By Sophie Kaufman 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 Stream Live Results Live Recaps Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3It’s been a great week of racing at the 2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships and now there’s just one session of finals racing remaining before we crown this year’s overall national champions. On deck tonight are the finals of the men’s 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, and the final heat of the 400 freestyle relay. Throughout the session, we’ll also see the championship flight of platform diving.
Top Seeds:
200 IM: Owen McDonald, Indiana — 1:39.48 50 freestyle: Julian Koch, Pittsburgh — 40.52 200 butterfly: Ilya Kharun, Arizona State — 1:38.49 200 backstroke: Hubert Kos, Texas — 1:36.29 400 freestyle relay: Arizona State — 2:42.15The session kicks off with the 200 IM, which feels like a wide open race. Indiana senior Owen McDonald was the lone swimmer under the 1:40-mark this morning, checking in with a 1:39.48 to secure lane four for the final.
The Hoosiers put three men into this final as freshmen Noah Cakir (1:40.94) and Josh Bey (1:41.17) qualified fifth and sixth, respectively. Bey finished second in last night’s 200 breaststroke and Cakir was ninth; that breaststroke skill was on full display in this morning’s IM, Cakir had a field best 28.59 split and Bey tied for third-best with a 28.99.
The other two men sub-29 seconds on the breaststroke leg this morning were NC State junior Daniel Diehl (28.83) and Virginia freshman Maximus Williamson (28.99). Williamson won the 200 freestyle from lane eight earlier in this meet and is on the hunt for a second title in this race after a 1:40.06 this morning. He out-dueled Will Modglin (1:40.79) for the heat win this morning. Modglin and Baylor Nelson (1:40.82) represent the Longhorns title hopes in this race.
The men’s 100 freestyle prelims were a bit sleepy this morning, especially when compared to last year’s fireworks when Jordan Crooks set an NCAA record in the morning heats. But Pittsburgh’s Julian Koch injected a shot of energy in the last heat, storming to a huge lifetime best of 40.52 and qualifying first. He’ll be flanked by SEC sprinters Jere Hribar (40.76) and Josh Liendo (40.81) with Gui Caribe (41.05) sitting fifth overall as well.
After Liendo’s 100 butterfly prelim antics, all eyes were on the Florida senior this morning. He won his heat but didn’t show many cards with his 40.81 qualifying time. Liendo is aiming for his third title of the week and his fourth-straight 100 freestyle title. A win tonight would give him 10 individual NCAA titles in his career, which would tie him with Josh Naber for second-most in history.
Ilya Kharun did all he had to do in the 200 butterfly prelims this morning, securing lane four with a 1:38.49. Kharun is the clear favorite without Luca Urlando in the field as he aims to win this event for the second time in his career. Michigan’s Tyler Ray swam a big lifetime best (1:38.55) to qualify second overall this morning and another Virginia freshman, Thomas Heilman, is also lurking with a 1:39.26.
The final individual event of the meet is the men’s 200 backstroke: one more opportunity for Hubert Kos to shine. Kos is sitting over a second clear of the field after his 1:36.29 in prelims. He’s aiming to break his own NCAA record in this event (1:34.21) and become the first man to break the 1:34-second barrier. Earlier this week, he became the first swimmer to break 43 seconds in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly.
Virginia’s David King (1:37.69) and Jack Aikins (1:37.90) are the second and third seeds. Look for Florida’s Jonny Marshall to try and hang with Kos early; he opened his prelims swim with a 46.41.
The NCAA record is on the line once again in the 400 freestyle relay. Arizona State’s quartet of Kharun, Adam Chaney, Remi Fabiani, and Jonny Kulow set the mark at 2:42.15 last month and will be looking to lower that mark and earn one more relay win this week. The Cal Golden Bears are the current clubhouse leaders in this event after a 2:46.59 in the early heats.
This morning, the big question on everyone’s minds was whether Florida would be able to challenge Texas for the team title. The Gators briefly took over the lead in the standings last night after a 1-2-5 finish in the 500 freestyle and a win in the 50 freestyle. The 3-meter diving finals and the 400 medley relay put Texas back in the lead at the end of day three though, leading Florida by 9.5 points.
Today’s prelims session put Texas even further in the driver’s seat as the Longhorns were +8 points versus the psych sheet while the Gators were -16 points.
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