By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
University of Virginia freshman Maximus Williamson had a phenomenal performance at his debut NCAA Championship meet last week in Atlanta, going two-for-two in individual titles while playing a key role on all four of the team’s relays.
After winning the 200 free title on Thursday night out of Lane 8, which came after teammate David King gave Williamson the spot in the final (rather than contesting a swim-off after they tied for 8th in the prelims), Williamson followed up two nights later with an arguably even more impressive swim in the 200 IM.
The 19-year-old set a new personal best time in the prelims, clocking 1:40.06 to improve on his month-old mark of 1:40.78 set en route to a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships, to qualify 2nd into the final behind Indiana’s Owen McDonald.
McDonald was coming in as the pre-race favorite, having finished 2nd in the 200 IM in 2024 and then placing 3rd last year.
In the final, McDonald built a lead of nearly seven-tenths through the first 100, and then Williamson pulled back 25 one-hundredths on the breaststroke leg, leaving him just over four-tenths back heading into the last 50.
Using his freestyle prowess, Williamson ran down McDonald, out-splitting him on the last 50, 23.72 to 24.24, to win the national title in a time of 1:38.48. McDonald was just nine one-hundredths back in 1:38.57.
Split Comparison – 2026 NCAA Final
Williamson McDonald 21.47 20.94 45.71 (24.24) 45.03 (24.09) 1:14.76 (29.05) 1:14.33 (29.30) 1:38.48 (23.72) 1:38.57 (24.24)RACE VIDEO
Courtesy of NCAA Championships on YouTube
The swim for Williamson marked a 2.3-second best time relative to where he was coming into the meet.
Split Comparison – Williamson
2026 ACC Final 2026 NCAA Prelims 2026 NCAA Final 21.90 21.78 21.47 46.79 (24.89) 46.79 (25.01) 45.71 (24.24) 1:17.00 (30.21) 1:15.78 (28.99) 1:14.76 (29.05) 1:40.78 (23.78) 1:40.06 (24.28) 1:38.48 (23.72)The 2023 World Junior champion in the long course 200 IM, Williamson now ranks 6th all-time in the SCY event, trailing four previous NCAA champions in the event and Caeleb Dressel, who never swam the 200 IM at the NCAA Championships but did at the 2018 SECs.
Williamson was also within eight-tenths of the fastest time ever produced by a freshman, produced by the current Olympic champion, world champion and world record holder in the event, Leon Marchand.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 200 IM (SCY)
Leon Marchand (Arizona State), 1:36.34 – 2023 Destin Lasco (Cal) / Hubert Kos (Texas), 1:37.91 – 2024 / 2025 – Caeleb Dressel (Florida), 1:38.13 – 2018 Andrew Seliskar (Cal), 1:38.14 – 2019 Maximus Williamson (Virginia), 1:38.48 – 2026 Owen McDonald (Indiana), 1:38.57 – 2026 Hugo Gonzalez (Cal), 1:38.72 – 2023 Shaine Casas (Texas A&M), 1:38.95 – 2020 Luca Urlando (Georgia), 1:39.22 – 2022With his two individual wins, Williamson scored 40 points to help propel the Virginia men to a 9th-place finish in the team standings, their best since 2021 and a dramatic improvement after placing 32nd last year.
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