NCAA Men’s Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Ben Delmar, Rex Maurer, Gui Caribe Earn Top Seeds
Friday morning’s prelims session at the NCAA Men’s Championships opened in record-breaking fashion as Hubert Kos blasted his own NCAA and U.S. Open marks in the 100 backstroke, putting the Texas senior in position to become the first man ever under 43 at night. In the next event, North Carolina’s Ben Delmar edged Texas’ Nate Germonprez for the top seed in the 200 breaststroke, with 100-yard winner Yamato Okadome looming.
The session also included qualifying in the 500 freestyle and 50 freestyle as well as early heats of the 400 medley relay.
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 9 1. Texas 215.5 2. Florida 205 3. Arizona St 133.5 4. Indiana 132.5 5. California 124 6. NC State 122 7. Michigan 115 8. Tennessee 107 9. Virginia 88 10. Stanford 83 11. Ohio St 63 12. Louisville 53 13. Kentucky 51 14. Virginia Tech 31 15. Auburn 30 16. Lsu 29 16. Southern California 29 18. Princeton 25 19. Smu 24 20. Miami (Fl) 22 21. Wisconsin 19 22. Georgia 17.5 23. Pittsburgh 17 24. UNC 14 25. Northwestern 13 26. Delaware 12 26. Utah 12 28. Georgia Tech 11 29. Yale 10 30. Harvard 9 31. Alabama 8 32. Purdue 7 32. Florida St 7 34. IU Indianapolis 6 35. Penn St 5 36. Army 4 36. Texas A&M 4 38. Arizona 2
200 Breaststroke
North Carolina’s Ben Delmar has significantly elevated his standing in the sport since placing 13th in the 200 breast at last year’s NCAA Championships. Over the summer, Delmar qualified to represent the United States at the World University Games and won three medals, including gold in the 200-meter breast. Delmar followed that up by going under 1:50 in the yards event during the college season, and he swam another best time in prelims to book the top seed for the championship final.
Delmar went head-to-head with Texas’ Nate Germonprez in heat four, taking a slight lead on the third 50 and then holding on down the stretch. Delmar finished in 1:49.37, two tenths clear of Germonprez at 1:49.59. Germonprez is coming off a disappointing swim in the 100 breast, where he fell to third despite swimming a prelims time quicker than anyone went at night.
Yamato Okadome, who stunned the field in the 100 with a come-from-behind finish, will be in the mix here after getting third in heats at 1:50.54. Okadome’s seed time of 1:48.87 is the best in the country this season and ninth-fastest in history. Behind Okadome were three freshmen all in 1:50-territory, Luka Mladenovic, Gabe Nunziata and Josh Bey.
Virginia Tech’s Eli Martin placed seventh while Indiana got another swimmer into the heat with Toby Barnett in eighth. Indiana also secured ninth and 10th-place points as Noah Cakir and Alexei Avakov finished just outside the mix.
Event 11 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
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NCAA: N 1:46.35 3/30/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 1:46.35 3/30/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 1:47.91 3/25/2017 Will Licon, Texas
U. S. Open: O 1:46.35 3/30/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Pool: P 1:48.12 3/26/2016 Wil Licon, Texas
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Delmar, Ben JR UNC 1:49.76 1:49.37
r:+0.70 24.68 52.45 (27.77)
1:20.78 (28.33) 1:49.37 (28.59)
2 Germonprez, Nate JR Texas 1:48.94 1:49.59
r:+0.70 24.23 52.04 (27.81)
1:20.72 (28.68) 1:49.59 (28.87)
3 Okadome, Yamato SO California 1:48.87 1:50.54
r:+0.66 25.10 52.63 (27.53)
1:21.25 (28.62) 1:50.54 (29.29)
4 Mladenovic, Luka FR Michigan 1:49.34 1:50.63
r:+0.67 24.83 53.00 (28.17)
1:21.68 (28.68) 1:50.63 (28.95)
5 Nunziata, Gabe FR Tennessee 1:50.59 1:50.66
r:+0.67 24.87 52.94 (28.07)
1:21.46 (28.52) 1:50.66 (29.20)
6 Bey, Josh FR Indiana 1:50.03 1:50.77
r:+0.68 25.19 53.17 (27.98)
1:21.90 (28.73) 1:50.77 (28.87)
7 Martin, Eli SO VT 1:51.10 1:51.08
r:+0.67 25.38 53.41 (28.03)
1:22.17 (28.76) 1:51.08 (28.91)
8 Barnett, Toby JR Indiana 1:50.75 1:51.22
r:+0.62 25.28 53.78 (28.50)
1:22.23 (28.45) 1:51.22 (28.99)
500 Freestyle
Ahmed Jaouadi collected a national title night one, his blazing final two lengths resulting in the fastest time ever in the 1650 freestyle. A day later, Rex Maurer was the winner of the 400 IM, setting an American record in the process. The two will face off in the middle lanes of the 500 free Friday evening after both men topped their prelim heats.
Jaouadi went first, holding Florida teammate and fellow Tunisian Ahmed Hafnaoui at bay throughout their race on the way to a time of 4:09.08, two tenths quicker than his seed time. More can be expected in the evening following Jaouadi’s record-crushing time of 14:10.03 in the 1650 two days earlier.
Maurer, meanwhile, was on his own with a clear advantage over his heat, rolling to a time of 4:08.78. He holds the country’s best mark this season at 4:08.46, and his American record from November 2024 stands at 4:04.45. Only Leon Marchand has ever surpassed that (4:02.31).
Zalan Sarkany, who just missed out on his third consecutive title in the mile while nearly matching the existing NCAA record, came in third here, the Indiana Hoosier winning his heat in 4:09.57. Hafnaoui also broke 4:10 (4:09.78) while Alabama’s Leonardo Alcantara, Indiana’s Aaron Shackell, Florida’s Gio Linscheer and Georgia’s Sean Green also advanced. Green’s time of 4:11.34 narrowly denied the likes of Cal’s Ryan Erisman, Yale’s Noah Millard and Stanford’s Ethan Ekk from earning a second swim.
Event 12 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 4:04.45 11/20/2024Rex Maurer, Texas
U. S. Open: O 4:02.31 3/28/2024 Leon Marchand, ASU
Pool: P 4:06.61 3/24/2022 Matthew Sates, Georgia
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Maurer, Rex JR Texas 4:08.46 4:08.78
r:+0.74 21.95 46.51 (24.56)
1:11.73 (25.22) 1:36.73 (25.00)
2:01.95 (25.22) 2:27.43 (25.48)
2:52.59 (25.16) 3:17.96 (25.37)
3:43.53 (25.57) 4:08.78 (25.25)
2 Jaouadi, Ahmed FR Florida 4:09.28 4:09.08
r:+0.70 22.69 47.46 (24.77)
1:12.87 (25.41) 1:38.46 (25.59)
2:04.18 (25.72) 2:29.79 (25.61)
2:55.01 (25.22) 3:19.91 (24.90)
3:44.90 (24.99) 4:09.08 (24.18)
3 Sarkany, Zalan SR Indiana 4:09.14 4:09.57
r:+0.67 22.10 46.26 (24.16)
1:11.18 (24.92) 1:36.54 (25.36)
2:01.97 (25.43) 2:27.36 (25.39)
2:53.01 (25.65) 3:18.64 (25.63)
3:44.35 (25.71) 4:09.57 (25.22)
4 Hafnaoui, Ahmed 5Y Florida 4:10.18 4:09.78
r:+0.78 22.94 47.69 (24.75)
1:13.00 (25.31) 1:38.54 (25.54)
2:04.19 (25.65) 2:29.88 (25.69)
2:55.50 (25.62) 3:21.11 (25.61)
3:45.92 (24.81) 4:09.78 (23.86)
5 Alcantara, Leonardo JR Alabama 4:10.45 4:10.82
r:+0.69 23.58 48.61 (25.03)
1:14.00 (25.39) 1:39.81 (25.81)
2:05.78 (25.97) 2:31.28 (25.50)
2:56.47 (25.19) 3:21.72 (25.25)
3:46.81 (25.09) 4:10.82 (24.01)
6 Shackell, Aaron JR Indiana 4:11.14 4:11.01
r:+0.68 22.61 47.59 (24.98)
1:13.02 (25.43) 1:38.35 (25.33)
2:03.60 (25.25) 2:28.94 (25.34)
2:54.52 (25.58) 3:20.16 (25.64)
3:45.95 (25.79) 4:11.01 (25.06)
7 Linscheer, Gio SR Florida 4:10.23 4:11.28
r:+0.70 23.48 48.56 (25.08)
1:13.97 (25.41) 1:39.57 (25.60)
2:05.24 (25.67) 2:30.79 (25.55)
2:56.39 (25.60) 3:21.82 (25.43)
3:46.94 (25.12) 4:11.28 (24.34)
8 Green, Sean FR Georgia 4:12.01 4:11.34
r:+0.65 22.95 48.09 (25.14)
1:13.53 (25.44) 1:38.92 (25.39)
2:04.38 (25.46) 2:29.69 (25.31)
2:55.13 (25.44) 3:20.62 (25.49)
3:46.42 (25.80) 4:11.34 (24.92)
50 Freestyle
All of the primary contenders advanced to the 50 free final. Tennessee’s Gui Caribe swam the top time in the morning at 18.39. Caribe, a native of Brazil, will try to follow former teammate Jordan Crooks as a national titlist in the event after Crooks won in 2023 and 2025. But right behind was Florida’s Josh Liendo at 18.40. Liendo is coming off an NCAA-record-setting performance in the 100 fly Thursday evening, and he led off the Gators’ 200 free relay in 18.27, the country’s best time this season.
Those two swimmers own by far the top times of anyone in college swimming. While Caeleb Dressel and Crooks are the only men to ever break 18, Liendo ranks third all-time at 18.07 with Caribe fourth at 18.26. Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun, who has a best time of 18.31 for sixth-best ever, will try to challenge these sprinters at night after he went 18.51 for third place.
It was no surprise to see the Sun Devils scoring big points in the 50 free after an NCAA record in the 200 free relay Thursday. Following Kharun were teammates Jonny Kulow (18.55) and Remi Fabiani (18.61) while Tolu Young was ninth and Adam Chaney tied for 13th. NC State’s Quintin McCarty (18.62), Virginia Tech’s Brendan Whitfield (18.67) and Louisville’s Nikita Sheremet (18.73) also advanced to the final.
The time required for eighth-place exactly matched what it took to reach the championship final in 2025, a sign of much-improved speed nationally as four men who rank among the nine best ever all graduated (Crooks, Bjorn Seeliger, Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano).
Event 13 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Meet: M 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
American: A 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: O 17.63 3/22/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Pool: P 18.20 3/24/2016 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Caribe, Gui SR Tennessee 18.46 18.39
r:+0.58 8.80 18.39 (9.59)
2 Liendo, Josh SR Florida 18.40 18.40
r:+0.63 8.87 18.40 (9.53)
3 Kharun, Ilya JR ASU 18.40 18.51
r:+0.69 9.06 18.51 (9.45)
4 Kulow, Jonny SR ASU 18.82 18.55
r:+0.65 9.00 18.55 (9.55)
5 Fabiani, Remi 5Y ASU 18.62 18.61
r:+0.61 8.92 18.61 (9.69)
6 McCarty, Quintin JR NC State 18.55 18.62
r:+0.62 8.99 18.62 (9.63)
7 Whitfield, Brendan JR VT 18.62 18.67
r:+0.67 8.99 18.67 (9.68)
8 Sheremet, Nikita FR Louisville 18.71 18.73
r:+0.66 9.07 18.73 (9.66)
400 Medley Relay
The Tennessee Volunteers and Virginia Cavaliers set the pace in the early heats of the medley relay, with times capable of moving into the top-eight by the evening. The Volunteers got the win at the end as Gui Caribe ran down Maximus Williamson in the final meters. Caribe, fresh off posting the top-qualifying time in the 50 free, split 40.31 to put his team into the finish at 3:00.34. Ulises Saravia, Gabe Nunziata and Lucio Paula provided solid legs to set up Caribe’s big finish.
Virginia scratched most of its individual swimmers Friday morning to go for a big performance in the medley relay, and it paid off. Freshman Thomas Heilman became the recorded a 42.97 butterfly split, becoming the third man ever to go sub-43 on that stroke after Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun. Williamson, the 200 free winner Thursday, followed up with 40.66 closing leg to bring the team to the wall in 3:00.55. David King and Matthew Heilman swam the front half for the Cavaliers.
Auburn had the third-best time of the morning at 3:01.68, followed by Virginia Tech (3:01.79), Northwestern (3:02.18) and NC State (3:02.33). For those last three teams, anchor swimmers Brendan Whitfield, Cade Duncan and Kaii Winkler all went sub-41.
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