By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2026 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine.
Men’s #10: Stanford Cardinal
Key Losses: Josh Zuchowski (13 NCAA Points), Liam Custer (12 NCAA Points), Rafael Gu (3 NCAA Relays), Zhier Fan (2 NCAA Relays), Andres Dupont Cabrera (4 NCAA Relays)
Key Additions: Maxwell Stanislaus (TX – free/fly), Nathan Foucu (CA – sprint free), Davi Carvalho (Brazil – back/IM), Tyler Phillips (VA – fly/free), Sander Sorensen (Norway – free)
Grading Criteria
Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.
Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.
5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event 1 star (★) – an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do itWe’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.
Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.
The final note is that we are not including athletes who graduated last spring after exhausting their college eligibility despite ongoing lawsuits against the NCAA regarding the new “Five-for-Five” rule.
2025-26 Lookback
It was a productive 2025-26 season for the Cardinal men of Stanford last season, finishing 10th at the 2026 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Those championships were highlighted by a massive runner-up finish in the 800 free relay, and several strong performances from Henry McFadden (16 points), Gunnar Grubbs (14 diving points), Misha Andriyuk (14 diving points), and Josh Zuchowski (13 points).
McFadden established himself as a top-tier mid-distance free threat on the national level, while Ethan Ekk made his presence felt heavily in his freshman season.
As for the ACC Championships, Stanford finished runners-up to Cal, finishing just 78 points back of the Golden Bears. A major piece of their scoring at ACCs came from diving, as their 130 points marked the 2nd-most of the entire championships, only trailing the Miami Hurricanes with 162.
Last year, the team relied heavily on the upperclassmen, and with many of those names now gone from the program; this will be a pretty different looking program, with plenty of returning stars, and strong newcomers to the program, this is a Stanford team looking to keep its spot inside the top 10 in 2027.
Sprint Free: ★★★½
The Stanford men do return their only sub-19-second 50 freestyler from last season, Ethan Harrington, who clocked 18.83 at the Cal Last Chance Meet, which would have tied for 13th at NCAAs. He will now enter his senior season as a key piece to pretty much every Cardinal relay.
Last season, the team had five sub-20-second performers in the 50 free, though only three return this season. Those other two were Jonathan Tan (19.29) and Andy Kravchenko (19.82). But the team will will miss Rafael Gu‘s 19.13 and Andres Dupont Cabrera‘s 19.41.
However, incoming freshman Nathan Foucu enters his first year with a lifetime best of 19.87 and could very well be immediately inserted into the 200 free relay.
Despite no Dupont Cabrera (41.71) or Gu (42.32), Henry McFadden returns to Stanford as a legit threat in the 100 and 200 free for the Cardinal.
Last season, McFadden was the team’s second-fastest performer in the 100 free with his 42.30 from a dual meet against Cal. However, he immediately became a national title threat in the 200 free.
McFadden finished 3rd at the NCAA Championships last season in 1:30.13, just one tenth of a second outside of the national title. If he can get a bit under the 1:30 mark, he should be in a solid position to secure that national title.
Jason Zhao, a sophomore this season, posted 1:32.70 at the ACC Championships, earning him a 10th-place finish in the event. Incoming freshman Maxwell Stanislaus should be another bright spot in the 200 free for the Cardinal, coming into his collegiate years with a lifetime best of 1:34.57 from the Speedo Winter Junior Championships in December of 2025.
Another big addition to this team is Norweigan freestyler Sander Sorensen, who recently competed at the European Championships, and enters the NCAA with big time racing experience and best long course times of 48.65 and 1:45.78, respectively.
The 200 free should be a very strong event for Stanford this upcoming season, especially with McFadden returning and the speed they are bringing back. In the 50, both could see one to multiple scorers at NCAAs. However, the 100 free is unclear, hence added an additional half star.
Distance Free: ★★★
Despite the loss of Liam Custer, Ethan Ekk and McFadden spearhead a strong 500 free contingent for the Cardinal. As a freshman, Ekk finished 11th in the 500 free at NCAAs in 4:11.50, with four of the swimmers ahead of him either seniors or older. The stage is set for Ekk to potentially advance to the championship final in 2027.
Ekk’s season best came at the ACC Championships, where he finished 2nd to Max Carlsen of NC State in 4:11.07.
McFadden’s season best came at the SMU Invite in 4:16.36. If the sprint free group is as strong as it is on paper, he may get the opportunity to potentially swim a bit more of the distance freestyle events, in which he is very capable of scoring well. His career best in the 500 came in February of 2025 at the ACC Championships when he clocked 4:12.33, which would have been inside scoring range at NCAAs last season.
This is another area where Stanislaus could be a strong piece of the puzzle, with a lifetime best of 4:16.90 and college coaching, he could be molded into another strong mid-distance/distance threat for a pretty youthful Cardinal team.
As for the 1650, the departure of Custer hits a bit harder, as he led the team last season in 14:37.28, with Ekk just behind in 14:42.37. Custer did finish 7th in this event last season, though Ekk’s time from the ACC Championships would have finished 11th at the National level.
Backstroke: ★★
Stanford’s lone sub-46-second backstroke returns for his junior season in Finn Harland, who went that time to lead off Stanford’s 6th-place-finishing relay at the ACC Championships.
They do lose out on Hayden Kwan, who was 46.22 last season, though Omer Wiener was the other sub-47 backstroke last season with his 46.79 from the SMU Invite.
It took 44.78 to score last season at NCAAs, and it will likely take something similar this upcoming season. However, many of the scorers at the NCAAs were seniors or older, making for a very new-look backstroke landscape at the national level. Still, as a safety measure, Harland will likely need to be somewhere in the 44-high range if he wants to give himself a chance to bring home some points.
The team’s top 200 backstroke last season was Josh Zuchowski at 1:38.33, though he will not be with the team this upcoming season after graduating. Ethan Ekk was on his tail in 1:38.78 at the NCAA Championships, a time that earned him solid points in 12th.
Ekk is clearly the headliner of the 200 back for Stanford, and that is looking like the case this season. But with Wiener (1:40.35) and Ray Liu (1:41.37) returning, there is a bit more depth to the 200 back than initially expected.
Incoming freshman Davi Carvalho oozes with raw potential, coming in with very limited experience racing in yards. Still, with a full college season to prepare, we could be saying his name as a breakout ACC threat towards the end of the season.
Breaststroke: ★★½
With the loss of their top 100 breaststroker Zhier Fan (51.28), the Cardinal men will look for a new top sprint breaststroker. They do retain two other sub-53-second sprinters in Daniel Li (51.54), Abram Mueller (51.96), and Go Nagaoka (52.44).
Li actually outperformed Fan at the NCAA Championships in the 100 breast, finishing 19th in 51.66, just 13 hundredths of a second outside of scoring range. If he can get into the 51-low range at NCAAs, he should be able to sneak out a few points for the Cardinal men.
The 200 breast was where Li was the guy, finishing 11th at NCAAs in 1:51.53, which was still significantly slower than his best time of the season, which came at the dual meet against Cal in 1:50.79. That time would have finished 8th at NCAAs.
Additionally, Nagaoka and Mueller were the next-fastest 200 breaststrokers at 1:52.99 and 1:53.66, respectively.
Li is a strong returner, and the 100 breast feels like there is strong depth there. However, the 200 breast could still use a bit of work on the back end to take some of the pressure off Li to carry the load.
Butterfly: ★★
Gibson Holmes enters this season as the fastest returning butterflier for the Cardinal from last season, having clocked a 45.59 at the SMU Last Chance Invite, but the absence of Rafael Gu and his 44.83 will be heavily felt.
Seniors Jonathan Tan and Ethan Harrington will each also return as the 3rd- and 4th-fastest performers for Stanford from a season ago, at 46.16 and 46.68, respectively.
Holmes was the only 1:39 200 butterflier last season and enters his senior season as Stanford’s leader in the event with his 1:39.45 from the SMU Last Chance Invite, which would have placed 6th at the NCAA Championships.
The reality in the 200 fly is that Holmes could very well make his way into the championship final and deliver a big swim for some major point additions to the Stanford team. However, the 100 fly will likely be lacking a bit, considering it took a 44.95 to score in that event last season.
McFadden was 1:42.20 at ACCs last season, though his responsibilities may be shifted away from the 200 fly this season; if he were to decide to race it, he could be a sneaky-solid swimmer for the Cardinals to potentially steal some scoring opportunities.
IM: ★
All four of last season’s top 200 IMers will be back for the Cardinal, as Gibson Holmes (1:42.48), Omer Wiener (1:43.09), Jason Zhao (1:43.36), and Daniel Li (1:44.31) will be aiming to deliver big for Stanford this season.
Although the continuity is a huge win for Stanford, it still took a 1:42.39 to secure just one point at NCAAs, with the closest to that being Holmes, though it was not at NCAAs. In fact, Stanford did not have somebody compete in this event at the National Championships, though it would not have made any real difference to their point totals.
Zuchowski is gone, and with him, the six points that he earned as the 11th-place finisher in the 400 IM at NCAAs. Ethan Ekk was 26th in 3:42.82, and Custer finished 33rd (3:45.62).
Ekk’s season best came at ACCs in 3:41.52, which ranks him just behind Zuchowski as the team’s 2nd fastest performer in the event last season.
Holmes, was entered in the 400 IM event at NCAAs, though he opted not to swim it; his season best sat at 3:43.41 at ACCs.
It is not the most surefire event for the Cardinal. Though Holmes feels as though he could pop out a strong 200 IM at NCAAs, the lack of top-end scoring makes this the weakest group for this upcoming season.
Diving: ★★★
Diving was a major boost to the Cardinal team at NCAAs last season, bringing in 28 points through the diving events.
Rising Sophomore Gunnar Grubbs finished 9th in the 1-meter and 12th on the platform to total 14 points on the boards, while junior Misha Andriyuk placed 5th on the platform and 22nd on 3-meter for the additional 14 points for Stanford.
Andriyuk also made his presence felt at ACCs, winning the platform event and adding an 8th-place performance on 3-meter and a 9th-place performance on 1-meter. Grubbs also delivered well at ACCs, finishing 5th on platform and 10th on 1-meter.
If these two young talents can take that next step forward throughout the season, Stanford could be looking at really strong results from its already proven diving contingent.
Relays: ★★½
Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.
Relay grading system:
5 star (★★★★★) – 31+ points per relay event 4 star (★★★★) – 22-30 relay points per event 3 star (★★★) – 12-21 relay points per event 2 star (★★) – 5-11 relay points per event 1 star (★) – 0-4 relay points per eventWe mentioned the 800 free relay last season that finished 2nd, though it will be an uphill climb, considering nine of the 20 relay participants from the NCAAs are no longer with the program.
In the free relays, no more Rafael Gu; Andres Dupont Cabrera will be the touch to fill, though Harrington and McFadden are key returners for those relays.
Jonathan Tan will need to step up big on the sprint free relays, while Nathan Foucu seems like an early pick to fill one or both of those sprint free relay spots.
The 800 free relay will need a replacement for Dupont Cabrera, which could be one of about four or five different swimmers. It would not come as too much of a surprise to see someone like Omer Wiener get the nod, or Tan if they can drop those 200 free times this season.
The breaststroke legs of the medley relay look to be in okay shape with Daniel Li or Abram Mueller, though the butterfly will be the question, with either Gibson Holmes or Tan being a pair of sub-21.5 performers last season. The rest of the relay spots appear to carry over seamlessly from last year, which will provide plenty of returning firepower.
Total Stars: 19.5/40
2025-26 Outlook
After several big departures from last season’s squad, the Cardinal are in a much better position to repeat inside the top 10 in 2027.
The returns of Henry McFadden, Daniel Li, Gibson Holmes, Finn Harland, and Ethan Ekk are massive, among many others. The exciting part of this Stanford team is the incoming talent that will make their debut this season, with plenty of names such as Nathan Foucu, Davi Carvalho, Maxwell Stanislaus, Sander Sorensen, and Enzo Desviat Ruiz, just to name a few.
With the 2nd-place finish at ACCs last season and a 10th-place outing at the national level, the Cardinal men could be a dangerous team with several swimmers who could definitely jump their seed positions when the time matters most.
If the diving can continue to be a bright spot for Stanford, and the relays can throw down big swims when called upon, the Cardinal men may be one of the sneakier teams to look out for as we get closer to the end of the collegiate season.
MEN’S 2026-27 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX
Rank (2026) Team Sprint Free Distance Free Backstroke Breaststroke Butterfly IM Diving Relays Total Stars 1 Texas Longhorns 2 Florida Gators 3 Indiana Hoosiers 4 Arizona State Sun Devils 5 Tennessee Volunteers 6 NC State Wolfpack 7 California Golden Bears 8 Michigan Wolverines 9 Virginia Cavaliers 10 Stanford Cardinal ★★★½ ★★★ ★★ ★★½ ★★ ★ ★★★ ★★½ 19.5/40 11 Virginia Tech Hokies ★★★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★ ★ ★ ★★ 13/40 12 Louisville Cardinals ★★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★ ★★★ 16/40Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2027 College Swimming Previews: #10 Stanford Men Maintain Solid Depth Despite Losing Several Top Talents
Hence then, the article about 2027 college swimming previews 10 stanford men maintain solid depth despite losing several top talents 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 ( 2027 College Swimming Previews: 10 Stanford Men Maintain Solid Depth Despite Losing Several Top Talents )
Also on site :