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 top four recruiting classes for the upcoming campaign, all bringing in multiple swimmers poised to be NCAA scorers right from the jump.
See Also:
Men’s 2026 Recruiting Class Rankings: #8-5 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 Tigers #8: NC State Wolfpack #7: Stanford Cardinal #6: Florida Gators #5: Indiana HoosiersNCAA Swimming and Diving Recruiting Classes – Men’s Class of 2026: #4-1
#4: Arizona State Sun Devils
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: HM Jake Lloyd (OH – free/all-around sprinter), BOTR Tyler Porter (CA – sprint free/fly), BOTR London Rising (MI – free/fly) Remainder of Class: Ian Disosway (FL – breast), Henry Lyness (IN – free/back/fly), Ethan Linville (CA – free), Dillon Albertyn (IL – free), Kuba Shaw (TN – free), Nathan Muratory (France – back/free), Sergio de Celis (Spain – sprint free/fly), Oliver Munn (Sweden – breast), Parker Deshayes (Canada – back/free), Kristupas Trepocka (Lithuania – free), Daniel Marinov (Norway – breast), Cody Smith (PA – diving), August Vetsch (Cal transfer – free/fly), Nick Simons (Tennessee transfer – back), Mario Del Valle (CBU transfer – diving)Arizona State’s class is absolutely gigantic. Although the majority of the swimmers are sprint-oriented, which has become what ASU is known for, they’ve got a wide variety of skills joining the roster this season.
On the domestic side, the class is headlined by Honorable Mention recruit Jake Lloyd, a 19.3/43.4 freestyle sprinter who can swim anything fast—he’s also 22.2 in the 50 back, 24.2/53.0 in the 50/100 breast, and 21.4/47.2 in the 50/100 fly.
BOTR Tyler Porter is at a very similar level in the sprint freestyles (19.4/43.3) and has also been 21.0 in the 50 fly from a flat start, while Dillon Albertyn is another free sprinter with bests of 20.0/44.0/1:37.6.
Spaniard Sergio de Celis jumps off the page as a fifth-year addition with sizzling SCM best times of 21.16 in the 50 free, 46.19 in the 100 free and 1:43.92 in the 200 free, while his LCM bests stand at 22.0/48.2/1:47.9. Those convert out to 18.6/41.6/1:33.6 in yards, which make him a potential individual NCAA scorer this season along with providing plenty of relay value, while he’s also been 23.78 in the LCM 50 fly (20.79 conversion) and 52.87 in the SCM 100 fly (47.63).
Another sprint freestyler, BOTR London Rising has best times of 19.7/43.7/1:36.2, but he’s also versatile across fly (46.8/1:46.5) and the 200 IM (1:47.9). August Vetsch, a transfer from Cal, is a 19.7/43.2/1:35.8 freestyler who is also a 46.2/1:43.9 flier. Henry Lyness is of a similar mold, sitting at 20.6/44.3 in free and 48.1/1:47.7 in fly, though he’s also a strong backstroker at 47.7/1:46.6.
Lithuania’s Kristupas Trepocka is an impressive freestyler who placed 17th in the 200 free (1:43.24) and 25th in the 400 free (3:43.56) at the 2025 European SC Championships, giving him yards conversions of 1:33-flat and 4:15-mid in the 200 and 500. He’s also 47.30 in the SCM 100 free, converting to 42.61, so he’s a three-pronged threat across the 100, 200 and 500 (he also owns a sneaky 22.99 best time in the SCM 50 fly).
There are also a few distance freestylers in the class; Ethan Linville is 1:37.3/4:23/15:19 in the 200/500/1650, while Kuba Shaw has a wide range, showing strength all the way from the 50 to the mile: 20.7/43.9/1:36.3/4:22/15:23.
Frenchman Nathan Muratory initially committed to Michigan, but flipped to Arizona State and comes in with some serious pedigree after breaking the World Junior Record in the 200 back at the European Championships in August.
His long course time of 1:54.87 from Euros converts to 1:35.89 in yards, immediately putting him into NCAA title contention. That time would’ve placed 2nd last season behind Hubert Kos, who has graduated. In the 100 back, Muratory’s 53.45 PB converts to 44.30, also slotting him into an NCAA ‘A’ final (especially after five of the eight 2026 ‘A’ finalists have graduated).
In SCM, Muratory is 48.7/1:45.6 in the 100/200 free and 1:59.8 in the 200 IM, making him a viable free relay contributor and giving him a solid #3 event in the 200 IM.
He’s joined by Canadian Parker Deshayes and Tennessee transfer Nick Simons in the backstroke group.
Deshayes is 54.7 in the long course 100 back, but perhaps more notably, owns bests of 24.0/51.7/1:54.2 in SCM, giving him elite 20.9/45.2/1:40.4 conversions. Simons was an NCAA ‘A’ finalist last season in the 200 back, setting a best time of 1:38.21 in the prelims, and he was also just two spots shy of scoring in the 100 back, hitting a lifetime best of 44.93 for an 18th-place finish.
In the breaststroke group, we’ve got domestic recruit Ian Disosway (53.5/1:57.0), and a pair of Nordic swimmers in Sweden’s Oliver Munn and Norway’s Daniel Marinov.
Munn owns SCM best times of 26.96/58.61/2:08.43, giving him 24.2/52.8/1:55.7 conversions. Marinov has SCM (59.6) and LCM (1:01.6) best times in the 100 that convert to 53-mid, while he’s similar to Munn in the 200 with a best of 2:08.7.
These three additions will be key as ASU loses its four fastest 100 breaststrokers from last season.
They’re also bringing in a pair of divers, PIAA 3A state champion Cody Smith, and Cal Baptist transfer Mario Del Valle, who was 25th at NCAAs last season in the 1-meter event.
#3: Texas Longhorns
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #3 Rowan Cox (TX – fly/free/back/IM), #8 Austin Carpenter (OH – free/breast/fly/IM) Remainder of Class: Kuzey Tuncelli (Turkey – distance free), Laon Kim (Canada – free/back/fly/IM), Luka Mladenovic (Michigan transfer – breast/IM), Matej Nevešćanin (Croatia – diving),Texas has a relatively small class, but it’s ultra elite with two top-10 recruits, two standout international junior swimmers, and one slam-dunk transfer.
#3-ranked Rowan Cox is coming off a phenomenal summer that saw him break the boys’ 17-18 NAG record in the 100 fly in a time of 50.64 while also lowering his personal best times in the 200 free (1:48.14), 100 back (54.57), 50 fly (23.61), 200 fly (1:56.50) and 200 IM (2:05.83). That came after he had already started training at Texas, which is a good sign heading into his freshman year.
In yards, Cox is the fastest swimmer in the class in the 100 fly with his personal best time of 45.47, while he ranks 2nd in the 100 back (46.17) and is among the quickest in the 200 fly (1:43.92) and ranks near the top in the free events (19.9/43.3/1:34.3/4:21/15:22) and the 200 IM (1:45.1).
Based on what he did this summer, Cox looks like he’ll have no issues going sub-45 in the 100 fly this year and becoming an NCAA scorer, and a projected NCAA schedule might also include the 200 fly and 200 IM if he wants to avoid doubles. He could also tackle the 100 fly/100 back double if he wanted.
Also ranked in the top 10, #8 Austin Carpenter is one of six swimmers in the class sub-43 in the 100 free (42.99) and one of eight under 53 in the 100 breast (52.97), giving him two elite events right off the bat. He’s also 19.7 in the 50 free, 46.7 in the 100 fly and 1:46.5 in the 200 IM, showing a wide range of ability. He looks like he’ll be a sprint free/breaststroker in college, potentially evolving into a Nate Germonprez-type swimmer (though he’s strayed away from free in recent seasons).
Turkish distance free prodigy Kuzey Tuncelli comes in with some serious pedigree, having placed 5th in the 1500 free at the 2024 Olympics about a month before his 17th birthday. He owns best times of 3:49.50/7:45.13/14:41.22 in the distance free events in long course meters, while in short course, he’s been 3:45.05/7:38.76/14:20.64.
His SCM time in the 1500 gives him a converted 1650 of 14:15.50, which would’ve been 3rd at the 2026 NCAA Championships (which was a record-setting race). Tuncelli also converts to 4:17 in the 500, which leaves him some work to do to become an NCAA scorer, but we can bank on the fact that he’ll be developing more speed at Texas, while his 8:41 conversion in the 1000 puts him right near the top of the nation.
Canadian Laon Kim is incredibly well-rounded but does his best work in freestyle, owning best times of 22.5/49.3/1:47.5/3:55.1 in long course meters and 22.0/47.3/1:43.0/3:47.7 in short course. He also produced multiple 48-point relay splits in the 100 free this past summer.
Kim’s times convert to 19.5/42.6/1:32.7 in yards, making him a valuable future relay piece for the Longhorns and if he’s able to go lower than those conversions, be an NCAA qualifier as a freshman.
He’s well-rounded with SCM best times of 54.5 in the 100 back, 1:01.8 in the 100 breast, 52.18/1:58.07 in the 100/200 fly (53.75/2:00.52 LCM), and 1:58.43 in the 200 IM (2:02.02 LCM), but it’s most likely we see him primarily focus on freestyle in college.
Rounding out the class is Michigan transfer Luka Mladenovic, who was 3rd in the 200 breast (1:49.34) and 5th in the 100 breast (50.47) last season at NCAAs, and he also scored in the 200 IM (15th) after clocking 1:41.93 at Big Tens.
Having scored 32 points last season for the Wolverines while producing blistering breaststroke legs on the medley relays (22.85/50.08), Mladenovic will be an incredibly valuable pickup for Texas.
The Longhorns also add to their diving group with Croatian Matej Nevešćanin listed on the roster after initially announcing his commitment in 2023 and planning to join the team in 2025. Nevescanin won gold at the 2023 European Junior Diving Championships in the 1-meter event, and recently placed 18th on 1-meter at the 2025 World Championships, making him a potential NCAA scorer.
#2: Tennessee Volunteers
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #14 Whitaker Steward (MO – distance free/IM), #15 Drew Eubanks (OR – breast), HM Miles Blackson-Dunbar (CA – free/back), BOTR Brody Chandler (CA – free/fly) Remainder of Class: Abduljabar Adama (Nigeria – sprint free/fly), Mantas Kauspedas (Lithuania – back/free), Kauã Pereira (Brazil – sprint free/fly), Ivor Brown (VA – diving), Juan Manuel Lopez Gomez (Colombia – diving), Julian Koch (Pitt transfer – free/fly), Vova Gavrysh (McKendree transfer – free/IM)Tennessee’s class is absolutely loaded with ranked domestic recruits, international studs and two big-time transfers, plus some diving depth.
The Vols nabbed two swimmers ranked in the top 20, with #14 Whitaker Steward coming in with an NCAA qualifying time in the 1650 free and #15 Drew Eubanks owning the top time in the class in the 200 breast.
Steward owns best times of 4:20.0/8:52/14:51 in the distance free events, putting him two seconds under the NCAA cutline and just four shy of scoring in the mile, and he’s coming off setting a new long course best time in the 1500 free (15:25.78) at U.S. Nationals.
Eubanks was the fastest breaststroker in the class of 2026 across both distances last season, and though he lost his spot atop the 100-yard rankings, he still lowered his PBs in both races this past March, clocking 52.59 in the 100 breast and 1:53.10 in the 200 breast. That puts him within striking distance of NCAA qualifying in the 200, and just under a second shy in the 100, and he’ll have a great training partner to work with in rising sophomore Gabe Nunziata.
Honorable Mention Miles Blackson-Dunbar and BOTR Brody Chandler bring similar skillsets to the table, both excelling in sprint free.
Blackson-Dunbar is 19.3/43.3 in the 50 and 100 free, and also owns impressive best times of 21.3/46.7 in the 50 and 100 back. Chandler is 19.8/43.1/1:36.7 in the free events and 48.8 in the 100 fly. Both at 43-low in the 100, they bring plenty of relay depth to Tennessee’s squad, though it may be a year before they crack the ‘A’ team.
There’s a trio of international swimmers joining the roster, plus game-changing transfer Julian Koch and notable D2 transfer Vova Gavrysh, who figure to make a significant immediate impact for Tennessee this season.
Koch, coming off a record-breaking sophomore year at Pitt, placed 4th last season at NCAAs in the 100 free in a time of 40.43 after leading the field out of the prelims (40.52), and he also took 8th in the 100 fly (43.85 in prelims) and hit new bests in the 50 free (18.65) and 200 free (1:31.95) on relay lead-offs—also scoring in the 50 free individually in 15th (18.85).
Not only does Koch bring 28 individual NCAA points to the squad (with the potential for more), he seamlessly takes over for Gui Caribe as the Vols’ relay lynchpin with his ability across sprint free and fly.
Gavrysh, who, like Koch, was a sophomore last season, comes over from McKendree as the reigning NCAA Division II champion in the 200 free (1:32.40 on relay lead-off) and 200 fly (1:42.52) and the runner-up in the 200 IM (1:44.32). He also set best times on relay lead-offs in the 50/100 free (19.6/42.7), adding the depth for Tennessee in that area.
The Vols also bring in Nigerian Abduljabar Adama and Brazilian Kauã Pereira, both of whom are elite free/fly sprinters, and Lithuanian Mantas Kauspedas, who’s a high-end backstroker.
Adama is 22.2/49.9 in the long course freestyle events and 21.3/48.3 in short course, giving him 19.2/43.5 conversions. He’s also 23.3/52.8 in the LC butterfly events, which translates to 20.3/46.2 in yards.
Pereira is slightly slower in the LC 50 free (22.4) but quicker in the 100 (49.0), giving him conversions of 19.4/42.7, and he can also throw down in the 50 fly (24.1 LCM=21.0 SCY).
Kauspedas has a chance to take over as the 200 medley relay lead-off man with his standout SCM best times of 22.91 in the 50 back (24.54 LCM), which converts to 19.94, faster than anyone has ever gone in yards. He’s also 50.81 in the SCM 100 back (54.01 LCM), converting to 44.4. He’s also a strong sprinter in free (21.86 SCM=19.69 SCY) and fly (23.59 SCM=21.25).
Tennessee’s only key loss from their relays last season is Caribe, so the injection of Koch, Blackson-Dunbar, Chandler, Adama, Pereira and Gavrysh in freestyle will create some incredible internal competition to earn relay berths and raise the team’s level as a whole.
With Kauspedas and Ulises Saravia on back and Nunziata and Eubanks on breast, the Vols are looking good for the medley relays, as the majority of the freestylers listed above can also sprint fly (led by Koch).
The recruiting class is rounded out by divers Ivor Brown, a Virginia 6A state champion, and Colombian Juan Manuel Lopez Gomez, who has represented his country at World Juniors.
#1: Cal Golden Bears
SwimSwam Ranked Recruits: #1 Baylor Stanton (GA – IM/everything), #5 Tim Wu (CA – IM/free/back), #7 Jordan Ragland (CA – sprint free/back/breast), #10 Albert Smelzer (NC – free/fly/back) Remainder of Class: Aukan Goldin (Israel – back), Jasper Nemeth (CA – diving), Michel Arkhangelskiy (FSU transfer – back/fly/free), Justin Halford (Indiana River State College transfer – diving)Cal has an embarrassment of riches with this class, having landed four of our top 10 recruits in the boys’ domestic class.
The group is headlined by the top-ranked Baylor Stanton, who is the fastest swimmer in the class in the 100 back (46.12), 200 back (1:39.79), 200 IM (1:41.62) and 400 IM (3:40.48), and is among the fastest in a variety of other events, such as the 200 free (1:34.56), 500 free (4:17.39) and 200 breast (1:53.36).
Stanton is on the verge of cracking an NCAA ‘A’ final with his best time in the 200 IM, while he’s just shy of a scoring position in the 400 IM. Looking at the NCAA schedule, Stanton will likely be racing the 200 back as his third event, with his 1:39.79 PB sitting half a second shy of what it took to score at NCAAs last season. His 200 breast is on a similar level, but given that he raced the backstroke and IM events this summer at Nationals, it seems more likely he opts for back over breast in terms of an individual focus.
Stanton is also strong across the sprint free and backstroke events, making him available to contribute to the relays, though given the depth Cal will have this season, the 800 free relay might be his best shot at a relay berth at NCAAs.
#5 Tim Wu joins the Bears with a similar skillset to Stanton, ranking as one of the fastest swimmers in the class in the IM events (1:44.5/3:43.3) while also being elite in free (1:35.5/4:19.4/15:22) and the 200 back (1:41.9).
Stanton and Wu will gain a lot from training with Ryan Erisman, the rising Cal sophomore who won U.S. National titles this past summer in the 200 free, 800 free and 400 IM.
Wu could end up focusing on the same events as Stanton (both IMs and the 200 back), but it also wouldn’t be surprising to see him racing the 200 and 500 free more often.
#7 Jordan Ragland is the top freestyle sprinter in the class, owning best times of 19.18 in the 50 free and 42.24 in the 100 free, making him a top contender to earn a spot on the free relays right from the jump. He would’ve ranked in the top four on the team last season in both races, and with modest drops in time, will lock in an individual NCAA berth.
After setting long course best times in the 50 free (22.46), 100 free (49.19) and 50 fly (24.31) at U.S. Nationals, Ragland won bronze in the 100 free at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, gaining some valuable international experience entering his freshman year.
Along with the sprint free events, Ragland is good everywhere, with notable best times in back (46.5), breast (24.9/54.0), fly (21.1/48.1) and the 200 IM (1:47.8). The 100 fly could be his #3 event in college, and it will be interesting to see if he can develop that LCM 50 fly speed into the SCY 100.
#10 Albert Smelzer is similar to Ragland in that his best events are probably the 50 (19.26) and 100 free (43.04), but he’s good across all strokes. Smelzer is sub-22/sub-47 in both the 50/100 back (21.8/46.7) and 50/100 fly (21./46.9), and he’s also solid in the 200 free (1:36.2).
He projects as a 50/100 freestyler who also swims the 100 back or 100 fly and is a key relay player throughout his career.
The Bears add one international freshman, Israeli native Aukan Goldin, who is a 25.4/54.4/1:57.3 LCM backstroker, and 24.3/51.9/1:51.7 in SCM, giving him 21.0/45.2/1:38.1 conversions. If he has a smooth transition to yards, he could step in and be an NCAA scorer right away in the 200 back, and be within striking distance in the 100.
Another man who could be a backstroke scorer this season for Cal is Michel Arkhangelskiy, who heads to Berkeley after two seasons at Florida State.
The French native was the 2025 ACC champion in the 100 back (44.49), and placed 2nd in the 100 fly (44.36), 9th in the 200 back (1:38.50) and set personal bests of 19.45 in the 50 free and 41.68 in the 100 free at the same meet (also splitting 19.10/43.33 swimming fly in the medley relays).
Since then, the only PB he’s improved on is the 50 free, having led off the 200 free relay in 18.82 at the 2025 NCAAs. He did manage to score in the 100 back (16th) and 100 fly (14th) at NCAAs that season, but last year, was 40th in the 100 fly and 41st in the 100 free.
Arkhangelskiy has certainly been focusing on butterfly much more than backstroke of late, including winning gold in the LCM 50 fly (22.91) and 100 fly (51.41) at the French Elite Championships in June.
He’s a potential NCAA scorer this season in the 100 fly, and possibly the 100 or 200 back if he returns to his career-best form from 2025. He could also slot into the free relays with his 18.8/41.6 best times, and take over medley relay fly duties, or at least challenge Casper Puggaard for them.
Cal’s class is rounded out by Jasper Nemeth, a diving prospect who was the runner-up at the 2026 CIF State Championships, and transfer Justin Halford, who was the 2025 NJCAA champion in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
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