NCAA Championships: Overreactions For The Long Course Season ...Middle East

By Sam Blacker on SwimSwam

2026 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

With the culmination of the NCAA Championships, the short course season comes to an end and the long course campaign begins. After their performances at NCAAs and through the college season, these are eight men and eight woemen who could – and should – be ones to watch in the big pool this summer.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list. If you have a swimmer you feel should be mentioned, include them in the comments 

Women

Mia West (Cal) – Canada

Mia West exploded this season, lowering her best times in the 200 free (1:41.57), 200 fly (1:51.52), and 200 IM (1:52.40) significantly in yards. She is yet to make a senior international team for Canada, but owns a best of 2:09.63 in the 200 fly from December 2023. With potential Pan Pacs spots available, seeing her drop a new best there to make the team and likely then the final in Irvine this summer. A spot on the 4×200 free relay is a possibility, and seeing her turn into the kind of Swiss Army knife swimmer that Mary-Sophie Harvey is would not be a shock after this NCAA season.

Liberty Clark (Indiana) – USA

Clark has always been a better swimmer in meters than in yards, so her incendiary NCAA season could be the herald of something huge this summer. She was 25.10/54.41/2:00.84 in long course last summer in the freestyle events, but dropped down to 24.67/54.01/1:58.18 at the U.S. Open in December. Having gone from yards times of  21.54/46.83/1:41.27 to 21.25/46.11/1:39.70 since then, those long course bests will almost certainly be smashed. The 4×100 free and 4×200 free relays both have opportunities for someone like Clark to make a charge for the 2027 World Championships, and she should be able to outline her credentials this summer.

Claire Jansen (Pitt) – USA

Jansen has progressed in every one of her four seasons at Pitt, and capped off her senior season with a pair of ‘A’ final appearances at NCAAs in the backstroke events. She lowered her 200 back best by four seconds this season to take 4th in 1:49.10, and her long course bests of 1:01.27/2:11.78 from last summer look in severe danger. While she won’t be on an international team this summer and has a long queue of U.S. backstrokers ahead of her, she has certainly shown the talent to break 60 seconds in the 100 this summer

Ella Jansen (Tennessee) – Canada

Jansen was a semi-finalist at last summer’s World Championships in the 200 free, going 1:57.60 for 11th, but will go into this summer’s Commonwealth Games with a ton of momentum behind her after setting best times in the 200 free, 500 free, and 400 IM at NCAAs. The 400 IM is the most exciting of the three for her as she dropped from 4:01.61 to 3:59.59, and she could challenge her three-year-old best of 4:37.35 in the big pool. A first international medal could be a possibility, with no Summer McIntosh in Glasgow this summer.

Teagan O’Dell (Cal) – USA

One half of a dynamic freshman duo with Claire Weinstein for Cal, O’Dell looked at her best in Atlanta last week, swimming her second-fastest times in the 200 IM and 200 back, and dropping 5.79 seconds in the 400 IM. She could seriously challenge her long course best of 4:39.96 – if she does, O’Dell could throw her hat in the ring for one of the 400 IM spots for the 2027 World Championships.

Mckenzie Siroky (Tennessee) – USA

Siroky was hit with a bit of a swim-off curse last summer, tying for 2nd at U.S. Nationals and then for 1st alternate in the prelims at the 2025 World Championships. She won the first of those in a new best of 30.05 but was half a second slower in the second in 30.56. After cracking 57 seconds for silver in the 100 breast in a time of 56.93 at NCAAs, howver, she could be the swimmer to emerge as the #2 behind Kate Douglass for Team USA. Her long course best in the 100 is 1:07.05 from last May, but she was half a second faster this March than in 2025. She could be one to watch at Pan Pacs, and with Canada and Australia not having strong 100 breaststrokers, she could be in with a shout of the podium if she can convert her yards form.

Maggie Wanezek (Wisconsin) – USA

Wanezek was 59.14 in the 100 back and 2:09.75 in the 200 back in long course meters last summer, but is coming off a pair of podium finishes at NCAAs after swimming 49.62/1:47.73 in the backstroke events. Those are significantly faster than the 50.96/1:50.62 she swam last season, and she could be this year’s U.S. women to break 59 seconds in the 100 back. A 58/2:07 performance this summer does not appear out of the question, as Wanezek will almost certainly add her name to the crowded domestic backstroke field.

Darcy Revitt (Washington State) – Great Britain

The British sprinter in the NCAA you probably don’t know about, Revitt scored her first NCAA points with a 16th-place finish in the 100 free this year, just missing her best time of 47.45. She didn’t hit any best times in long course last summer, but demolished her PBs in the 50 free and 100 free at the U.S. Open in December, clocking 24.70/54.43. If repeated at British Trials next month, she should be on the team for one or both of the Commonwealth Games and the European Championships this summer.

Men

Jack Wilkening (Michigan) – USA

Wilkening was 53.37 in the 100 back in May 2024, when he had a best of just 45.35 in yards. Now, having just shattered his Michigan record with a 43.98 leadoff on their 400 medley relay, he could be the latest U.S. men’s backstroker to break 53 seconds in long course.

The potential in long course does not stop there. He owns a best of 49.78 in the 100 free, but split 40.79 on the Wolverines’ 400 free relay in his final college swim as well as 18.24 on the 200 free relay earlier in the meet. Dropping down into the 48s in the long course 100 looks like a decent bet for him.

Julian Koch (Pitt) – Germany

Hot take – Koch wins at least one individual medal for Germany at the European Championships this summer, having never made an international team before. He set best times of 48.57 in the 100 free and 52.23 in the 100 fly last summer, but has lowered his yards bests by 1.98 seconds and 2.91 seconds to 40.43 and 43.85, respectively. Coupled with his huge drop to go 1:31.95 in the 200-yard free, historically a pretty good indicator for the long course 100, and a big summer looks in store.

Likely joined on the 400 free relay by German record holder Joshua Salchow and fellow NCAA star Kaii Winkler, who was 40.15 anchoring NC State’s 400 free relay and split 47.52 at last year’s World Championships, Germany could medal in that event too. Italy is the favorite, but silver is definitely up for grabs.

Jere Hribar (LSU) – Croatia

Slightly less hot take – Hribar also wins at least one individual medal in Paris this summer, setting a new Croatian record in the 100 free. He was 21.79 in the 50 free and 47.93 in the 100 free last year, the latter a new national standard, but has had a fantastic season for LSU, including moving to #6 all-time in the 100 free in 40.33. That is faster than both Jack Alexy (40.36), Chris Guiliano (40.53), 47-low or better swimmers, and after taking European short course gold in the 50 free in December, along with silver in the 100 free, he could be getting a taste for hardware.

Koby Bujak-Upton (Tennessee) – Australia

Bujak-Upton became the fastest freshman in history in the 200 free with his 1:29.79 at NCAAs, and could be a contender to join NCAA Alum Charlie Hawke and his father, 1988 Olympian Simon Upton, in making an Australian international team. He owns a best of 1:48.74 in the long course 200 from last summer, but can likely dip into the 1:46s, and may make some noise in the 100 free as well. Australian freestyle doesn’t have the same depth as in recent years in the 200, and a Commonwealth Games appearance could be forthcoming.

Tomas Lukminas/Tomas Navikonis (Arizona/OSU) – Lithuania

We’re grouping these two together, as the hype is around Lithuania’s 4×100 free relay this summer. They set a huge national record at the World Championships last year to make the final in 3:12.74, and with Lukminas slicing half a second of his 100 free in yards to go 41.11 and Navikonis setting a new best of 1:30.77 in the 200, that mark could be in danger again this summer.

World Juniors champion Tajus Juska and veteran Danas Rapsys could join them, and if the two Tomas’ carry their college form into meters well, they may not end up too far away from the podium.

Yamato Okadome (Cal) – Japan

Okadome was a double Junior Pan Pacs medalist the summer before joining Cal, winning the 100 and placing 2nd in the 200, but didn’t drop much time last summer after making a pair of ‘A’ finals at NCAAs. One year and two individual NCAA titles later, he looks likely to crack the 1:00 barrier, having come close with a 1:00.21 in June 2025. He won’t be at Pan Pacs or the Asian Games, with the rosters for those two meets determined at the 101st Japan Swim Open the week before men’s NCAAs, but watch out for some big swims on the European swim circuit this summer.

Tolu Young (ASU) – Fiji

Young swam at the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2022, placing 23rd in the 50 free and 31st in the 100 free at the age of 17. After a fantastic sophomore season at ASU, including placing 9th in the 50 free at NCAAs, he goes into the Games this summer as a potential, or even likely, finalist in the 50 free. He owns Fijian records in the 50/100 free and 50/100 fly, the former two set at the U.S. Open in December, and his 50 free mark of 21.92 could be one that threatens the podium in Glasgow. Josh Liendo and Cam McEvoy will take the plaudits in that event, but watch for Young to establish himself internationally this summer.

Maximus Williamson (Virginia) – USA

Could we resist? Williamson flamed out a little at U.S. Nationals last year, placing 22nd in the 100 free (50.05) before scratching the rest of the meet, but should make a far bigger splash this year. He looks to have adapted superbly to college life at Virginia, and is the only swimmer in college to have a 100% winning record in individual events at NCAAs after taking the 200 free and 200 IM titles this week. Setting best times of 1:30.03 in the 200 free and 1:38.48 in the 200 IM raises some questions over what he could swim in long course. He owns personal bests of 48.38/1:47.11 in the 100/200 free and 1:57.29 in the 200 IM, all from 2023, but will throw his name into the mix as a relay piece or more for the 2027 World Championships with some big performances this summer.

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