2025 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

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)
• SwimSwam Pick’Em Contest
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Day 1 Heat Sheets

Welcome to the first night of the 2025 Men’s Division I NCAA Championships! We’re looking forward to bringing you live coverage of all the action out in Federal Way. As always, our first session will be short, sweet, and to the point. Just a pair of relays: the 200 medley and 800 free, will make up this session.

While there are only two events tonight, we should be in for a thrilling couple of races, as it’s on the board that the NCAA records go down in both. Tennessee leads the entries in the 200 medley relay after having gone a 1:20.22 at the SEC Championships last month. That time put them just 0.07 seconds off the NCAA record of 1:20.15, which Florida set at last year’s NCAAs. Speaking of the Gators, they come in as the 2nd seed, holding a season best of 1:20.66. Texas is the only other team to have gone under 1:21 this season, entering as the 3rd seed with a 1:20.75.

Florida comes in as the top seed in the 800 free relay, having won the SEC title in 6:02.50. With that performance, they were just 0.24 seconds off the NCAA record of 6:02.26, which Cal set last year. Cal has only been 6:06.66, but actually returns the same team that set the record last year, even though they may opt to use some different swimmers this year. Texas is the #2 seed in the 800 free, having gone 6:03.24 at SECs, while Georgia is the 3rd seed at 6:05.43. The Texas squad holds the American Record in the event.

Men’s 200 Medley Relay

• NCAA Record: 1:20.15 — Florida (Chaney, Smith, Liendo, McDuff) (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:20.15 — Florida (Chaney, Smith, Liendo, McDuff) (2024)
• American Record: 1:20.98 — NC State (Hayes, Hoover, Miller, McCarty) (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:20.15 — Florida (Chaney, Smith, Liendo, McDuff) (2024)
• 2024 Champion: Florida (Chaney, Smith, Liendo, McDuff) — 1:20.15

Top 8:

1. Texas (Modglin, Germonprez, Kos, Guiliano) – 1:20.28
2. Tennessee (Taylor, Houseman, Caribe, Crooks) – 1:20.50
3. California (Seeliger, Okadome, Rose, Alexy) – 1:20.76
4. Arizona State (Vergnes, Dobrzanski, Kharun, Kulow) – 1:20.87
5. Indiana (Barr, Benzing, Brooks, King) – 1:20.92 (American Record)
6. NC State (McCarty, Hoover, Miller, Fox) – 1:21.16
7. Florida State (Herbet, Baravelli, Arkhangelskiy, Bork) – 1:21.60
8. Georgia (Urlando, Pitshugin, Van Renen, Bidois) – 1:22.01

Well… this meet didn’t get off to the ideal start for a handful of teams. First and foremost, Florida was disqualified for a false start on the fly-to-free exchange. The Gators had set the NCAA record in the event with a time of 1:20.05. On that Florida team, Jonny Marshall (20.59), Julian Smith (22.14), Josh Liendo (19.08), and Scotty Buff (18.24) combined for a 1:20.05, coming in 0.1 under the record. Buff’s reaction time was -0.06, just outside the permitted -0.04 margin.

Virginia Tech was disqualified in heat 2, as was Michigan. The Hokies would have finished 11th, while the Wolverines would have been 12th. Virginia Tech had a 15m infraction on the lead-off, while Michigan’s swimmer #2 false started.

That left the winner of the 200 medley relay…Texas! In their bid to reclaim the NCAA title, the Longhorns are off to the start they needed. Will Modglin led off in 20.32, Nate Germonprez split 22.83 on breaststroke, Hubert Kos was 19.33 on fly, and Chris Guiliano anchored in a speedy 17.80, putting Texas into the finish in 1:20.28. That swim put the Longhorns just 0.13 seconds off the NCAA record.

Tennessee wound up 2nd with a 1:20.50, fueled by a 17.67 anchor from Jordan Crooks, who is one of the most highly anticipated swimmers of this meet. The Vols also benefited from a huge 19.05 fly split out of Gui Caribe. Lamar Taylor was 20.74 on back and Kevin Houseman split 23.04 on breast.

Cal knocked nearly a second off their seed time, taking 3rd in 1:20.76. Bjorn Seeliger was excellent leading off, clocking a 20.57, while Yamato Okadome split a very quick 22.77 on breast. Dare Rose gave the Golden Bears a 19.39 on fly, and Jack Alexy anchored in 18.03.

The back half of Arizona State’s relay was really something. Ilya Kharun went an 18.78 on the fly leg, which is the fastest split in history, then Jonny Kulow anchored in 17.78, marking a 36.56 on the 2nd 100 of the race, which is the fastest back half in history as well.

Though they only finished 5th, Indiana made history as well, taking down the American Record. Luke Barr (20.65), Brian Benzing (22.65), Finn Brooks (19.49), and Matt King (18.13) combined for a 1:20.92, clipping the previous AR by 0.04 seconds.

The meet kicked off with a bang in heat 1, where Georgia ripped a new season best by more than a second, winning in 1:22.01. That time would have come into the meet seeded 8th, and the Bulldogs ended up 8th, 9 places ahead of their 17th seed. Luca Urlando led the Georgia team off in 20.52, then Kristian Pitshugin clocked a 23.06 on breast, Ruard Van Renen was 19.48 on fly, and Tane Bidois anchored in 18.95.

Scoring Update:

1. Texas – 40
2. Tennessee – 34
3. California – 32
4. Arizona State – 30
5. Indiana – 28
6. NC State – 26
7. Florida State – 24
8. Georgia – 22
9. Stanford – 18
10. Louisville – 14

Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay

• NCAA Record: 6:02.26 — Cal (Jett, Lasco, Alexy, Hanson) (2024)
• Championship Record: 6:02.26 — Cal (Jett, Lasco, Alexy, Hanson) (2024)
• American Record: 6:03.24 — Texas (Hobson, Maurer, Guiliano, Carrozza) (2025)
• U.S. Open Record: 6:02.26 — Cal (Jett, Lasco, Alexy, Hanson) (2024)
• 2024 Champion: Cal (Jett, Lasco, Alexy, Hanson) — 6:02.26

Top 8:

1. California (Alexy, Jett, Lasco, Henveaux) – 5:59.75 (NCAA Record)
2. Texas (Hobson, Guiliano, Maurer, Carrozza) – 6:00.08 (American Record)
3. Georgia (Koski, Urlando, Magahey, Branzell) – 6:06.02
4. Alabama (Hawke, Alves, Hagar, Dragoja) – 6:06.59
5. Stanford (Minakov, McFadden, Polonsky, Dupont) – 6:06.69
6. Indiana (McDonald, Miroslaw, Van Westering, Frankel) – 6:06.76
7. NC State (Winkler, Diehl, Miller, Hoover) – 6:06.95
8. Florida (Painter, Smith, Mitchell, Lindholm) – 6:06.96

History was made tonight in Federal Way, as the Cal Golden Bears shattered the NCAA Record in the 800 free relay by well over 2 seconds, becoming the first team in history to break 6:00 in the event. It was a hard fought battle, seeing Cal and Texas immediately break away from the rest of the field, and going head-to-head in adjacent lanes.

Texas’ Luke Hobson got the Longhorns out to the early lead, swimming a 1:28.90, which was the 2nd-fastest swim ever in the event. Hobson was within a tenth of his own NCAA record in the 200 free with that swim. While his split was phenomenal, Cal lead-off Jack Alexy did his part, getting the Golden Bears out to a 1:30.02. Gabriel Jett was able to erase Texas’ lead on the 2nd leg of the race, splitting 1:29.16, while Texas’ Chris Guiliano was 1:30.13. Jett handed off to Destin Lasco, who put on a master class in underwaters, delivering a 1:29.10 split, moving Cal into the lead by 0.66 seconds at the final exchange. Rex Maurer was 1:29.91 on the 3rd leg for the Longhorns.

With the lead, Lucas Henveaux dove in for Cal, but his start was errant. In his interview, Henveaux said he slipped off the start and his streamline broke when he entered the water, while the video made it look like he may have actually even scraped the bottom of the pool off his start. Either way, Henveaux’s poor start was enough for Texas’ Coby Carrozza to take the lead on the first 25. Henveaux would battle back, pulling into the lead on the 3rd 50, and holding it through the finish. In the end, Cal broke the NCAA record, while Texas’ time of 6:00.08 shattered the American Record by over 3 seconds.

Indiana was phenomenal in the 3rd heat of this race. Coming in with a season best of 6:11.39, the Hoosiers dropped the hammer, going a 6:06.76. It was a team effort, seeing Owen McDonald pop a new career best of 1:31.14 leading off, which is his first time under 1:32 from a flat start. Rafael Miroslaw then clocked a 1:31.30 on the 2nd leg, Kai Van Westering was 1:32.79 on the 3rd leg, and Tomer Frankel anchored in 1:31.53. With that performance, the Hoosiers wound up 6th overall.

The 3rd heat was all Big Ten, as Ohio State came in 2nd with a 6:10.58, while Michigan was 6:11.10 for 3rd, and USC came in 4th in the heat with a 6:11.17. Overall, the Buckeyes were 10th, while the Wolverines came in11th, and the Trojans 12th.

Team Standings (Thru Thursday)

1. Texas – 74
2. California – 72
3. Georgia/Indiana – 54 (Tie)
4. –
5. NC State – 50
6. Arizona State – 48
7. Stanford – 46
8. Tennessee – 34
9. Alabama – 30
10. Florida State – 24
11. Florida – 22
12. Louisville – 18
13. Ohio State – 16
14. Auburn – 14
15. Michigan – 12
16. North Carolina/USC – 10 (Tie)
17. –
18. VirginiaTexas A&M – 8 (Tie)
19. –
20. Georgia Tech/Virginia Tech – 6 (Tie)
21. –
22. Army – 4

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