Hoosiers Eye Another Top Three Finish at NCAA Championships

Saturday, March 28

Atlanta, Ga.

10 a.m.

Indiana University

NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships - Prelims

Hoosiers Eye Another Top Three Finish at NCAA Championships

3/28/2026 3:30:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)

ATLANTA – Indiana has positioned itself well Saturday (March 28) for one final surge up the leaderboard at the 2026 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.

IU entered the day at No. 3 in the team standings with 254 points. In the final preliminary session Saturday morning, Indiana clinched six final swims as two more Hoosiers scored points within the top 16. The men's program will lock up its eighth consecutive top six national finish and fifth consecutive top five finish Saturday night.

Alpharetta, Georgia, native Owen McDonald has the chance to end his collegiate career on a high Saturday night in Atlanta. The senior earned the top seed in the 200-yard IM final as the lone morning swimmer under 1:40. Previously in the event, McDonald finished third last season and second as a sophomore with Arizona State.

Freshmen Noah Cakir and Josh Bey both set personal bests to join McDonald and make it three Hoosier finalists in the 200 IM. It's Cakir's first-career final, while Bey previously finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke and seventh in the 400 IM during his NCAA debut.

Sophomore Raekwon Noel went 1:39.55 in the 200-yard butterfly to earn his first-career individual All-American honors. Senior Kai van Westering ended IU's morning with a personal best in the 200-yard backstroke, his 1:38.18 tying him as the second-fastest Hoosier all-time with Brendan Burns.

Indiana will also race the 400-yard freestyle relay, coming in as the No. 6 seed in the event.

RESULTS
100 BACKSTROKE
1. Owen McDonald – 1:39.48 (Championship Final Top Qualifier, First-Team All-American)
5. Noah Cakir – 1:40.94 (Championship Final, Personal Best, First-Team All-American)
6. Josh Bey – 1:41.17 (Championship Final, Personal Best, First-Team All-American)
19. Toby Barnett – 1:42.90

100 FREESTYLE
16. Mikkel Lee – 41.56 (Personal Best, Second-Team All-American)
18. Dylan Smiley – 41.63

200 BUTTERFLY
6. Raekwon Noel – 1:39.55 (Championship Final, First-Team All-American)
27. Aaron Shackell – 1:42.47 (Personal Best)

200 BACKSTROKE
7. Kai van Westering – 1:38.18 (Championship Final, Personal Best, First-Team All-American)
24. David Kovacs – 1:40.06
25. Miroslav Knedla – 1:40.14

PLATFORM
13. Maxwell Weinrich – 365.10 (Second-Team All-America)

HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Alexei Avakov – 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke*, 400 medley relay
Toby Barnett – 100 breaststroke*, 200 breaststroke
Josh Bey – 400 IM, 200 breaststroke, 200 IM
Noah Cakir – 200 breaststroke*, 200 IM
Travis Gulledge – 200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke*, 200 freestyle relay*
Miroslav Knedla – 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay*, 100 backstroke*, 400 medley relay
Mikkel Lee – 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay*, 100 freestyle*
Owen McDonald – 200 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke, 400 medley relay, 200 IM
Raekwon Noel – 800 freestyle relay, 200 butterfly
Zalán Sárkány – 1,650 freestyle, 400 IM*, 500 freestyle
Aaron Shackell – 800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle
Dylan Smiley – 800 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay*, 400 medley relay
Kai van Westering – 100 backstroke*, 200 backstroke
Maxwell Weinrich – Platform*
Luke Whitlock – 1,650 freestyle

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