2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
- March 26-29, 2025
- Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
- Psych Sheet
- Eligible Relays
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- Live Results
- Live Recaps
Day 4 Prelims Heat Sheet
“And now the end is near…”
Well folks where we are, about to embark on the final prelims session of the 2025 NCAA Championships. A meet like no other. It is the first since the conference realignemnt and it is the last with athletes granted an extra year of eligibility.
We start the session with the 200 backstroke. Top-seeded Hubert Kos will be hunting for his third title of the week, having previously tasted victory in the 200 IM and 100 back. He eeked out narrow wins over Destin Lasco and Jonny Marshall, both of who are in this event and hungry for the top of the podium. Danger also lurks in the form of his former teammate at ASU, Owen McDonald. McDonald finished 3rd last year and returns this year looking to not only improve upon that placing but also to help his new team, Indiana, gain as many points as possible against rivals Cal, Texas, and Florida.
The 100 free, my personal least favorite event to swim, is going to be fast, vicious and will take no quarter. Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks and Florida’s Josh Liendo have had a stranglehold on the sprint event these last few years and look to again as they come in as the top two seeds, entered at 40.26 and 40.45. Cal’s Jack Alexy, the #3 seed, will look to break up the SEC pair as he seeks to help CAL win the title, but he’ll have Olympic teammate and Texas Longhorn Chris Guiliano right next to him in the prelims. After a strong showing yesterday in the 400 Medley, ASU will be hoping for a strong showing from Jonny Kulow and Elite 90 winner Patrick Sammon as the Sun Devils are chasing a top 5 finish in the team battle.
The 200 breast, my favorite event to swim, sees a new cast of characters take to the forefront as Ivy League rivals Matthew Fallon of Penn, the top seed, and Jack Kelly of Brown, the #3 seed will look for the win. Last year’s 3rd place finisher Carles Coll Marti won’t make it easy, nor will Indiana’s pair of Josh Matheny and Jassen Yep, each of whom are looking to knock Cal out of their stranglehold on a top-two team finish.
The last individual event of the morning is the 200 fly. Georgia’s Luca Urlando, absent from this meet for two years, returns as the top seed. The runner-up from 2022, Urlando broke the NCAA record earlier this season, scaring the sub-1:37 barrier, going 1:37.17. ASU, who sits just 5.5 points back will look to Ilya Kharun, the #2 seed, to try to prevent Urlando from winning his first NCAA title. The pair finished 3rd and 2nd in the 100 fly, respectively.
I now turn over the preview to SwimSwam’s diving expert, a two-time All-American and a member of the 2021 NCAA National Championship team, Noah Duperre
Diving concludes at these championships with the platform event. Just like on the three-meter, Indiana has three real contenders to make the A final and have a legitimate chance for their team to sweep all the diving titles here in Federal Way. Carson Tyler is the two-time defending champion but will face stiff competition from reigning Big Ten champion Jordan Rzepkaof Purdue. Last year, Cal went 1 up/1 down in the platform event, a huge moment for the Bear diving team. Both of those men return this year, so Geoffrey Vavitsas and Joshua Thaiwill help the Golden Bears try to chase down the Longhorns. Texas freshmanJacob Welsh has had a breakout performance at these championships and could be one to watch on Saturday in what is arguably his strongest event.
Men’s 200 Backstroke – Prelims
- NCAA Record: 1:35.37 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
- Championship Record: 1:35.37 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
- American Record: 1:35.37 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
- U.S. Open Record: 1:35.37 – Destin Lasco, Cal (2024)
- 2024 Champion: Destin Lasco, Cal – 1:35.37
- 2024 Time to Final: 1:38.36/1:39.92
Top 16
- Hubert Kos (TEX) – 1:36.08
- Destin Lasco (CAL) – 1:36.40
- Gabriel Jett (CAL) – 1:36.69
- Ruard Van Renen (UGA) – 1:37.08
- Mewen Tomac (CAL) – 1:37.26
- Owen McDonald (IU) – 1:37.67
- Will Modglin (TEX) – 1:38.04
- Jonny Marshall (UF) – 1:38.07
- Kai Van Westering (IU) – 1:38.62
- Aaron Sequeira (STAN) – 1:39.14
- Keaton Jones (CAL) – 1:39.25
- Humberto Najera (CAL) – 1:39.30
- Pietro Ubertalli (COR) – 1:39.36
- Daniel Diehl (NCST) – 1:39.39
- Tommy Hagar (BAMA) – 1:39.43
- Cornelius Jahn (OSU)/Kyle Peck (TEX)/Josh Zuchowski (STAN) – 1:39.61
NC State’s Kyle Ponsler put up a strong performance in the first heat of the session, dropping 2.47 seconds to take the win in 1:41.15. Ponsler was the last entrant in the field, coming in with a 1:43.62.
There was a phrase going around the SwimSwam staff at the Olympic Trials, “Death, Taxes, and Ryan Murphy +1 in the 200 back.” While Murphy has obviously exhausted his collegiate eligibility, CAL somehow continues to produce 200 backstrokers. In heat 2, the #32 seeded Humberto Najera of Cal produced a swift 1:39.30 to take the win from lane 1. Out in 48.56, Najera dropped 1.19 from his seed and became the first swimmer under 1:40. For reference, that time would have easily made the B final last year, and there are still 24 swims left.
See above.
No, really. In the very next heat, Cal’s Destin Lasco and Mewen Tomac continued the Cal=2 back trend, going 1-2. Lasco, seeded 6th this year, is the defending champion and was out in 47.42, trailing Owen McDonald‘s 47.27 and Tomac’s 47.07. But Lasco used his strong underwaters and great backhalf to power through the field and take the heat win in 1:36.40. Tomac, swimming out of lane 8, took 2nd in a new PB of 1:37.26, with McDonald nabbing 3rd in 1:37.67.
Heat 4 saw the #2 seed and last night’s runner-up in the 100 back, Johnny Marshall, open in a swift 46.92, the only swimmer under 47.00. The Gator paid for his speed on the back half coming home in 26.01 in the last 50, a result which nearly cost him as he qualified just 8th for the A-final. fellow sophomore Will Modglin of Texas, who closed in 25.52, nabbed the heat win from Marshall going 1:38.04.
The last heat was a fast affair. Kos, the new NCAA record holder in the 100 back, was out in 47.49, trailing Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen’s 47.74, but Kos, who has been on fire this week, didn’t panic and used a 24.11 last 50 to grab control of the heat and event posting the top time of 1:36.08. Cal’s Gabriel Jett, 47.74 at the 100, too, used a strong backhalf to pass Van Renen in the closing yards to nab 2nd behind Kos in 1:36.69.
The three-way tie for 16th, requiring the weekend’s 2nd swim-off, will go off at 11;15 local. OSU’s Cornelius Jahn, Texas’s Kyle Peck, and Josh Zuchowski of Stanford all tied at 1:39.61. Only one will advance to the B-Final. Results Below
Virginia’s David King, a first-year, entered the meet as the #7 seed but no-showed the event.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
NCAA Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)Championship Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)- American Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)
U.S. Open Record: 39.90 – Caeleb Dressel, Florida (2018)- 2024 Champion: Josh Liendo, Florida – 40.20
- 2024 Time to Final: 41.29/41.71
Top 16
- Jordan Crooks (TENN) – 39.83 ***NEW NCAA, US OPEN RECORD***
- Josh Liendo (FLOR) – 40.28
- Jack Alexy (CAL) – 40.45
- Guilherme Caribe (TENN) – 40.51
- Chris Guiliano (TEX) – 40.70
- Jonny Kulow (ASU) – 40.83
- Jere Hribar (LSU) – 40.94
- Matthew King (IU) – 41.14
- Patrick Sammon (ASU) – 41.17
- Bjorn Seeliger (CAL) – 41.41
- Luke Hobson (TEX) – 41.45
- Youssef Ramadan (VT) – 41.50
- Lamar Taylor (TENN) – 41.51
- Remi Fabiani (CBU) – 41.52
- Matthew Jensen (CAL) – 41.61
- Brendan Whitfield (VT) – 41.62
Is nothing sacred anymore? A morning prelims swim that breaks the NCAA record, a record set by Caeleb Dressel. Well, I did not see that coming, and if you did well then Kudos.
39.83.
Its not a typo. Swimming in the last heat, Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks, the winner of the 50 free on Day 2 exploded off the start. Out in 9.02, Crooks was 18.98 to the feet at the 50 and, going 10.46 and 10.39 on the last 25s, came to the wall in 39.83, breaking the old record by .07. With such a swim, Crooks is clearly the fastest swimmer on the planet right now.
His SEC rival, Josh Liendo of Florida, winner of the 100 fly, will take lane 5 tonight as he was 40.28 this morning, a time that equals his winning time from 2023. Liendo was out .01 faster to the first 25, but was 19.15 at the 50 and continued to lose ground to Crooks from their going 10.58 and 10.55 on the last 25s.
Jack Alexy kept things to form as the #3 seed on the psych sheets will be the #3 seed tonight as well, having a prelims swim of 40.45. Not keeping to seed, however, was Indiana’s Matt King. King, who entered the meet as the 20th seed (41.73) dropped a hammer of a swim setting a new PB of 41.14, having a previous best of 41.34. It was a massive swim for the Hoosiers as they were seeded to score no points in this event.
Texas also gained an advantage in the team race as Chris Guiliano dropped one place to be the 5th seed tonight (50.70), and Luke Hobson, yesterday’s 200 free winner, jumped from the #39 seed (42.19) to being seeded 11th tonight (41.45).
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
- NCAA Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
- Championship Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
- American Record: 1:47.91 – Will Licon, Texas (2017)
- U.S. Open Record: 1:46.35 – Leon Marchand, Arizona State (2024)
- 2024 Champion: Leon Marchand, Arizona State – 1:46.35
- 2024 Time to Final: 1:51.65/1:52.71
Top 16
- Carles Coll Marti (VT) – 1:49.23
- Jassen Yep (IU) – 1:49.39
- Matthew Fallon (PENN) – 1:49.85
- Caspar Corbeau (IU) – 1:50.07
- Jack Kelly (BROWN) – 1:50.09
- Jacob Eccleston (LOU) – 1:50.19
- Denis Petrashov (LOU) – 1:50.23
- Yamato Okadome (CAL) – 1:50.35
- Josh Matheny (IU) – 1:50.41
- Ben Delmar (UNC) – 1:50.51
- Aleksas Savickas (FLOR) – 1:50.84
- Will Scholtz (TEX) – 1:51.30
- Chris O’Grady (USC) – 1:51.35
- Ron Polonsky (STAN) – 1:51.39
- Nate Germonprez (TEX) – 1:51.44
- Daniel Li (STAN) – 1:51.83
The top 15 swimmers all would have qualified for the A-final last year, showing that across-the-board events have been much, much faster. Last year’s 3rd place finisher,