By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
The calendars have flipped to September, which means that NCAA Division I programs are gearing up for the start of the 2026-27 season.
We move into the fifth through eighth-ranked recruiting classes for the upcoming campaign, featuring some of the premier programs in the country.
See Also:
Men’s 2026 Recruiting Class Rankings: #12-9 Men’s 2026 Recruiting Class Rankings: #16-13 Men’s 2026 Recruiting Class Rankings: Honorable Mentions Individual Recruit Rankings: Boys Final StandingsA few important notes on our rankings:
The rankings listed are based on our Class of 2026 Re-Rank. “HM” refers to our honorable mentions and “BOTR” refers to our Best of the Rest section for top-tier recruits. Like most of our rankings, these placements are subjective. We base our team ranks on a number of factors: prospects’ incoming times are by far the main factor, but we also consider potential upside in the class, class size, relay impact, and team needs. Greater weight is placed on known success in short course yards, so foreign swimmers are slightly devalued based on the difficulty in converting long course times to short course production. Transfers are included, though they are weighed less than recruits who arrive with four seasons of eligibility. For the full list of all verbally committed athletes, click here. A big thank you to SwimSwam’s own Anne Lepesant for compiling that index – without it, rankings like these would be far less comprehensive. Some teams had not released a finalized 2026-27 team roster at the time these articles were published, meaning it’s possible we missed some names. Let us know in the comments below.Honorable Mentions: Minnesota, Harvard, Ohio State, Northwestern, UNC, Kentucky, Georgia Tech
Previously Ranked:
#16: Michigan Wolverines #15: Notre Dame Fighting Irish #14: Princeton Tigers #13: Georgia Bulldogs #12: Alabama Crimson Tide #11: Virginia Tech Hokies #10: Virginia Cavaliers #9: Auburn TigersNCAA Swimming and Diving Recruiting Classes – Men’s Class of 2026: #8-5
#8: NC State Wolfpack
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #6 Liam Carrington (FL – free/back/IM), BOTR Sam Marsteiner (NC – fly/distance free) Remainder of Class: Austin Temple (VA – sprint free), Ethan Holloway (NC – free/back/fly), Andrei Theodor Proca (Romania – distance free), Jan Gajda (Poland – breast), Nusrat Allayerdi (Turkey – breast), Mason Lawson (IN – diving), Grant Hester (TX – diving), Alan Vergine (Pitt transfer – free/fly)NC State has a strong freestyle and butterfly class that also includes a pair of international breaststrokers who look primed to be impactful right from the get-go.
Liam Carrington is a native of Trinidad and Tobago but since he’s based out of the Bolles School in Florida, he was featured in our domestic rankings and emerged as the #6 recruit in the class.
He’s the fastest in the class in the 200 free, owning a personal best of 1:32.88 which immediately puts him in the conversation for a spot on the Wolfpack 800 free relay. Though the team is losing no one from last year’s squad, Kaii Winkler was the only one on the team to break 1:32 from a flat start last season.
Carrington is also 19.8/42.3 in the sprint freestyle events, making him a relay candidate in the 400 free relay (and likely the 200 in the future), and he’s also 47.5/1:44.1 in the backstrokes and 1:44.5 in the 200 IM.
Last year at Winter Juniors – East, he won the 100 and 200 free while placing 4th in the 200 IM, and those will probably be his main individual focuses heading into college. He’s just over a second shy of NCAA scoring in the 200 free and within eight-tenths in the 100 free, so he could get there as a freshman if he continues to improve.
Local NC native Sam Marsteiner is a 200 fly/500 free specialist who was the top 200 butterflier in the class coming off his sophomore year of high school (1:45.2) but didn’t drop time as a senior, still owning a PB of 1:44.66 from his junior campaign. In the 500 free, his best time of 4:22.68 is still on the books from December 2023, and the same goes for his 1650 (15:16.91).
He’s coming off a solid summer, which included setting a PB in the long course 1500 (15:49), and has a chance to be impactful at the ACC level this season if he can unlock career-best form in yards again.
The rest of the domestic class includes sprint freestylers Austin Temple (20.0/43.9) and Ethan Holloway (20.0/44.5), and divers Mason Lawson and Grant Hester. Holloway, the son of head coach Braden Holloway, is also a decent fly sprinter (21.7/48.2) and set 22.9/48.9/1:47.6 backstroke PBs this past season.
The international class includes a pair of game-changing breaststrokers in Turkey’s Nusrat Allayerdi and Poland’s Jan Gajda, and distance ace Andrei Theodor Proca from Romania.
Allayerdi owns a standout best time of 26.98 in the long course 50 breast—and has been 26.67 from a relay takeover—and is coming off placing 11th in the event at the European Championships. That converts to 23.4 in yards, while he’s also 1:00.24 (LCM) and 59.07 (SCM) in the 100 breast, converting to 53.2.
Gajda is slightly slower in the 50 breast (27.61 LCM/27.03 SCM), but owns a blistering 57.81 SCM best time in the 100, converting to 52.08, and his 200 is also respectable at 2:09.5 in SCM (1:56.7 conversion).
Last season, NC State had the slowest breaststroke split among top-eight teams at NCAAs in the 200 medley relay, while in the 400 medley relay, they had the slowest breast split in the top 16. That should change this year with Allayerdi and Gajda.
Proca is a standout distance freestyler, coming off a 7th-place finish at the European Championships in the 1500 free (14:57.97 in prelims) and a 12th-place finish in the 800 free (7:54.26). His SCM best times in the 400/800/1500 stand at 3:46.8/7:39.6/14:37.5, which convert faster than his LCM times, coming out at 4:19.2/8:45/14:32.
That might mean Proca is only a scoring threat in one race, the mile, but he could easily be in the top eight as a freshman. He’ll also make a good training partner for Max Carlsen, who’s coming off an impressive freshman campaign.
#7: Stanford Cardinal
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #13 Maxwell Stanislaus (TX – free/fly), #20 Nathan Foucu (CA – free/fly) Remainder of Class: Enzo Desviat Ruiz (MA – free/back/fly), Tyler Phillips (VA – fly/free), Sander Sorensen (Norway – free/fly), Davi Carvalho (Brazil – back), Evangelos Efraim Ntoumas (Greece – breast)Stanford’s class is freestyle/butterfly heavy, and though they’ve got two top-20 recruits, Norwegian Sander Sorensen is likely their biggest addition.
Sorensen is the Norwegian Record holder in the men’s 100 and 200 free in both short course and long course meters. He was a semi-finalist in both races at the 2025 SC European Championships, setting his current NRs of 46.55 and 1:41.87, and at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, he took 9th in the 200 free (1:45.78) and 24th in the 100 free (48.65).
His SCM times give him yards conversions of 41.93/1:31.77, putting him atop Stanford’s depth chart in the 100 free and #2 in the 200 free behind Henry McFadden.
Sorensen is also 3:46.6/3:52.3 in the 400 free, converting to 4:18.3 in the 500, and he’s been 24.5/53.6 in the long course fly events and 1:59.4 in the SCM 200 IM, making those additional event options for him in college.
#13 Maxwell Stanislaus and #20 Nathan Foucu are the two ranked recruits in Stanford’s class, both specializing in the free and fly events.
Stanislaus is the second-fastest 500 freestyler in the class with his best time of 4:16.90, while he’s also near the top in the 200 free (1:34.57) and is strong in the 100 free (43.52), 100 fly (46.88) and 200 fly (1:44.92).
Foucu is slightly faster than Stanislaus in the sprint free events, owning bests of 19.87/42.52/1:34.31, while he’s also 47.7 in the 100 fly and 1:47.4 in the 200 IM. Both should prove incredibly valuable on the Cardinal free relays.
The other domestic recruits in the class are Enzo Desviat Ruiz and Tyler Phillips, who are also strong free/fly sprinters.
Phillips’ best events are probably the 50 and 100 fly (21.3/46.9), but he’s also 20.3 in the 50 free and 22.3 in the 50 back. Desviat Ruiz is very similar, sitting at 21.3/46.9 in the sprint fly events, 20.3 in the 50 free and 22.3 in the 50 back.
The other two strokes are covered in the international class, with Brazilian Davi Carvalho being a good backstroker and Greece’s Evangelos Efraim Ntoumas thriving in breaststroke.
Carvalho, who recently repped Brazil at the Junior Pan Pacs, owns long course backstroke best times of 25.49/54.84/2:01.90, giving him solid 21.0/45.5/1:42.3 conversions.
Ntoumas, who was recently 15th in the 100 breast at the European Championships, has been 27.59/59.77/2:10.76 in the long course breast events, converting to 23.9/52.0/1:54.1.
#6: Florida Gators
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: HM Liam Smith (MI – fly/IM/back/free), BOTR Santi Alzate (NC – free/IM) Remainder of Class: Zoltan Bagi (Hungary – free/fly), Tai Pearson (South Africa – fly), Miguel Tovar (Colombia – diving), Abdalla Youssef Nasr (Auburn transfer – fly), David Johnston (Texas transfer – free/IM)The Gators have a strong class that could’ve been ranked higher had it not been for freestyle stud Kim Junwoo rescinding his commitment in April and opting to stay and train in Korea.
Although they don’t have any swimmers ranked in our domestic top 20, Honorable Mention Liam Smith was right there (and ranked 16th last year) as someone who is well-rounded and one of the top 200 fly swimmers in the class. His versatility was on full display at Junior Nationals in August, where he made the ‘A’ final in the 100 back, 200 back, 200 fly and 400 IM.
During the short course season, Smith was the runner-up in the 200 fly at Winter Juniors – East in a personal best of 1:44.12, which slots him 3rd on Florida’s roster behind an Auburn transfer to be mentioned below and Matt Cairns (1:43.55). Smith will likely race the IM events (1:46.2/3:48.5) in postseason competition as well, though he’s 47.8 in the 100 fly, 4:27 in the 500 free and 1:44.7 in the 200 back.
BOTR Santi Alzate is a rangy freestyler who’s 4:20.6/9:04/15:19 in the distance events, and though his 500 best time stems from 2024, he recently set long course PBs in the 200 (1:51.32) and 400 free (3:56.45) at Junior Nationals. Alzate is also 1:48.9 in the 200 fly and 1:49.4/3:51.0 in the medley events.
Florida has a pair of international butterfliers joining the team in Zoltan Bagi out of Hungary and Tai Pearson out of South Africa.
The two own very similar fly best times, with Bagi sitting at 23.84/52.65 in the 50/100 fly in long course, while Pearson is 23.91/52.72, giving them conversions in the 20-high/46-low territory. Pearson is also 1:56.84 in the short course meter 200 fly, which converts to 1:45.2.
Bagi should also be an important sprint free pickup, having been 21.85/48.07 in short course meters, converting to 19.6/43.3.
The biggest butterfly addition, however, will likely be Abdalla Youssef Nasr, who heads to Gainesville after an impressive freshman year at Auburn, placing 8th in the 200 fly and 12th in the 100 fly at NCAAs for 16 points.
The best times he posted at NCAAs—44.65 in the 100 fly and 1:39.59 in the 200 fly—rank him #2 and #1 on Florida’s roster, respectively, only trailing Scotty Buff in the 100 following the graduation of Josh Liendo.
At SECs, Youssef Nasr was 5th in the 200 fly, 9th in the 100 fly and 20th in the 500 free (4:19.38), and he also provided a 1:33.35 lead-off leg on Auburn’s 800 free relay at NCAAs.
The other transfer addition for Florida is David Johnston, who will only have one season of eligibility compared to Nasr’s three or four.
Johnston, a longtime Texas Longhorn, only raced once last season in early October, but he’s got an impressive resume that includes placing 7th in the 1650 free (14:30.48), 8th in the 400 IM (3:38.56 in prelims) and 10th in the 500 free (4:09.48) at the 2025 NCAAs. If he can recreate that type of form, he can be a reliable 20-30 point scorer for the Gators this season.
Colombian diver Miguel Tovar also looks like a nice pickup as the two-time silver medalist at the World Junior Championships in the 1-meter springboard event (2022, 2024).
#5: Indiana Hoosiers
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #2 Gabriel Manteufel (NV – free/IM), BOTR Grant Kellis (AZ – free/back), BOTR Brody Engelstad (ND – free/fly/IM), BOTR Matt Krause (PA – back/free/fly), BOTR Elliot Rijnovean (MI – back/free/fly), BOTR Sam Wolf (WI – breast/free/IM) Remainder of Class: Landon Fike (TX – free/fly), Carter Hadley (IN – free/back), Lincoln Hofmann (KY – free/back), Oliver Dawson (Canada – breast), Mason Mankey (IN – diving)Indiana brings in a loaded domestic class with the #2 ranked recruit joined by five BOTR swimmers and an impressive surrounding group.
Sandpipers of Nevada standout Gabriel Manteufel is the top distance freestyler in the class with best times of 4:13.55 in the 500, 8:46.56 in the 1000 and 14:40.21 in the 1650. His mile time is just over half a second shy of a top-eight NCAA scoring time in 2026 (PB would’ve been 10th), while in the 500, his best time is comfortably under the NCAA cutline and less than a second shy of scoring.
Coming off setting a long course best time in the 400 IM (4:21.49), Manteufel’s short course best time in that event stands at 3:48.29, which could make for a strong third event if he focuses on it (hasn’t raced it since March 2025), but he’s also solid in the 200 free (1:36.17).
Along with Manteufel, the Hoosiers add another rangy freestyler in Grant Kellis, who’s solid in the sprints (20.9/44.4) but is best in the 200 (1:34.4) and 500 (4:22.7), an area that Indiana is already elite in with Luke Whitlock, Aaron Shackell and maybe Zalan Sarkany for another season.
There’s plenty of sprint free ability joining the roster as Brody Engelstad (19.6/43.1/1:36.7) is a BOTR freestyler and Elliot Rijnovean (20.0/44.1), Sam Wolf (19.8/44.6/1:37.3) and Matt Krause (20.8/44.7/1:37.6) were featured as BOTR recruits in other strokes but are versatile. There’s more domestic talent in Landon Fike (20.0/44.4), Carter Hadley (20.7/44.0/1:35.5) and Lincoln Hofmann (20.0/43.6), giving Indiana a plethora of depth in this area.
Krause (47.0/1:41.1) and Rijnovean (46.7/1:45.2) are BOTR backstrokers who are also sub-48 in the 100 fly, while Hofmann owns strong backstroke PBs of 22.6/47.9/1:43.6. Fike is an elite fly sprinter at 21.0/47.9.
Hadley is coming off an impressive Nationals where he set bests in the 100 (50.59), 200 (1:48.90) and 400 free (3:56.95) in long course, indicating that he could have potential in the 500 free despite only swimming it once in the last two years (4:35).
The stroke Indiana is synonymous with is breaststroke, and they’ve got one of the world’s top up-and-coming talents in the discipline joining the roster this season in Oliver Dawson.
The Commonwealth medalist took ownership of all three Canadian men’s LCM breaststroke records this year, posting times of 27.28 in the 50, 59.33 in the 100 and 2:08.39 in the 200. Those times give him conversions of 23.67/51.64/1:52.06, right around the NCAA scoring cut-off, but given his track record internationally, there’s no doubt he’s a likely ‘A’ finalist in both the 100 and 200 as a freshman.
Wolf, a BOTR breaststroker, comes in with a very strong 53.0 best time in the 100, and he’s also 1:47.5 in the 200 IM.
They’ve also added diver Mason Mankey, who won the U.S. junior title in the 3-meter springboard event and placed 3rd on 1-meter in August.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Ranking The 2026 Men’s NCAA Recruiting Classes: #8-5
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