By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships
Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28 Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA Defending Champions: Texas (1x) Championship Central Updated Psych Sheets Live Results Live Video Scored Psych SheetsThe 2026 Women’s Division I NCAA Championships wrapped up this weekend. The spotlight will stay in Atlanta, GA, but now, the attention shifts to the men’s meet. The psych sheets were updated this weekend and in addition to letting us know which swimmers earned invites in individual events, the psych sheets also show which teams have qualified relays for the championships.
35 programs are eligible to swim at least one relay, up three from last year’s championships. The women’s qualification stayed flat at 32 from 2025 to 2026. Interestingly, no men’s programs only qualified one relay; each relay-eligible program qualified in at least two relay events.
But before we go further in breaking down all the numbers, here’s a refresher on how teams qualify relays for NCAAs. In a season that saw a huge overhaul on the NCAA championship qualification process, this should look relatively familiar — “automatic qualifiers” were an individual event only change for this year.
2026 NCAA Championship Relay Qualification Procedures:
A school that has at least one invited swimmer and has a relay qualifying standard can swim all relays where it has an ‘A’ or ‘B’ cut. These schools can bring up to four uninvited relay swimmers A school that has no invited swimmers but does have an ‘A’ cut in a relay can swim the relays where it has an ‘A’ cut and bring four uninvited relay swimmers. A school that has at least four invited swimmers but only relay ‘B’ cuts can swim the relays where it has achieved a ‘B’ cut and bring up to four uninvited relay swimmers.That said, the relays aren’t immune to the many changes to the NCAA Championships this season. The relays are still timed finals, but now only the top eight teams swim in finals while the rest swim with prelims. But what has stayed the same is how critical the relays are for the team standings race. This is particularly at the men’s meet, which should be a much closer team race than the just completed women’s meet (where Virginia won with enough of a margin that they could have disqualified all their relays or simply not entered them and still won).
Relay qualification is also a barometer of program health — whether it’s a school qualifying a relay for the first time in years or a school earning all five ‘A’ cuts, which is a sign that team should be moving up the standings. A good example of the latter is Ohio State. The Buckeyes are one of four teams that earned all five ‘A’ cuts this year after not doing so last year. Two years ago, Ohio State only earned an ‘A’ cut in one relay, last year, they boosted that number to four.
The other programs graduating to five ‘A’ cuts after missing that distinction in 2025? Arizona, Auburn, and the now Luca Urlando-less Georgia. The Wildcats took a leap this year after earning three ‘A’ cuts in 2025 and missing out on qualifying a 200 freestyle relay at all.
On the flip side, UNC and Virginia Tech both fell out of the five ‘A’ cut club, with the Tar Heels falling to a single ‘A’ cut (400 medley relay) and three ‘B’ cuts (200/400/800 freestyle relay).
Five programs qualified relays for the 2026 NCAA Championships after not doing so last year.
Kentucky — The Wildcats’ sprint program has been re-energized this season and as a result, the team has three relays set to compete in Atlanta this week after missing out last year. The squad hit its ‘A’ cut in the 200 medley relay, which means their 200 and 400 freestyle relays are also eligible. Navy — The Midshipmen earned an ‘A’ cut in the 200 medley relay (1:23.59) which made them eligible to swim the 200/400 freestyle relays, plus the 400 medley relay. Their qualification makes it so the Patriot League has two relay eligible schools at this year’s championships as Navy’s rival Army qualified relays for the second-straight year Notre Dame — The Notre Dame men’s team was suspended last season. Now, they’re back in the pool and look set to make a splash in the relays. They will swim all five relays after hitting four ‘A’ cuts. Their lone ‘B’ cut is the 800 freestyle relay. Penn State — The Nittany Lions secured two ‘A’ cuts in the 200 (1:23.05) and 400 medley relay (3:04.13), a clear example of relays showing where teams’ strengths lie. Pitt — The Pitt women had a major breakthrough on the relay front last season, earning their first in almost 20 years. Since 2006, the team had actually only earned three relay ‘A’ cuts and the only men’s relay in that club was the team’s 2021 200 medley relay. This year, the men’s team matched that combined men’s and women’s 20 year total, picking up three ‘A’ cuts (400/800 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay). They also earned ‘B’ cuts in the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay, which means the Panthers will have five relay swims this week.Last year, four teams qualified relays after missing out in 2024. Of those four, three qualified again this year: Army, Princeton, and Yale–all mid-major programs. All three have raised their game again this season. Army and Princeton both upgraded from one ‘A’ cut in 2025; the Black Knights earned two this year and the Tigers three. Yale stayed at par with three ‘A’ cuts but picked up a second ‘B’ cut, meaning they will swim five relays this year after swimming four last year.
Finally, this is the second-straight year that the Virginia men have missed qualifying a 200 medley relay for the meet, keeping the Cavaliers capped at four NCAA eligible relays as they hope ascend the standings powered by their freshman class.
Schools Qualified To Send 1+ Relays To NCAAs
School # of ‘A’ Cuts # of ‘B’ Cuts Total A’ Cut Event(s) B’ Cut Event(s) Arizona 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – ASU 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Auburn 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – California 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Florida 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Florida State 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Georgia 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Indiana 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Louisville 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Michigan 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – NC State 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Ohio State 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Stanford 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Tennessee 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Texas 5 0 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR – Northwestern 4 1 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR 800 FR Notre Dame 4 1 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR 800 FR VA Tech 4 1 5 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 400 MR 200 MR Virginia 4 0 4 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR, 400 MR Pittsburgh 3 2 5 400 FR, 800 FR, 200 MR 200 FR, 400 MR Yale 3 2 5 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR 200 FR, 400 FR Missouri 3 1 4 200 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR 400 FR USC 3 1 4 800 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR 400 FR LSU 3 0 3 200 FR, 400 FR, 200 MR – Princeton 3 0 3 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR Alabama 2 2 4 400 FR, 400 MR 200 FR, 200 MR Army 2 1 3 200 MR, 400 MR 400 FR SMU 2 1 3 400 FR, 800 FR 400 MR Penn State 2 0 2 200 MR, 400 MR – Navy 1 3 4 200 MR 200 FR, 400 FR, 400 MR UNC 1 3 4 400 MR 200 FR, 400 FR, 800 FR Wisconsin 1 3 4 800 FR 200 FR, 200 MR, 400 MR Kentucky 1 2 3 200 MR 200 FR, 400 FR Purdue 1 1 2 200 MR 200 FR Texas A&M 1 1 2 200 FR 800 FRRead the full story on SwimSwam: 35 Schools Qualify Relays For 2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships
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