2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships: Day 4 Prelims Preview – Liendo To Make History? ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet

DAY 4 EVENT LINEUP:

And then there was one. We are onto the final day of the Men’s 2026 NCAA Championships, and have just four individual events and one relay event left on the docket.

The first of those is the 200 IM, which sees the top three seeds separated by just 0.18 seconds. Owen McDonald comes in as the fastest swimmer in the NCAA this year with the 1:40.11 he swam to win Big Tens over Colin Geer, who is the #2 seed in 1:40.15. Arsenio Bustos, who redshirted last season with an injury, is the #4 seed in 1:40.39.

400 IM bronze medalist Baylor Nelson is the 3rd-fastest entrant in 1:40.29, which he swam at midseason. He was 1:41.09 at SECs and has looked a little slower so far this week than his in-season swims, but Texas should still score big points with five swimmers ranked in the top 13 swimmers. Will Modglin (1:40.58, 5th), Campbell McKean (1:41.06, 7th), Camden Taylor (1:41.52, 10th) and Nate Germonprez (1:41.62, 13th) will all be hoping to score. Modglin was an ‘A’ finalist last year, but was DQed after finishing 8th.

The 100 free will see top seed Jere Hribar aim to bounce back after his DQ in the heats of the 50 free yesterday, while there are a further five swimmers seeded under 41 seconds to join his 40.42 which he swam at SECs. Gui Caribe is the #2 seed in 40.45 with ASU Grad transfer Remi Fabiani, who is having perhaps his best ever meet, in 3rd in 40.67.

All three men were in the 50 free ‘A final last night, but the winner of that final is down in #6 on the 100 free psych sheets. Josh Liendo was just 40.94 at SECs after winning the 2025 NCAA title in 39.99, but after setting a new NCAA record of 42.49 in the 100 fly and winning the 50 free last night, expect him to be one of the fastest in the 100 free this morning.

With nine individual NCAA titles so far, Liendo is just one off joining 1976 Olympic gold medalist John Naber as having the second-most in history. He is currently in a six-way tie for third, with Naber and Stanfords Pablo Morales out in front with ten and 11 respectively. Defending his 100 free title, an event he has won in all three of his previous NCAA meets, will see him hit double figures.

Ilya Kharun is the favorite in the 200 fly after NCAA record-holder and defending champion Luca Urlando scratched out of the meet with an injury last week. Kharun is the top seed by over a second in 1:37.56, with Logan Robinson and Tyler Ray joining him under 1:39 in 1:38.78 and 1:38.82 respectively. Kharun’s entry time came from the Big 12 final, where he split a phenomenal 24.65 on the final 50, so watch for him to come close to his entry time this morning.

Robinson and Ray won the ACC and Big Ten titles respectively, and the #4 seed is the Ivy League Champion in Princeton’s Mitchell Schott. He made the ‘A’ final in the 200 free on day 2 before placing 8th in the final, so watch for another big prelims swim from him. Thomas Heilman, who was 4th in the 100 fly and split 42.97 on Virginia’s 400 medley relay last night, is the 5th seed in 1:39.09 but has a best of 1:38.95 from December 2024.

Jonny Marshall is the top seed in the 200 back, and will be seeking to bounce back after a disappointing 100 back yesterday. He placed 19th having been seeded 7th, but won the SEC title in the 200 back over Hubert Kos in 1:36.38, with Kos nearly half a second back in 1:36.80. The Longhorn swimmer is the #2 seed and will be aiming for a second NCAA record in as many days after shattering the NCAA record in the 100 back yesterday in 42.61.

Tommy Hagar is the #3 seed after posting a time of 1:37.92 in prelims at SECs, but added in the final to place 3rd in 138.40. Cal’s Humberto Najera is the #4 seed after blasting a 1:38.02 at the Cal Last Chance Meet to qualify for NCAAs at the last minute, with Virginia’s David King – who tied for 8th in the 200 free but ceded the spot to teammate, and eventual winner, Maximus Williamson – the #5 seed in 1:38.14. King has set PBs in the 200 free and 100 back so far this week and will be one to watch.

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