good standing, despite losing two 1:31 relay legs.
Expected to be joining Winkler on this relay are a trio of juniors. Daniel Diehl returns from last year, where he was 1:31.06. He anchored the relay at ACCs last month in 1:32.10, with Jerry Fox and Hudson Williams going 1:32.38, and 1:32.02 before him. Low 1:32s are strong results for the pair, each of whom has a season best of 1:32.94 and 1:33.00, but they may not be enough to hold onto their presumptive 4th place.
Like the two programs above, Indiana, which finished sandwiched between them at the NCAAs last season (5th – 6:06.76), has lost two legs of their relay. Owen McDonald, who led off last year’s relay in 1:31.14, and Kai Van Westering, who was the 3rd leg (1:32.79), return, but both may not appear on the relay. At Big Tens, where the Hoosiers were 3rd with a time of 6:08.90, they used Aaron Shackell (1:32.93), McDonald (1:31.69), Raekwon Noel (1:32.40), and Dylan Smiley (1:31.88). Noel owns a personal best of 1:35.33, and Smiley has a PB of 1:33.62, dating back to last year, so each showed up big for the relay. Seeded 7th, Indiana will hope they have more room to drop as they will be looking to knock off their Big Ten rivals, Ohio State and Wisconsin, who have made meteoric rises in the event.
“We’ve Got it Goin’ On”
Tomas Navikonis (photo: Jack Spitser)
Ohio State finished 10th last year in a time of 6:10.58, but thanks in part to being the sole program in the top 10 to not lose a single swimmer to graduation, let alone two, they find themselves as the 2nd seed with a time of 6:06.24. Last season, the Buckeyes got out to a strong start thanks to Tomas Navikonis‘s 1:31.93, and that was followed up by Tristan Jankovics‘s 1:32.62 and Cornelius Jahn‘s 1:31.82. First-year Jodi Vilchez split 1:34.21, a little off his PB of 1:34.06, but now in his sophomore season and more importantly, his 2nd season training in yards, the Canadian native showed up big for his team at Big Tens, splitting 1:31.84 on the relay and hitting a new flat start best of 1:32.68.
It wasn’t just Vilchez who had jumped the Big Ten champions up eight spots. Jankovics, who anchored at conference championships, went from 1:32.62 to 1:31.41. In fact, all four legs were faster. Navikonis’s 1:31.77 lead-off was faster than last year (both of which were surpassed by his 200 free winning time of 1:31.32), and Jahn went from 1:31.82 to 1:31.62.
While the Buckeyes’ 4+ seconds and 8 spots improvement is impressive, it’s nothing compared to their Big Ten rival, Wisconsin. 2025 saw the Badgers post a season best of 6:15.69 courtesy of their 6th place finish at Big Tens and opting not to field a relay at NCAAs. One season later, they are fresh off a 2nd place finish at Big Tens, going 6:08.87, and they find themselves with a lane in the last heat of the events, coming in as the 6th seed.
Much of the improvement can be attributed to Enzo Solitario. The Louisiana native came to Wisconsin with a PB of 1:34.18, but cut a second off that time at mid-season, before doing so again at the Big Ten, going 1:32.09 in prelims in the individual event. And yet he wasn’t done, as at their last chance meet, he cut under the 1:32 barrier, going 1:31.85, all of which, while remarkable, pales in comparison to his 1:30.43 flying start on the relay. Luukas Vainio opened the relay in 1:32.32 (a second faster than his anchor leg from last year), before turning it over to Solitario. After his 1:30 split, the Badgers closed with Yoav Romano and Dominik Torok, each of whom joined the party, cutting over a second off their times from last year, going from 1:34.35 to 1:32.58 and from 1:34.70 to 1:33.54.
Michigan, too, has made moves in the event. Last year, they finished 11th, equaling their seed time of 6:11.10 at NCAAs. However, this year they are slatted to join Big Ten rivals Ohio State, Indiana and Wisconsin on the podium as the Wolverines are seeded 8th with a time of 6:09.36, thanks in part to first-year Antoine Sauve and his PB of 1:32.26 and his fellow Canadian Lorne Wigginton, who split 1:33.71 last year at NCAAs, but produced a swift 1:31.30 at last month’s Big Tens.
Time drops and jumps into the top 8 are not accolades held solely by Big Ten programs, as the Big XII’s ASU has also qualified for a lane in the sole evening session heat. The Sun Devils finished 9th last year in 6:09.00, and despite losing two 1:31 legs, they find themselves as the 5th seeds with an entry time of 6:08.31. Cal Baptist transfer Remi Fabiani has taken to the Arizona heat, going from a flat start PB of 1:33.72 to 1:31.23. The Luxembourg native anchored their conference-winning relay in 1:30.88, out-splitting Arizona’s anchor by over four seconds. While ASU is stronger in the shorter relays, the Big XII champs have the ability to cut even more time if Jonny Kulow, who has added this relay to the program, can bring his season best of 1:33.06 closer to his personal best of 1:32.41.
“No Place”
This section is not meant to be a critique of the new format changes, but the defending champions, California, will not have the chance to defend their title in front of the evening crowd, as the Bears are the 9th seeds and will be the top seed in the morning.
They are not expected to threaten the 6:00 barrier as the entirety of their relay this season is new, but if one program were to, I wouldn’t put it past Cal, and their legendary taper, and we have seen teams seeded below the top 8 produce astonishing times. In 2024, Texas won the bronze medal from the penultimate heat, a swim where Luke Hobson set a new American record in the 200 free.
Ryan Erisman (Photo Credit: Chris Pose)
Hoping to capture some of that magic are Cal and Princeton. The California Golden Bears and Princeton Tigers join the Wolverines under 6:10 with seeds of 6:09.53 and 6:09.80. However, the two programs are moving in opposite directions in the event, as Cal is the defending champs, while Princeton is looking to improve upon their 20th-place finish from last year.
Cal, as noted several times, has a completely new line-up. Ryan Erisman, who, in the midst of a strong first year at Berkeley, anchored the ACC bronze medal-winning relay in 1:31.71, a very strong result considering his PB from the month before is 1:33.28. Erisman will have a difficult double, however, as unless there is a scratch, he is projected to be pulling double duty in the morning, as he is the top seed (for the morning) in the mile. He is the school’s 2nd fastest 200 swimmer, behind Keaton Jones, who has been as fast as 1:31.60 from a flat start this season, so Erisman may be having to pull the double.
Not having to worry about that are the Princeton Tigers. The newly minted Ivy League record holders are led by stand-out star Mitchell Schott, who split a swift 1:30.30 on the 2nd leg to set the mark of 6:09.80. Patrick Dinu anchored in a strong 1:32.15, but if the Tigers want to jump into the top 8, they’ll need Arthur Balva and Parker Lenoce to be faster than their 1:33 mid splits from IVYs.
The lone school with two swimmers in the top 8 of the 200 free, and the only other school other than Texas with multiple swimmers in the top 16, Tennessee, the 12th seed, cannot be discounted. The Volunteers have a very strong 1-2 punch in Koby Bujak-Upton and Nikoli Blackman. Bujak-Upton, a first-year, is the top seed in the individual event with his 1:30.77, while Blackman and his 1:31.41 are the 8th seed. The pair were 1:30.77 and 1:32.67 on their silver medal-winning relay at SECs (6:10.31), but struggled to find two last legs, having to tap breaststroker Gabe Nunziata to swim the 3rd leg (1:33.31). Tennessee hasn’t always fielded this relay in the past, instead opting to go all out on the sprintier ones, and may be lacking those complementary pieces to burst into the top 8.
The Verdict
We have talked a lot about swimflation this year, especially on the women’s side, which has been very fast, but this event may buck the trend. The class that graduated last year, buoyed by a large 5th-year group, was very strong in the 200 free. Outside the obvious, Luke Hobson and Jack Alexy, Georgia, who weren’t mentioned above, despite placing 3rd last year, lost two 1:30 splits in the form of Luca Urlando (injury) and Jake Magahey (graduation). Last year’s 4th place team, Auburn, lost Charlie Hawke, one of the fastest ever in the event, and Florida (8th last year) is greatly hurt by the graduation of Julian Smith and his 1:29.92 from this event at the last NCAAs.
That said, the 200 free and this event are ripe for swimmers and teams to step up. Texas looks too solid to be taken down, especially if Maurer is on form. Behind them its a real toss-up but McFadden’s strong season and his return to the international team this summer point to the Stanford Cardinal having a strong swim, and with two young swimmers in the middle, Stanford and NC State, could jump ahead of Ohio State, who was already firing on all cylinders at Big Tens and begs the question of was it soon.
Tennessee and California are gambles to jump up into the top 8 and therefore displacing two Big Ten programs, but Tennessee’s Blackman has a season-best flat start of over a second faster than his time from the SECs, so it’s reasonable to be responsible for a near two-second drop in their team’s time. Cal’s Keaton Jones, too, has been faster on a flat start than his flying time from ACCs, and no one can discount the Cal taper.
Indiana, despite being seeded lower than Wisconsin, is getting the higher ranking. What the Badgers have done this year is amazing, but if their drops lead to the question of whether it was too soon (see OSU above), then you need to take a pause. That, coupled with Aaron Shackell being half a second off his season best and McDonald going half a second slower with a flying start at Big Tens, then he was leading off at NCAA, the Hoosiers look to have a higher ceiling than the Badgers and Wolverines.
SwimSwam Picks:
Place Team Entry Time Last Season Finish 1 Texas 6:06.24 2nd – 6:00.08 2 Stanford 6:07.40 5th – 6:06.69 3 NC State 6:07.42 7th – 6:06.95 4 Ohio State 6:06.64 10th – 6:10.58 5 ASU 6:08.31 9th – 6:09.00 6 Tennessee 6:10.31 N/A 7 California 6:09.53 1st – 5:59.75 8 Indiana 6:08.90 6th – 6:06.76Dark Horse: Virginia (11th – 6:10.17) – Virginia finished 13th in this event last season, going 6:11.30 after entering with a seed time of 6:13.00. David King led off in 1:31.83 last year, and was 1:31.45 at ACCs on the 2nd leg, having conceded the first leg to first-year Maximus Williamson. Williamson, the national high school record holder in the event, opened in 1:30.92, half a second off his PB of 1:30.46. The pair pegged UVA to a big lead at ACCs, but Thomas Heilman‘s 1:33.09 and Hayden Bellotti‘s 1:34.17 last two legs saw the Cavaliers slip from 1st to 4th, with a time of 6:10.17. Heilman looked a little off at the beginning of the meet, but hit PBs later on, so he may have been swimming his way into the meet. That said, UVA does not have a 200 Medley relay, so Heilman will not have to pull double duty and may feel free to open things up and attack this relay in the morning.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 M. NCAA Previews: Chances abound in 800 FR as 2025 Top Two, Cal & Texas, Return Just One Leg
Hence then, the article about 2026 m ncaa previews chances abound in 800 fr as 2025 top two cal texas return just one leg was published today ( ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 2026 M. NCAA Previews: Chances abound in 800 FR as 2025 Top Two, Cal & Texas, Return Just One Leg )
Also on site :