{"id":639929,"date":"2026-03-26T16:17:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=639929"},"modified":"2026-03-26T21:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T04:10:17","slug":"ncaa-mens-championships-yamato-okadome-rallies-to-defeat-longhorns-in-100-breaststroke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/ncaa-mens-championships-yamato-okadome-rallies-to-defeat-longhorns-in-100-breaststroke\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA Men’s Championships: Yamato Okadome Rallies to Defeat Longhorns in 100 Breaststroke"},"content":{"rendered":"

NCAA Men’s Championships: Yamato Okadome Rallies to Defeat Longhorns in 100 Breaststroke<\/strong><\/p>\n

The California Golden Bears always deliver at the NCAA Championships, as evidenced by 15 consecutive top-two finishes at the meet under the leadership of head coach\u00a0Dave Durden<\/strong>. This year’s Cal team lacks its usual star-power, but\u00a0Yamato Okadome<\/strong> remains. The breaststroke standout has followed up a solid freshman campaign with star results as a sophomore, and now he owns a national title.<\/p>\n

Okadome entered this year’s meet as favorite in the 200 breast, but before getting to his main race, showed some speed to come through in the four-lap event. Finishing speed, in particular. Sitting in fourth place at the final wall and almost three tenths off the lead, Okadome motored to the wall in 13.12 to pull into the lead and shock the field.<\/p>\n

The final time for Okadome was 49.90, shattering his previous best of 50.32 and putting him under 50 seconds for the first time in his career. After Texas teammates\u00a0Campbell McKean<\/strong> and\u00a0Nate Germonprez<\/strong> battled Florida’s Koen de Groot<\/strong> for the top spot throughout the race, Okadome’s final length vaulted him into the top spot by 0.35.<\/p>\n

As Okadome celebrated his victory, he guided the large contingent of Cal fans in attendance in the team’s traditional “Roll on you Bears” cheer. Okadome became the latest standout from the school’s legacy of NCAA champions; the team has now captured at least one NCAA title in 16 out of 18 national meets under Durden’s leadership.<\/p>\n

McKean, the freshman who won a surprising U.S. national title in the 100-meter breast last June, claimed second in 50.25 while Germonprez fell to third in 50.38. Germonprez, also third at the 2025 NCAA meet, had been the favorite entering the meet as the only swimmer under 50, and his morning time of 49.80 was quicker than anyone swam at night. In fourth was de Groot at 50.44, just ahead of Michigan’s Luka Mladenovic<\/strong> (50.47).<\/p>\n

While Texas missed out on a win, the Longhorns did get 44 points from McKean, Germonprez and eighth-place finisher\u00a0Will Modglin<\/strong> to extend their lead in the team competition. Following the 100 breast, Texas was up by 42.5 points over Florida.<\/p>\n