2026-27 College Swimming Previews: 3 Indiana Men Poised to Challenge for NCAA Title ...Middle East

By Madeline Folsom 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 2026 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine.

*As of publishing, Indiana has still not published an updated roster for the 2026-2027 swim season. We know Zalan Sarkany and Owen McDonald received extra NCAA eligibility via a lawsuit, and they will be included in this preview. 

Key Losses: Kai van Westering (18 NCAA points), Maxwell Weinrich (4 NCAA points)

Key Additions: #2 Gabriel Manteufel (NV  – free/IM), BOTR Grant Kellis (AZ – free/back), BOTR Brody Engelstad (ND – free/fly/IM), BOTR Matt Krause (PA – back/free/fly), BOTR Elliot Rijnovean (MI – back/free/fly), BOTR Sam Wolf (WI – breast/free/IM), Oliver Dawson (Canada – breaststroke)

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. Still, 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.

2025-26 Season Lookback

The Indiana men had a phenomenal season last year, which culminated with them finishing 3rd at the NCAA Championships, repeating their finish from 2025 despite losing more than two-thirds of their individual points following the 2025 Championships.

Freshman Josh Bey was a major addition to the program. He was the top breaststroker in his class coming out of high school, but in his freshman year at Indiana, he scored 41 points at the NCAA Championships, finishing 2nd in the 200 breaststroke, and 7th in both IM events to be the top scorer on the team.

He was followed by Zalan Sarkany, who brought in 39 points with his 2nd place finish in the 1650 free, 4th place finish in the 500 free, and 10th place finish in the 400 IM. Fellow senior Owen McDonald was their only other scorer with more than 30 points after he took 2nd in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 back.

Freshman Noah Cakir and sophomore Alexei Avakov both scored 20 points, with Cakir finishing 9th in the 200 breast and 200 IM and Avakov taking 6th in the 100 breast and 10th in the 200 breast.

The Hoosiers also finished in the top-10 in all but one relay, the 200 free relay, where they took 12th overall. Their highest finish came in the 200 medley relay, where they took 4th in 1:20.46.

Sprint Free: ★★

One of the few places where Indiana is weak is in the sprint freestyle events, though they are hoping to change that this season. Their top returning sprinter is Mikkel Lee, who has a lifetime best of 18.89 from the 2026 NCAA Championships. This time was good for 18th overall by just one hundredth, and made him the only sprinter on the team under 19 seconds in the event.

Indiana also has Miroslav Knedla as a potential sprint freestyle piece. He recently swam the 50 free at the first CSL match, and could find his way into the event on the 3rd day of the NCAA Championships.

In the 100 free, Lee was again the fastest at 41.56, which he swam to take 16th in the event, scoring one point at NCAAs. He is joined under 42 seconds by Dylan Smiley, who is entering his senior year at 41.59 and Owen McDonald in 41.99.

In the 200 free, their top finisher last year was Aaron Shackell, who swam a PB 1:31.76 to take 17th overall. McDonald was their next fastest 200 freestyler in 1:32.05.

They picked up a few freshmen who can also sprint including Brody Engelstad, Elliot Rijnovean, Sam Wolf, and Matt Krause. All four are stronger in other strokes, but have the potential to develop into NCAA qualifiers depending on what the team needs.

Distance Free: ★★★★★

The Indiana men have an argument for the best distance freestyle group in the country, particularly with the return of Zalan Sarkany.

An NCAA Champion in the 1650, Sarkany took 2nd in the event last year, swimming a monster 14:12.20 to come in more than 10 seconds ahead of 2nd place.

He was joined in the scoring finishers by Luke Whitlock, who swam 14:34.30 for 6th, a three second add from his 14:31.54. Both will be near locks to finish in the top-eight again this year.

In the 500 free, Sarkany took 4th in a personal best 4:07.95, while Aaron Shackell also raced in the ‘A’ final, finishing 7th in 4:12.23. Shackell’s best is 4:11.01 from the NCAA prelims, which would have been 6th in the event.

Luke Whitlock also has a potential NCAA scoring swim with his best of 4:09.60 from the Big Ten Championships, though he added at NCAAs, swimming 4:14.41 to finish 22nd in the event.

Indiana also picked up a massive freshman sprinter in #2 ranked Gabriel Manteufel. He is the top distance freestyler in the class and is coming in with best times of 4:13.55 in the 500 free and 14:40.21.

His 500 free sits just outside the 4:12.75 it took to score last season while his 1650 would have been 10th. If he handles the college transition well, he will be an immediate impact maker for the team.

Backstroke: ★★★

Indiana will retain Owen McDonald for one more season, which will be a massive boost to their backstroke group after he finished 5th in the 100 back at the 2026 NCAAs.

McDonald swam a personal best 43.84 to take 5th, and only one of the athletes who finished ahead of him will be back for this season.

McDonald is also a strong 200 backstroker, having swum 1:37.15 in the event at the 2025 Big Ten Championships to earn the win before he took 6th at the 2025 NCAA Championships. He did not swim the event last season, since the new schedule put the 200 back on the same day as his best event, the 200 IM, but he will likely be back in it this year as a potential ‘A’ finalist.

Indiana also has Miroslav Knedla back this season after he swam a personal best 44.61 to take 13th in the 100 back. He finished 25th in the 200 back at 1:40.14, but his lifetime best of 1:39.26 would have been 16th.

Sophomore David Kovacs is another potential backstroke scorer for the Hoosiers. He was off his best in the 200 back at NCAAs, but that is typical for a freshman. His best in the 200 back was 1:39.18 and he swam 1:40.06 at NCAAs to take 24th overall. In the 100 back, he finished 34th in a personal best 45.73.

Raekwon Noel was an individual NCAA qualifier, finishing 20th in the 100 back at 44.95, though he focuses more on the butterfly events.

Breaststroke: ★★★★★

Breaststroke U got their name for a reason. Sophomore Josh Bey is back this season after he took 2nd in the 200 breast last year with his 1:48.79.

Their 200 breaststroke group is very strong with senior Toby Barnett finishing 6th in a lifetime best 1:49.80 at the NCAA Championships. Barnett also tied for 15th in the 100 breast at 51.53.

Noah Cakir took 9th with his 1:51.38 at NCAAs. This was a slight add from his lifetime best of 1:50.47 from the Big Ten Championships, which would have been 8th overall.

Junior Alexei Avakov is the top returning 100 breaststroker. He finished 6th in the 100 breast (50.58) and 10th in the 200 breast (1:51.43). Both swims were lifetime bests for him at NCAAs, and he will be hoping to drop under 50 seconds in the 100 this year.

Junior Travis Gulledge took 14th in the 100 breast, swimming 51.50 to add a little more than two tenths from the 51.27 he swam at the Indiana Last Chance meet. That time would have been 12th overall.

Finally, the Hoosiers picked up Canadian breaststroker Oliver Dawson. He broke all three Canadian men’s LCM breaststroke records this season, and his conversions come in at 51.65/1:52.06, which are right on the scoring threshold.

Butterfly: ★★★

Raekwon Noel is their top returning butterfly, though he is more oriented towards the 200 event. In the 200, he finished 6th at the 2026 NCAA Championships, stopping the clock in 1:39.54. This was a slight add from the 1:39.26 he swam at the Big Ten Championships, which would have been 5th.

In the 100 fly, Indiana will have Owen McDonald back after he set the top time of 44.62 at the Big Ten Championships. This would put him right within the scoring range, at 6th, but he likely won’t swim the event individually over the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM.

The Hoosiers also have Andrew Shackell in the fly events, though his bests of 45.93 and 1:41.26 are a little outside NCAA qualifying.

IM: ★★★★★

Another phenomenal group, the Indiana IM group returns all of their points from 2026.

Josh Bey qualified for both IM ‘A’ finals in his freshman season, and will be back this year after he took 7th in both.

In the 400 IM, he swam 3:37.23, a three second add from his monster 3:34.90 at the Big Ten Championships, which would have been 2nd in the event. He swam 1:41.98 in the 200 IM, a slight add from the 1:41.17 he swam in the prelims.

The Hoosiers 200 IM group put three swimmers into the ‘A’ final including Bey. Owen McDonald was the top performer in that event, taking the runner-up spot with his lifetime best 1:38.57 coming in just behind Maximus Williamson.

Noah Cakir was the final Indiana swimmer in the ‘A’ final, swimming 1:42.23 to finish 8th, a little more than a second off the 1:40.94 lifetime best he swam in prelims. If all three of them match their bests in the final, Indiana could put three swimmers in the top-five in the event.

In the 400 IM, Zalan Sarkany was their next highest finisher after he took 10th in a lifetime best 3:38.54.

The group will also add Gabriel Manteufel, who has a lifetime best of 3:48.29 in the 400 IM, though he hasn’t raced it since March of 2025, but he time trialed it at USA Swimming Nationals and set a lifetime best in the event.

Diving: ★★

For the first time in recent memory, the Indiana divers did not score double digit points at NCAAs. They only scored 4 points courtesy of Maxwell Weinrich’s 13th place finish in the platform event.

Weinrich graduated after last season, but Indiana picked up a new diver in Mason Mankey, who is the U.S. junior title winner in the 3-meter event.

Relays: ★★★★

Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.

Relay grading system:

Indiana doesn’t lose a single member of any of their relay teams from the 2026 NCAA Championships. If all their relay members continue to fire on all cylinders this season, they could earn top-eight finishes in all five relays.

Total Stars: 29/40

2026-27 Outlook

The Indiana men look phenomenal this season, and they have a serious chance of challenging for the NCAA title if they can match their 2026 NCAA performance.

Owen McDonald and Zalan Sarkany winning an extra year of eligibility is huge for the program, and they will be major point scorers again this season.

Josh Bey had an exceptional freshman season, and he is a serious threat for the 200 breaststroke NCAA title this year, which would be a huge part of Indiana potentially looking to win their first NCAA title since 1973.

They have a mountain ahead of them with the Texas men, however, and performing well on the relays is going to be crucial in that pursuit. Top-five finishes in the freestyle relays and a potential top-eight finish in the 200 free relay could go a long way with boosting their point totals.

Men’s 2026-27 College Preview Index

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026-27 College Swimming Previews: #3 Indiana Men Poised to Challenge for NCAA Title

Hence then, the article about 2026 27 college swimming previews 3 indiana men poised to challenge for ncaa title was published today ( Wednesday 30/09/2026 - 10:20 PM ) and is available on swimswam ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 2026-27 College Swimming Previews: 3 Indiana Men Poised to Challenge for NCAA Title )

Also on site :

• Mercedes tackles Sepang with special livery and major upgrades
• Manchester City Could Face a Massive Punishment, What Happens Next?
• Chad Tracy’s controversial call to pull Payton Tolle backfired for Red Sox in horrific fashion in Game 1 blowout