The 2026 Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships continued with the Day 3 finals on Friday, Feb. 27, in Madison, Wisconsin.
The events on the docket are the 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle and 50 freestyle, followed by 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay
Here is a look at what happened on Friday night:
Big Ten Men’s 100 Backstroke
Indiana started supremely strong with a 1-2-3 finish in the backstroke. Senior Owen McDonald raced to the title with a swim of 44.52.
Sophomore Mira Knedla was second in 44.74, followed by sophomore Raekwon Noel (44.82).
Northwestern junior Stuart Seymour finished fourth in 44.86, followed by Michigan senior Jack Wilkening (45.12), USC Mikel Chmielewski (45.20), Penn State senior Matthew Bittner (45.47) and Purdue senior Alex Hotta (45.54).
Event 9 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
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B1G Meet: ! 44.28 2/27/2026 Owen McDonald, Indiana
Pool: # 44.28 2/27/2026 Owen McDonald, Indiana
46.29 A NCAA Qualifying
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 McDonald, Owen SR Indiana 44.28 44.52 A 32
r:+0.91 10.69 21.68 (10.99)
33.21 (11.53) 44.52 (11.31)
2 Knedla, Mira SO Indiana 44.67 44.74 A 28
10.34 21.55 (11.21)
33.17 (11.62) 44.74 (11.57)
3 Noel, Raekwon N SO Indiana 44.88 44.82 A 27
r:+0.93 10.75 21.80 (11.05)
33.39 (11.59) 44.82 (11.43)
4 Seymour, Stuart JR Northwestern 45.42 44.86 A 26
10.49 21.65 (11.16)
33.20 (11.55) 44.86 (11.66)
5 Wilkening, Jack SR Michigan 44.79 45.12 A 25
10.41 21.54 (11.13)
33.42 (11.88) 45.12 (11.70)
6 Chmielewski, Mi JR Southern Cal 45.08 45.20 A 24
10.80 22.04 (11.24)
33.54 (11.50) 45.20 (11.66)
7 Bittner, Matthe SR Penn St 44.98 45.47 A 23
10.35 21.45 (11.10)
33.27 (11.82) 45.47 (12.20)
8 Hotta, Alex SR Purdue 45.38 45.54 A 22
10.56 21.79 (11.23)
33.69 (11.90) 45.54 (11.85)
Big Ten Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Michigan freshman Luka Mladenovic broke the meet record to win the 200 breaststroke in 1:49.34, besting the mark set by Minnesota’s Max McHugh (1:49.45) set in 2022.
After that it was three Indiana swimmers in a row as the Hoosiers continued to pile up points.
Freshman Josh Bey was second in 1:50.03, followed by fellow freshman Noah Cakir (1:50.47) and junior Toby Barnett (1:50.75).
Penn State senior Mario Lazzerini was fifth in 1:50.76, followed by Minnesota sophomore Joe Polyak (1:53.05), Wisconsin senior Dominik Mark Torok (1:53.10) and Northwestern sophomore Joshua Staples (1:54.11).
Event 10 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
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B1G Meet: ! 1:49.45 2/25/2022 Maxwell J McHugh, Minnesota
Pool: # 1:50.59 2/27/2026 Josh Bey, Indiana
1:54.95 A NCAA Qualifying
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Mladenovic, Luk FR Michigan 1:51.40 1:49.34!A 32
r:+0.68 24.71 52.39 (27.68)
1:20.77 (28.38) 1:49.34 (28.57)
2 Bey, Josh FR Indiana 1:50.59 1:50.03#A 28
r:+0.69 24.96 53.11 (28.15)
1:21.62 (28.51) 1:50.03 (28.41)
3 Cakir, Noah FR Indiana 1:52.23 1:50.47#A 27
r:+0.69 25.41 53.29 (27.88)
1:21.52 (28.23) 1:50.47 (28.95)
4 Barnett, Toby JR Indiana 1:51.59 1:50.75 A 26
r:+0.67 24.97 53.21 (28.24)
1:21.50 (28.29) 1:50.75 (29.25)
5 Lazzerini, Mari SR Penn St 1:51.14 1:50.76 A 25
r:+0.67 24.84 52.72 (27.88)
1:21.21 (28.49) 1:50.76 (29.55)
6 Polyak, Joe SO Minnesota 1:52.39 1:53.05 A 24
r:+0.70 25.00 53.33 (28.33)
1:22.71 (29.38) 1:53.05 (30.34)
7 Mark Torok, Dom SR Wisconsin 1:53.06 1:53.10 A 23
r:+0.69 25.64 53.96 (28.32)
1:23.22 (29.26) 1:53.10 (29.88)
8 Staples, Joshua SO Northwestern 1:52.93 1:54.11 A 22
r:+0.70 24.79 53.21 (28.42)
1:22.97 (29.76) 1:54.11 (31.14)
Big Ten Men’s 500 Freestyle
It was another 1-2-3 finish for the Hoosiers in the 500 freestyle as Indiana is starting to pull away from Michigan and the rest of the field.
Senior Zalan Sarkany won the event in an meet-record 4:09.14. Sophomore Luke Whitlock was second in 4:09.60 and junior Aaron Shackell was third in 4:11.33.
Ohio State sophomore Jordi Vilchez took fourth in 4:11.52, followed by Michigan sophomore Lorne Wigginton (4:12.54), Wisconsin freshman Enzo Solitario (4:14.02), Minnesota sophomore Luke Brennan (4:16.36) and OSU senior Mason Edmund (4:18.79).
Event 11 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 4:09.29 2/22/2018 Felix O Auboeck, Michigan
Pool: # 4:10.99 2/27/2026 Zalan Sarkany, Indiana
4:18.07 A NCAA Qualifying
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Sarkany, Zalan SR Indiana 4:10.99 4:09.14!A 32
r:+0.68 22.34 46.93 (24.59)
1:12.12 (25.19) 1:37.50 (25.38)
2:03.10 (25.60) 2:28.69 (25.59)
2:54.23 (25.54) 3:19.64 (25.41)
3:45.02 (25.38) 4:09.14 (24.12)
2 Whitlock, Luke SO Indiana 4:11.67 4:09.60#A 28
r:+0.73 23.11 48.21 (25.10)
1:13.52 (25.31) 1:38.99 (25.47)
2:04.35 (25.36) 2:29.77 (25.42)
2:55.04 (25.27) 3:20.20 (25.16)
3:45.32 (25.12) 4:09.60 (24.28)
3 Shackell, Aaron JR Indiana 4:14.10 4:11.33 A 27
r:+0.71 22.85 47.96 (25.11)
1:13.63 (25.67) 1:38.97 (25.34)
2:04.50 (25.53) 2:29.87 (25.37)
2:55.51 (25.64) 3:21.09 (25.58)
3:46.46 (25.37) 4:11.33 (24.87)
4 Vilchez, Jordi SO Ohio State 4:16.57 4:11.52 A 26
23.29 48.37 (25.08)
1:13.74 (25.37) 1:38.94 (25.20)
2:04.26 (25.32) 2:29.79 (25.53)
2:55.28 (25.49) 3:21.03 (25.75)
3:46.72 (25.69) 4:11.52 (24.80)
5 Wigginton, Lorn SO Michigan 4:13.88 4:12.54 A 25
r:+0.66 23.06 48.30 (25.24)
1:13.87 (25.57) 1:39.55 (25.68)
2:05.41 (25.86) 2:31.22 (25.81)
2:56.67 (25.45) 3:22.22 (25.55)
3:47.72 (25.50) 4:12.54 (24.82)
6 Solitario, Enzo FR Wisconsin 4:14.33 4:14.02 A 24
r:+0.74 23.05 48.09 (25.04)
1:13.53 (25.44) 1:39.00 (25.47)
2:04.59 (25.59) 2:30.17 (25.58)
2:56.05 (25.88) 3:21.80 (25.75)
3:48.01 (26.21) 4:14.02 (26.01)
7 Brennan, Luke SO Minnesota 4:16.46 4:16.36 A 23
r:+0.76 23.94 49.60 (25.66)
1:15.34 (25.74) 1:41.23 (25.89)
2:07.21 (25.98) 2:33.42 (26.21)
2:59.70 (26.28) 3:26.02 (26.32)
3:51.43 (25.41) 4:16.36 (24.93)
8 Edmund, Mason SR Ohio State 4:16.64 4:18.79 22
r:+0.85 23.53 49.12 (25.59)
1:14.93 (25.81) 1:40.72 (25.79)
2:06.68 (25.96) 2:32.88 (26.20)
2:59.54 (26.66) 3:26.28 (26.74)
3:52.80 (26.52) 4:18.79 (25.99)
Big Ten Men’s 50 Freestyle
Indiana earned its third win of the night in the 50 freestyle as junior Mikkel Lee got to the wall in 18.98.
OSU’s Matthew Klinge was second in 19.00, followed by Michigan’s Tyler Ray (19.06) and Purdue freshman Janik Dzirkalis (19.08).
Michigan sophomore Ole Eidam was fifth at 19.16, followed by Wisconsin’s Ben Wiegand (19.21), while Wisconsin’s Cooper Scharff and Indiana’s Dylan Smiley tied for seventh at 19.27.
Event 12 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
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B1G Meet: ! 18.66 2/26/2026 Tyler Ray, Michigan
Pool: # 18.66 2/26/2026 Tyler Ray, Michigan
19.43 A NCAA Qualifying
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== A - Final ===
1 Lee, Mikkel JR Indiana 19.11 18.98 A 32
r:+0.61 9.20 18.98 (9.78)
2 Klinge, Matthew SO Ohio State 18.94 19.00 A 28
r:+0.77 9.28 19.00 (9.72)
3 Ray, Tyler SR Michigan 19.00 19.06 A 27
r:+0.71 9.16 19.06 (9.90)
4 Dzirkalis, Jani FR Purdue 19.21 19.08 A 26
r:+0.62 9.10 19.08 (9.98)
5 Eidam, Ole SO Michigan 19.34 19.16 A 25
r:+0.61 9.28 19.16 (9.88)
6 Wiegand, Ben 5Y Wisconsin 19.28 19.21 A 24
r:+0.65 9.17 19.21 (10.04)
7 Scharff, Cooper SR Wisconsin 19.36 19.27 A 22.5
r:+0.62 9.24 19.27 (10.03)
7 Smiley, Dylan JR Indiana 19.35 19.27 A 22.5
9.32 19.27 (9.95)
