2026 College Previews: Urlando and Koski Form Backbone Of 7 Georgia Men’s NCAA Push ...Middle East

By Sophie Kaufman 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 2025 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 #7: Georgia Bulldogs

Key Losses: Jake Magahey (42 NCAA points, 2 NCAA relays), Reese Branzell (20 SEC points, 3 NCAA relays), Mitchell Norton (15 SEC points), Peter Sacca (14 SEC points), Arie Voloschin (13 SEC points), Tommy Lee Camblong (5 SEC points)

Key Additions: Cale Martter (ASU transfer – breast/IM, 84 2025 Big XII points), , #7 Sean Green (NY – free/back/IM), BOTR Sascha Macht (Germany – free/fly/IM), BOTR Hayden Meyers (OH – free/back) Finn Hammer (Germany – free/back/IM), , Tyler Grafmiller (TX – free/fly), Jayson Ross (DC – free/fly), Luke Sandberg (GA – free/back/fly), Finn Wendland (Germany – breast/IM) Natan Costa (Brazil – free/fly), Kris Mihaylov (South Africa — free/IM)*

*expected to arrive Spring 2026

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.

We’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

2024-25 Season Review

The 2024-25 NCAA season was one of the Georgia men’s most successful outings since the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bulldogs finished 7th at the 2025 NCAA Championships with 238.5 points, the team’s highest finish and total since 2021. Further, the team’s 4th place finish at the 2025 SEC Championships was the team’s 5th Top-4 finish in the past five seasons. They also recorded a winning dual meet record, only losing to Texas, Florida, and NC State.

Last season, the team’s biggest storyline was Olympian Luca Urlando. He returned to the roster and completed his first full college season since 2022 in triumphant fashion, winning the 200 butterfly NCAA and SEC titles, as well as breaking the NCAA and American records in the event. He was the team’s high point scorer at the 2025 NCAA Championships, but fifth-year Jake Magahey was just behind him, closing out an exceptional collegiate career with 42 points. Tomas Koski (31.5 points) and Ruard van Renen (28 points) were the team’s other individual point scorers, and every relay but the 200 freestyle relay scored.

With Urlando and Magahey on the roster and healthy, it looked like last season would be the high point for the Georgia men for the next several years. But at the 2025 NCAA Championships, Urlando shared he had two years of eligibility left and planned on using them, giving the Dawgs a star to guide them for another two seasons.

Sprint Freestyle: ★

As it was last season, sprint freestyle remains one of the Georgia men’s lowest scoring disciplines according to our ranking system. So, it bears repeating that one star in a discipline does not mean the group cannot or will not score at the NCAA Championships. Since we include the 200 freestyle in the sprint discipline, the Dawgs did get some points on the board in this discipline last season, but the 50/100 freestyle core needs strengthening, especially with Reese Branzell’s graduation.

The 50 freestyle is one of Georgia’s weakest events—underlined by the fact that the 200 freestyle relay was the only relay the team did not score points in at the 2025 NCAA Championships. Georgia doesn’t have any men on this year’s roster with a sub-18 second lifetime best in the 50 freestyle, making scoring points at the NCAA Championships an incredibly tough ask given the state of sprinting in the league. The team’s fastest returning swimmer is Tane Bidois, who swam 19.33 at the SEC Championships to beat Urlando’s 19.34 from a January dual meet for first on the team’s depth chart by a hundredth.

Urlando was the only Georgia man to break 42 seconds in the 100 freestyle last year, swimming 41.58 leading off the team’s 400 freestyle NCAA relay. The 100 freestyle is not the place to maximize the value that Urlando brings to the team, so while he will surely be on the 400 freestyle relay, it’s unlikely that we’ll see him in the 100 freestyle at a championship meet.

With Branzell graduated, it’s Tomas Koski who holds the title of second-fastest returning swimmer, clocking in with a 42.24 lifetime best from last season. We’ll get into Koski’s skillset more in a bit, but it seems that his skillset has developed over the past season to make him more valuable in other individual events.

So, can any of the incoming swimmers help Georgia’s sprint freestyle deficit? They’ve brought in a handful of swimmers all with lifetime bests in the 43.9-44.40 range, including Luke Sandberg (43.91), Jayson Ross (43.96), Sascha Macht (44.10), and Tyler Grafmiller (44.40). It would go a love way for the Dawgs if one of these swimmers was able to develop quickly once on campus and give Georgia some more options in the sprints and relays.

South African Age Group Record Holder Krys Mihalov is set to arrive in Athens for the second semester after flipping his commitment to Georgia from Virginia. He does not have much yards experience but has shown himself to be a versatile freestyler with a strong 400 IM time in long-course. His freestyle lifetime bests in long-course are 49.72/1:48.19/3:55.28/8:09.32/15:33.16, giving Georgia plenty of flexibility as to which events to focus on. We put him in the sprint freestyle section because that seems like their biggest hole and therefore where they may choose to focus, but he could develop into another piece in their distance freestyle crew (which is much stronger than their sprint corps).

The incoming freshmen also provide some interesting depth in the 200 freestyle, but that event is a much different ballgame for Georgia. They had Tomas Koski in the ‘A’ final of the 2025 NCAA Championships last season, where he placed 6th (1:31.36).

After an excellent freshman season, Koski continued to excel in his sophomore year. In the 200 freestyle, he dropped from a 1:31.93 coming into the season to 1:30.70, which he swam at the 2025 SEC Championships for 4th place. If he can improve—or even maintain—his positioning in the 200 freestyle (and above) it will go a long way towards taking the sting out of Magahey’s graduation.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Urlando had the second-fastest 200 freestyle on the roster last season, checking in at 1:31.81. He’ll likely be a relay-only 200 freestyler, which gives the Dawgs some work to do as 3rd and 4th on the depth chart, Magahey and Branzell, have graduated. Koksi and Branzell were the team’s scorers at the SEC Championships. Swimmers like Sandberg (1:36.04) and Macht (1:37.19) could develop into conference scorers but will need to drop some time to do so.

Distance Freestyle: ★★★

Last season, Koski’s rise up the NCAA ranks was not isolated to the 200 freestyle; the same happened in the 500 freestyle. After coming into the 2024-25 season with a lifetime best 4:12.29, Koski dropped over four seconds in the event, hitting 4:08.25 at the SEC Championships. Though he didn’t quite manage that in Federal Way, he did make the championship final in a hyper-competitive field, touching 5th (4:09.15), just behind the now-graduated Magahey.

In his first years at Georgia, Koski seemed like a 100/200/500 freestyle swimmer. However, at the Bulldog NCAA Qualifying Meet, Koski swam his first 1650 freestyle since 2018, posting a 14:47.73 and adding that event to his NCAA schedule. He dropped even more time at the championships, finishing 12th in 14:38.20. He was Georgia’s only scorer in the event last year and the Dawgs will be hoping that with another year of development he’ll be able to move further up the ranks. While he seemed like a 100/200/500 freestyler at the start of last season, he now projects solidly as a 200/500/1650 swimmer.

The Dawgs will also be hoping that another swimmer will add to their distance free points total. The distance squad also gets a boost this year with the arrival of Sean Green. The first 15-year-old to break 15 minutes in the mile, Green is about a half second off last year’s NCAA qualification time in the event with his lifetime best 14:49.33. Green slotted in 9th in our re-rank of the top 20 high school boys in his graduating class. Along with his prowess in the mile, he also ranks highly within his class in the 200/500 freestyle (1:34.86/4:16.78). He owns lifetime bests of 1:47.97/3:47.07/7:55.94/15:07.49 in long course.

During the second half of his high school career, he made big strides in the 200 back (1:44.33), 200 fly (1:47.78), 200 IM (1:47.64), and 400 IM (3:46.26). That makes him a valuable add to the team beyond the distance events, though his biggest points contributions will almost surely come in the longer events.

While he’s just off the NCAA invite time in the 1650 freestyle, his lifetime best in the event would have placed 12th at the 2025 SEC Championships and made him the highest placed Georgia swimmer. As Tommylee Camblong—Georgia’s only scorer in the event—has graduated, Green’s arrival could hardly be better timed. Sam Powe is also a consistent SEC scorer in the 500 freestyle. He was a ‘B’ finalist two years ago and made the ‘C’ final last year, finishing 20th in a lifetime best (4:15.47).

The distance freestyle group is weaker without Magahey on the scene, but between Koski’s development into a three-event NCAA scorer and the boost that Green’s arrival provides, the team has a strong foundation to build on.

Backstroke: ★★★

Two years ago, the Georgia men put their backstroke prowess on display at the SEC Championships, putting six men in the 100 backstroke finals and five into the 200 backstroke finals. The backstroke group lost some of its firepower due to graduations, but Ruard van Renen has kept the group well afloat.

Van Renen broke onto the NCAA scene by making two NCAA ‘B’ finals as a mid-major swimmer at the 2023 edition of the championships. He made the jump to the 100 backstroke ‘A’ final during his first year at Georgia, placing 3rd overall (44.21) but finished 21st in the 200 backstroke (1:40.67).

Van Renen timed both events to perfection at the 2025 NCAA Championships. He did not swim the 50 freestyle on Day 1, instead focusing solely on the backstroke events. He booked two ‘A’ final appearances, repeating as the 3rd place finisher in the 100 backstroke with a lifetime best 43.85. The time makes him the 9th fastest performer in event history. He placed 4th in the 200 backstroke the next day, swimming a lifetime best 1:37.08.

With van Renen swimming so well, it is unlikely that we’ll see Urlando much in the backstroke events, at least at a championship meet. Still, Urlando is the former NCAA record holder in the 100-yard backstroke and still holds the American record at 43.35 from the 2022 NCAA Championships. Last season, he flexed his backstroke range during Georgia’s final dual meet of the season, swimming a lifetime best 1:38.18 that ranks him inside the top 25 performers in event history.

Last season, Urlando was as fast as 45.34 in the 100-yard backstroke, leading a trio of 45-points on the Georgia depth chart. Of those three swimmers, Powe is also back on the team this season. The 45.99 he swam at mid-season was a lifetime best. He’s stronger in the 200 backstroke, though his lifetime best 1:39.96 comes from November 2023. He’s a multi-time SEC scorer in the event (and took 7th last year) and is capable of scoring more points if he has his best swim of the season during the post-season rather than at invites.

Freshman Hayden Meyers would’ve given Georgia another conference scorer in the 200 back last season. His 1:42.46 lifetime best would’ve earned him a spot in the ‘C’ final, about four-tenths from a ‘B’ final berth. His 100 backstroke lifetime best (47.37) is outside scoring range, but it’s still a solid foundation for Meyers to build from as he starts his college career.

Macht could develop the 200 backstroke as a day four event if he wanted to (1:44.70) and Finn Hammer also provides an interesting option. Hammer is one of two German recruits arriving in Athens this fall that have not had any experience in yards, which means there’s a host of questions that need answering. But,  he brings a 1:57.75 best in the short-course meter 200 backstroke. He leans towards the IM events but again, the 200 backstroke could be a third event for him.

Breaststroke: ★

Breaststroke is another weak spot for the Georgia men on the national stage. Last year, they did not have any NCAA qualifiers in the breaststroke events. The team’s two top breaststrokers, Kristian Pitshugin and Elliot Woodburn both made the trip to Federal Way though, with Pitshugin swimming breaststroke on the medley relays and Woodburn there as a relay alternate.

Georgia will be hoping that at least one of them can be an individual event NCAA qualifier this season. Pitshugin is a redshirt senior and swam PBs in the 100/200 breaststroke in his return to Athens last season following an Olympic redshirt year. The 100 breaststroke is his stronger event of the two; he posted a 52.16 in SEC prelims and finished 8th in 52.17. His 1:58.11 lifetime best was outside scoring.

Woodburn, a sophomore from England, saw positive results in his first yards-focused season. Like Pitshugin, the 100 breaststroke is also his stronger event; he swam 52.26 in SEC prelims to qualify for the ‘B’ final, ultimately placing 12th. He was closer to scoring in the 200 breaststroke, swimming 1:56.58 for 28th place. Woodburn trained at Georgia this summer and saw drops in the long-course pool as well, giving him plenty of momentum heading into his sophomore season.

But, help is here in the form of Cale Martter. After spending the last three seasons at Arizona State, Martter—a Big 12 champion—joins the Bulldogs this fall with the potential to make the SEC ‘A’ final in three events, including the 200 breaststroke. Martter owns a lifetime best of 1:52.19 in the 200 breaststroke, which would’ve finished 4th at the 2025 SEC Championships. Arie Voloschin was Georgia’s highest placed finisher in the event at 16th (1:55.59).

Finn Wendland should also be an asset in the breaststroke events. The second of Georgia’s German recruits with no official yards experience, Wendland hit lifetime bests of 59.59/2:10.58 in the short-course meter 100/200 breaststroke in November 2024.

Butterfly: ★★★★

So far, Urlando has hung over this preview as an option in multiple disciplines. It makes sense: he’s a highly versatile swimmer, particularly in the yards format. But to this point, all those disciplines are ones he’ll likely opt against in favor of his biggest strengths—like butterfly.

While fans may need to wait until the 400 freestyle relay to see Urlando swim a tapered 100 freestyle, they will get the chance to see him shine in the individual butterfly events. He made a triumphant return to the NCAA last season. He took over the 200 butterfly NCAA and American records during a January dual meet, swimming 1:37.17 to break Jack Conger’s mark. He narrowly missed that record at the SEC Championships (1:37.18) but demolished it at NCAAs, swimming 1:36.43 and becoming the first man to break 1:37.

Now a 200-meter butterfly world champion, Urlando is the undisputed favorite to win the 2026 200 butterfly NCAA title. He’s also a top contender in the 100 butterfly. He swam a lifetime best 43.49 for 3rd at the 2025 NCAA Championships, which made him the 5th fastest performer in history.

Urlando alone is enough to power a butterfly group. He is the team’s only scorer at the NCAA level, but van Renen provides reinforcement at the SEC level as a 100 butterfly ‘B’ finalist. His 2024-25 season best was a 46.11, but he has been as fast as 45.84. In the 200 butterfly, freshman Drew Hitchcock narrowly missed a second swim at NCAAs. He placed 18th with a 1:41.22. His lifetime best 1:41.09 is two-tenths off what it took to make the ‘B’ final last season (1:40.89).

Notably, Thomas Askew does not currently appear on Georgia’s 2025-26 roster. He was a junior last season when he joined the team after dominating the college club scene, winning five college club championship titles. He did not make the SEC championship roster but swam lifetime bests in the 50 free, 100 free, and 100 fly at the Bulldog NCAA Qualifying Meet in March, which is the last official meet he competed at.

IM: ★★★

In the NCAA format, Urlando takes on the 200 IM as his third event (though it does come first on the schedule). Urlando faltered during the event prelims last season and ended up in the ‘B’ final, which he won with a 1:40.53. His lifetime best is a 1:39.22, which earned him 3rd at the 2022 NCAA Championships. Leon Marchand changed the event during his college career, but Urlando’s lifetime best still would have placed 3rd at the 2025 Championships and 2nd place finisher Destin Lasco has wrapped his collegiate career.

Hitchcock had a strong freshman season for Georgia, though his first NCAA Championship experience soured a bit when he was disqualified from the 400 IM ‘B’ final. He had shown he was on strong form, swimming a lifetime best 3:39.55 to qualify 11th out of prelims. Despite the DQ, Hitchcock showed he has what it takes to score on the national stage and will be aiming higher than 11th after another year of development.

Hitchcock qualified for NCAAs in three events, adding a 32nd place finish in the 200 IM (1:42.94) in a lifetime best effort. He made two ‘A’ finals (200 fly, 400 IM) and one ‘B’ final (200 IM) at the 2025 SEC Championships and will be a crucial component for the next wave of Georgia talent.

In addition to the value Martter brings with his 200 breaststroke speed, he’s also a strong IMer. Like his 200 breaststroke, both his 200/400 IM bests come from 2024 (1:42.28/3:40.53). However, he was on form to with the 200 IM Big 12 title last season (1:42.39) and place 3rd in the 200 IM. This gives Georgia three potential conference finalists in the 200 IM. Martter just missed NCAAs last season, falling at line 31 in the 400 IM. He made the championships as a sophomore though, signaling that he is another potential qualifier for Georgia this season.

In addition to Martter, several freshmen add depth to the IM group. Macht’s been as fast as 1:46.70 in the 200 IM. Meanwhile, Hammer and Wendland are unknown yards quantities, but Hammer’s been 1:59.99/4:14.48 in short-course meters, while Wendland has been 1:57.60/4:11.14. The pair of German Finns each have at least one converted IM time that would’ve scored at the 2025 SEC Championships. Further, Georgia will have the option to develop Green’s abilities as an IMer. He’s best known as a distance freestyler, but his 1:47.64/3:46.26 bests in the 200/400 IM give the team some flexibility in how to use him, particularly at the SEC Championships in their extended meet format.

This projects as a strong conference-scoring group with the potential to have a good showing at NCAAs as well.

Diving: ★

The Bulldogs’ diving is improving, but for now they stay at one star. After bringing only one diver to the 2024 NCAAs, Georgia brought both Renato Calderaro and Matthew Bray to Federal Way. Bray had the diving team’s highest finish of the meet with a 26th place on the 3-meter board.

The pair are more productive at the conference level, which is increasingly important given the school’s rivals for the top spots in the conference all have strong diving groups. Bray and Calderaro finished 5th and 6th on the 3-meter board at SEC Championships, add 54 points to the team’s total. They also added 28 points on the 1-meter board, with Bray taking 13th and Calderaro 14th.

The pair are the only two divers currently listed on the 2025-26 roster. It’s a small group, but an important one for Georgia, especially if one can jump up into NCAA scoring position.

Relays: ★★★

Georgia score in four of the five relays at the 2025 NCAA Championships. The 200 freestyle relay was their lone miss and they did not even qualify a team in that relay. That relay will likely continue to be a weak spot this season, which will hinder their quest to break into the next tier of NCAA teams in the standings—breaking into the top 5 requires five scoring relays.

Last year, their best relay finish was their third place in the 800 freestyle relay (6:06.02) and they also placed top eight in the 400 medley relay (6th, 3:00.38) and 200 medley relay (8th, 1:22.01). Their 400 freestyle relay finished 11th (2:47.15).

Georgia returns 11 of 16 relay legs from last season to this season. Graduating Branzell has cost the team three relay legs (400 free, 800 free, 400 medley). It is their 200 medley relay that’s in the best shape, returning all four legs (van Renen, Pitshugin, Urlando, and Bidois). The 400 medley relay returns its first three legs, though will need to replace Branzell on the anchor.

Meanwhile, the team needs to find two new legs for both the 400 and 800 freestyle relays, replacing Branzell and Magahey’s contributions on both. This makes it even more critical that the sprint group develop well this season and that at least one of the newcomers makes a significant step forward. It may take a couple of seasons for a freshman to develop into a conference ‘A’ finalist scorer or NCAA scorer in the individual sprint events but getting at least one to a place where he can make a significant contribution to a scoring relay will be essential for the Georgia men to remain in the top 10 of the NCAA Championship standings.

Total Stars: 19/40

2025-26 Outlook

Last season looked like it would be the peak of Georgia men’s swimming before the team entered rebuild mode this year. Urlando’s return to the team has pushed the rebuild off at least a little bit—he’s an NCAA champion and will score in his three individual events, plus brings a ton of value to Georgia’s relays. With Koski seemingly still on the rise, the Georgia men have two men set to score in three NCAA events.

Urlando and Koski provide a strong backbone for the team, though losing Magahey and Branzell stings. The Georgia men bring in a big class of newcomers, including a Big 12 champion and former NCAA qualifier in Martter. Gambling on a couple of international recruits could pay off for Georgia and turn them into one of the strongest IM groups in the SEC. It seems like strong IMs and 200s fly/back is an identity Georgia is leaning into, especially by hiring Mike Joyce as an associate coach. Previously the head coach at Minnesota, he primarily coached the back, fly, and IM groups. However, they need at least one sprinter to have a breakthrough in order to keep their NCAA relays high up in scoring position and maintain their place in the NCAA standings.

We ranked Georgia as the 11th best recruiting class in the country and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more than one have a breakout freshman season. Georgia’s total stars seem low, but if their recruiting class delivers, that combined with the stellar pieces they already have in place will see them score well above what our grading criteria projects.

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