No. 3 Hoosiers Ready for NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 25

Atlanta, Ga.

Indiana University

NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

3/23/2026 7:30:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Live Results Watch

ATLANTA – Coming off its fifth consecutive Big Ten Championship, No. 3-ranked Indiana will look to perform its best this week at the 2026 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta.

The four-day meet will run Wednesday (March 25) through Saturday (March 28) inside the McCauley Aquatic Center. Final sessions will kick off at 6 p.m. ET each night, preceded by preliminary heats each morning starting at 10 a.m. ET. Fans can stream the competition via the ESPN+ digital platform.

FORMAT CHANGES
The 2026 championships include three major format changes.

First, the championships will not include 'B' finals. Athletes that place ninth through 16th from preliminaries will still earn second-team All-American status but will not advance to a second swim, retaining the placement they earned in the morning.

Second, relay and 1,650-yard freestyle timed finals will occur during the preliminary session. Only the fastest heats of those events will swim in the evening.

Third, the diving championship finals will split in two parts during the evening session. Each of the three final nights will follow this order: two swimming events, first three rounds of diving, two swimming events, final rounds of diving, relay.

QUALIFIERS
Indiana qualified 19 athletes (16 swimmers, three divers) for the national meet, the largest roster among the competing teams. IU will have a representative in every event and multiple competitors in 20 of 22 events. The Hoosiers have six qualifications in the 400-yard IM, five in the 100-yard backstroke and four apiece in the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM. Including relays, Hoosiers own 16 top 10 seeds and six top five seeds in their events.

SENIOR TOP SEEDS
The two-time reigning champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle, senior Zalán Sárkány is the top seed in the meet's opening event on Wednesday. While short course and NCAA Championships experience are on his side, he'll have to fend off two long course world champions in Florida's Ahmed Jaouadi and Ahmed Hafnaoui.

An 11-time All-American and two-time NCAA medalist, as well as an NCAA team champion during his time at Arizona State, senior Owen McDonald will want to check individual champion off the list. McDonald will have his best shot in the 200-yard IM as the top seed coming into the week.

YOUNG GUNS
Indiana boasts one of the top freshman classes in the country, qualifying four first-year athletes for the national meet.

Josh Bey turned heads with his Big Ten record, conference champion swim in the 400 IM last month, setting the No. 2 time in the country with a 3:34.90. Bey projects to score in all three of his events, ranking No. 6 in the 200-yard breaststroke (1:50.03) and 14th in the 200-yard IM (1:41.68).

Classmate Noah Cakir will swim the same program as Bey. Cakir ranks right behind Bey in the 200 breast in seventh, his 1:50.47 setting a 17-18 National Age Group record at the Big Ten Championships.

Luke Ellis gives Indiana depth in the distance events. His 14:43.01 for a Big Ten bronze medal earned the No. 12 time in the country.

Bloomington native David Kovacs qualified for this week from Indiana's "Last Chance" meet earlier this month, his 1:39.18 in the 200-yard backstroke ranking No. 14 in the country. Kovacs will also swim the 100 back and 400 IM.

GLUE GUYS
Depth separates the high-scoring teams from the field, and Indiana once again has it. Raekwon Noel, Aaron Shackell, Kai van Westering, Travis Gulledge, Alexei Avakov, Dylan Smiley, Toby Barnett and Miroslav Knedla all rank top 20 in at least one event and, with a personal best swim or two (or three), can play a mighty role in a high team finish.

Most notable, Noel ranks No. 8 in the 200-yard butterfly (1:39.26). Barnett joins Bey and Cakir within the top 10 of the 200 breast (1:50.75). And Knedla ranks No. 17 in both the 100 back (44.67) and 200 back (1:39.28).

POINTS ON THE BOARDS
Indiana eclipsed 100 points in diving alone each of the last three seasons. Despite the graduation of national champions Carson Tyler and Quinn Henninger, IU still has plenty of opportunities to capture points on the boards this week.

Senior Maxwell Weinrich leads the group, hungry to etch his name in the unparalleled history of IU diving. Weinrich was national runner-up on platform to Tyler in 2024 and is a four-time All-American. He'll dive in all three events, joined by sophomore teammates Joshua Sollenberger (1-meter, 3-meter) and Aiden Sadler (3-meter).

MEET INFO
Wednesday, March 25 – Saturday, March 29 • 10 a.m. ET (prelims), 6 p.m. (finals)
McAuley Aquatic Center • Atlanta, Ga.
Live Results (Swimming): https://bit.ly/4btUAsd/Meet Mobile (App)
Live Results (Diving): divemeets.com
Live Stream: ESPN+

SCHEDULED EVENTS (Finals)
Wednesday (6 p.m. ET) – 1,650 freestyle, 200 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay
Thursday (6 p.m. ET) – 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay, 1-meter springboard
Friday (6 p.m. ET) – 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay, 3-meter springboard
Saturday (6 p.m. ET) – 200 IM, 100 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke, 400 freestyle relay, platform

INDIANA SWIMMING AND DIVING QUALIFIERS
2026 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
Alexei Avakov – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke
Toby Barnett – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
Josh Bey – 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
Noah Cakir – 200 breaststroke, 200 IM, 400 IM
Luke Ellis – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM
Travis Gulledge – 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke
Miroslav Knedla – 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
David Kovacs – 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 400 IM
Mikkel Lee – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle
Owen McDonald – 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 IM
Raekwon Noel – 100 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly
Aiden Sadler – 3-meter
Zalán Sárkány – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM
Aaron Shackell – 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 butterfly
Dylan Smiley – 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke
Joshua Sollenberger – 1-meter, 3-meter
Maxwell Weinrich – 1-meter, 3-meter, platform
Kai van Westering – 200 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
Luke Whitlock – 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM
200 freestyle relay
400 freestyle relay
800 freestyle relay
200 medley relay
400 freestyle relay

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