NCAA Men’s Championships, Day 4 Prelims: Owen McDonald Dips Under 1:40 to Top 200 IM Heats
The final morning of the NCAA Men’s Championships began with a team title still in the balance, with Texas leading Florida by just 9.5 points entering the last several events. The Gators posted a monster performance on day three as Ahmed Hafnaoui and Ahmed Jaouadi went 1-2 in the 500 freestyle before Josh Liendo took first in the 50 free. However, Texas looked poised for a big day to close out the meet.
The final morning kicked off with Owen McDonald of Indiana setting the pace in the 200 IM, swimming the first sub-1:40 performance this college season as he aims for his first NCAA title. The session also included the 100 free, 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and early heats of the 400 free relay.
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 15 1. Texas 340.5 2. Florida 331 3. Indiana 254 4. Arizona St 245 5. Tennessee 199 6. California 186 7. NC State 175.5 8. Michigan 163 9. Virginia 110 10. Stanford 95 11. Louisville 72 12. Virginia Tech 67 13. Ohio St 63 14. Kentucky 52 14. Southern California 52 16. Georgia 50.5 17. Miami (Fl) 46 18. Auburn 44 19. Smu 41 20. Northwestern 29 20. UNC 29 20. Lsu 29 23. Alabama 27 24. Princeton 25 24. Florida St 25 26. Missouri 20 27. Pittsburgh 19 27. Wisconsin 19 29. Army 17.5 30. Yale 17 30. Utah 17 30. Georgia Tech 17 33. Notre Dame 16 34. Delaware 12 35. Purdue 10 36. Harvard 9 37. Texas A&M 8 38. IU Indianapolis 6 39. Penn St 5 40. Arizona 2
200 IM
Owen McDonald will swim his last individual NCAA race from lane four and seek the first individual national title. The Indiana senior put up the top mark in the morning medley heats at 1:39.48, pulling away to dominate the final heat of the event. McDonald, the third-place finisher in the event last year, was just off his lifetime best of 1:39.23 that ranks him ninth all-time in the event. With defending champion Hubert Kos opting out to focus on the 200 back, McDonald is the only swimmer in the race who has ever broken 1:40.
The biggest challenge in the final figures to come from Maximus Williamson, the Virginia freshman who won the national title in the 200 free from lane eight. Williamson qualified second here in 1:40.06, his lifetime best by seven tenths. Three other swimmers broke 1:41, the Texas duo of Will Modglin (1:40.79) and Baylor Nelson (1:40.82) plus McDonald’s Indiana teammate Noah Cakir (1:40.94).
The Hoosiers currently sit in third place in the team standings with Arizona State hot in pursuit. With Josh Bey in sixth place, this three-up performance will help Indiana’s cause. Texas, meanwhile, can expect a points surge here with Modglin and Nelson in the top heat and Campbell McKean and Nate Germonprez both scoring points. NC State got two into the heat as well, with Daniel Diehl and Arsenio Bustos in seventh and eighth, respectively.
Event 16 Men 200 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 1:37.91 3/28/2024 Destin Lasco, California
U. S. Open: O 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Pool: P 1:37.69 3/24/2022 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 McDonald, Owen SR Indiana 1:40.11 1:39.48
r:+0.57 21.20 45.69 (24.49)
1:14.69 (29.00) 1:39.48 (24.79)
2 Williamson, Maximus FR Virginia 1:40.78 1:40.06
r:+0.66 21.78 46.79 (25.01)
1:15.78 (28.99) 1:40.06 (24.28)
3 Modglin, Will JR Texas 1:40.58 1:40.79
r:+0.65 21.38 46.16 (24.78)
1:15.95 (29.79) 1:40.79 (24.84)
4 Nelson, Baylor SR Texas 1:40.29 1:40.82
r:+0.63 21.59 46.65 (25.06)
1:15.78 (29.13) 1:40.82 (25.04)
5 Cakir, Noah FR Indiana 1:42.47 1:40.94
r:+0.69 22.23 47.49 (25.26)
1:16.08 (28.59) 1:40.94 (24.86)
6 Bey, Josh FR Indiana 1:41.68 1:41.17
r:+0.65 22.33 47.24 (24.91)
1:16.23 (28.99) 1:41.17 (24.94)
7 Diehl, Daniel JR NC State 1:42.24 1:41.20
r:+0.66 21.65 47.60 (25.95)
1:16.43 (28.83) 1:41.20 (24.77)
8 Bustos, Arsenio 5Y NC State 1:40.39 1:41.22
r:+0.66 21.14 46.13 (24.99)
1:15.73 (29.60) 1:41.22 (25.49)
100 Freestyle
The men’s 100 free was a bit sluggish through the first five heats as only Josh Liendo had gotten under 41. Liendo clocked 40.81 to put himself in position to win his fourth consecutive national title in the event and cap off his Florida career in style. Liendo has already broken the NCAA record in the 100 butterfly on two occasions while also winning the 50 free.
The last heat of the race provided a shake-up, however, as Pitt’s Julian Koch unleashed a huge performance to jump into the top spot. Koch touched in 40.52, a half-second best time that jumped him from 23rd all-time into eighth. Just behind him in that heat were LSU’s Jere Hribar (40.76) and NC State’s Quintin McCarty (40.97).
Tennessee’s Gui Caribe, the runnerup in the 50 fre and third-place finisher in this event last year, tied for fifth in 41.05, a time that Arizona State’s Jonny Kulow matched. Arizona’s Tomas Lukminas and Virginia Tech’s Brendan Whitfield also qualified for the final, locking out ASU’s Remi Fabiani despite his ninth-place time of 41.23.
Event 17 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 39.83 3/29/2025 Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
Meet: M 39.83 3/29/2025 Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
American: A 39.90 3/24/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: O 39.83 3/29/2025 Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
Pool: P 40.46 3/26/2016 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Koch, Julian SO Pittsburgh 41.00 40.52
r:+0.66 9.02 19.29 (10.27)
29.82 (10.53) 40.52 (10.70)
2 Hribar, Jere JR LSU 40.42 40.76
r:+0.73 9.22 19.56 (10.34)
30.17 (10.61) 40.76 (10.59)
3 Liendo, Josh SR Florida 40.94 40.81
r:+0.65 9.20 19.49 (10.29)
30.32 (10.83) 40.81 (10.49)
4 McCarty, Quintin JR NC State 40.88 40.98
r:+0.64 9.04 19.30 (10.26)
30.03 (10.73) 40.98 (10.95)
5 Caribe, Gui SR Tennessee 40.45 41.05
r:+0.58 9.05 19.50 (10.45)
30.37 (10.87) 41.05 (10.68)
5 Kulow, Jonny SR ASU 41.47 41.05
r:+0.63 9.18 19.50 (10.32)
30.10 (10.60) 41.05 (10.95)
7 Lukminas, Tomas SO Arizona 41.33 41.11
r:+0.63 9.35 19.87 (10.52)
30.52 (10.65) 41.11 (10.59)
8 Whitfield, Brendan JR VT 40.93 41.12
r:+0.70 9.18 19.57 (10.39)
30.42 (10.85) 41.12 (10.70)
200 Butterfly
200 Backstroke
400 Medley Relay
