2025 Men’s NCAA Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap ...Middle East

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet

“And now the end is near…”

Well folks where we are, about to embark on the final prelims session of the 2025 NCAA Championships. A meet like no other. It is the first since the conference realignemnt and it is the last with athletes granted an extra year of eligibility.

We start the session with the 200 backstroke. Top-seeded Hubert Kos will be hunting for his third title of the week, having previously tasted victory in the 200 IM and 100 back. He eeked out narrow wins over Destin Lasco and Jonny Marshall, both of who are in this event and hungry for the top of the podium. Danger also lurks in the form of his former teammate at ASU, Owen McDonald. McDonald finished 3rd last year and returns this year looking to not only improve upon that placing but also to help his new team, Indiana, gain as many points as possible against rivals Cal, Texas, and Florida.

The 100 free, my personal least favorite event to swim, is going to be fast, vicious and will take no quarter. Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks and Florida’s Josh Liendo have had a stranglehold on the sprint event these last few years and look to again as they come in as the top two seeds, entered at 40.26 and 40.45. Cal’s Jack Alexy, the #3 seed, will look to break up the SEC pair as he seeks to help CAL win the title, but he’ll have Olympic teammate and Texas Longhorn Chris Guiliano right next to him in the prelims. After a strong showing yesterday in the 400 Medley, ASU will be hoping for a strong showing from Jonny Kulow and Elite 90 winner Patrick Sammon as the Sun Devils are chasing a top 5 finish in the team battle.

The 200 breast,  my favorite event to swim, sees a new cast of characters take to the forefront as Ivy League rivals Matthew Fallon of Penn, the top seed,  and Jack Kelly of Brown, the #3 seed will look for the win. Last year’s 3rd place finisher Carles Coll Marti won’t make it easy, nor will Indiana’s pair of Josh Matheny and Jassen Yep, each of whom are looking to knock Cal out of their stranglehold on a top-two team finish.

The last individual event of the morning is the 200 fly. Georgia’s Luca Urlando, absent from this meet for two years, returns as the top seed. The runner-up from 2022, Urlando broke the NCAA record earlier this season, scaring the sub-1:37 barrier, going 1:37.17. ASU, who sits just 5.5 points back will look to Ilya Kharun, the #2 seed, to try to prevent Urlando from winning his first NCAA title. The pair finished 3rd and 2nd in the 100 fly, respectively.

I now turn over the preview to SwimSwam’s diving expert, a two-time All-American and a member of the 2021 NCAA National Championship team, Noah Duperre

Diving concludes at these championships with the platform event. Just like on the three-meter, Indiana has three real contenders to make the A final and have a legitimate chance for their team to sweep all the diving titles here in Federal Way. Carson Tyler is the two-time defending champion but will face stiff competition from reigning Big Ten champion Jordan Rzepka of Purdue. Last year, Cal went 1 up/1 down in the platform event, a huge moment for the Bear diving team. Both of those men return this year, so Geoffrey Vavitsas and Joshua Thai will help the Golden Bears try to chase down the Longhorns. Texas freshman Jacob Welsh has had a breakout performance at these championships and could be one to watch on Saturday in what is arguably his strongest event.

Men’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims

Top 16

NC State’s Kyle Ponsler put up a strong performance in the first heat of the session, dropping 2.47 seconds to take the win in 1:41.15. Ponsler was the last entrant in the field, coming in with a 1:43.62.

There was a phrase going around the SwimSwam staff at the Olympic Trials, “Death, Taxes, and Ryan Murphy +1 in the 200 back.” While Murphy has obviously exhausted his collegiate eligibility, CAL somehow continues to produce 200 backstrokers. In heat 2, the #32 seeded Humberto Najera of Cal produced a swift 1:39.30 to take the win from lane 1. Out in 48.56, Najera dropped 1.19 from his seed and became the first swimmer under 1:40. For reference, that time would have easily made the B final last year, and there are still 24 swims left.

See above.

No, really. In the very next heat, Cal’s Destin Lasco and Mewen Tomac continued the Cal=2 back trend, going 1-2. Lasco, seeded 6th this year, is the defending champion and was out in 47.42, trailing Owen McDonald‘s 47.27 and Tomac’s 47.07. But Lasco used his strong underwaters and great backhalf to power through the field and take the heat win in 1:36.40. Tomac, swimming out of lane 8, took 2nd in a new PB of 1:37.26, with McDonald nabbing 3rd in 1:37.67.

Men’s 100 Freestyle

Top 16

Men’s 200 Breaststroke

Top 16

Men’s 200 Butterfly

Top 16

Men’s Platform Diving

Top 16

Men’s 1650 Freestyle

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