SEC Championships, Day 3 Prelims: Josh Liendo’s 43.26 100 Fly Sets Stage
Josh Liendo brought a season-best time to prelims of the 100 butterfly on Thursday morning at the 2026 SEC Championships. His time of 43.26 was .16 under his seed and sets up a showdown with 200 fly winner Luca Urlando.
On the women’s side, Thursday is about the team battle. Tennessee led Texas by 32 points entering the day. But there are UTs with varying shades of orange all over the middle lanes in the night session.
A recap of the third morning session from Knoxville:
SEC Championships Team Scores
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 13 1. University of Tennessee 377 2. University of Texas 345 3. University of Florida 340.5 4. Auburn University 274.5 5. South Carolina, University of, 254.5 6. Louisiana State University 248 7. University of Alabama 238 8. Texas A&M University 211 9. Georgia, University of 201 10. Missouri 169.5 11. Kentucky, University of 132 12. University of Arkansas 89 13. Vanderbilt University 58
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 15 1. University of Texas 470.5 2. University of Florida 462 3. University of Tennessee 414.5 4. Auburn University 316 5. Louisiana State University 282 6. Georgia, University of 281 7. Kentucky, University of 280 8. Missouri 206 9. University of Alabama 198.5 10. Texas A&M University 159.5 11. South Carolina, University of, 142
Women’s 100 butterfly
The morning starts Texas-Tennessee-Texas. Eva Okaro of the Longhorns leads the way in 50.80 seconds. Mizuki Hirai of the Lady Vols is .18 behind, then Campbell Stoll of Texas in waging the battle for the team competition.
Alabama placed three in the A final, led by Tessa Giele going 51.41. Florida has two A finalists, Beatriz Bezerra pacing them in sixth.
Event 16 Women 100 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 46.97 3/21/2025 Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
SEC: S 48.51 3/18/2023 Maggie MacNeil, LSU
Meet: M 48.99 2/23/2023 Maggie MacNeil, LSU
Pool: P 47.35 11/21/2024Gretchen Walsh, Virginia
52.52 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Okaro, Eva FR Texas 50.82 50.80 qNC
r:+0.69 10.90 23.59 (12.69)
37.00 (13.41) 50.80 (13.80)
2 Hirai, Mizuki Tennessee-SE 51.49 50.98 qNC
r:+0.61 10.79 23.65 (12.86)
37.18 (13.53) 50.98 (13.80)
3 Stoll, Campbell JR Texas 50.98 51.29 qNC
r:+0.66 10.94 23.81 (12.87)
37.33 (13.52) 51.29 (13.96)
4 Giele, Tessa SR Alabama-SE 51.16 51.41 qNC
r:+0.66 10.96 23.88 (12.92)
37.67 (13.79) 51.41 (13.74)
5 Jones, Emily SR Alabama-SE 51.53 51.87 qNC
r:+0.62 10.85 24.20 (13.35)
37.74 (13.54) 51.87 (14.13)
6 Bezerra, Beatri FR FLOR-FL 52.73 51.99 qNC
r:+0.61 10.67 23.88 (13.21)
37.46 (13.58) 51.99 (14.53)
6 Van Brunt, Gaby JR Alabama-SE 51.01 51.99 qNC
r:+0.69 11.08 24.25 (13.17)
38.10 (13.85) 51.99 (13.89)
8 Rabb, Grace FR FLOR-FL 52.07 52.03 qNC
r:+0.65 11.29 24.33 (13.04)
38.10 (13.77) 52.03 (13.93)
Men’s 100 butterfly
Josh Liendo is in rocking form, going 43.26 to lead the way by nearly 1.5 seconds over Luca Urlando. Liendo’s time downs the pool record held by (former) international teammate Ilya Kharun at 43.38. Liendo was within .03 of his meet record from last year.
Urlando went 44.72 to lead the pack of chasers. Kyle Peck of Texas was third in 44.88, with Tennessee’s Gui Caribe fourth. Texas can grab big point sin the men’s race with Ksawery Masiuk and Will Modglin also in the
Event 17 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
SEC: S 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Meet: M 43.23 2/20/2025 Josh Liendo, Florida
Pool: P 43.38 11/23/2025Ilya Kharun, ASU
46.11 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Liendo, Josh SR FLOR-FL 43.42 43.26PqNC
r:+0.63 9.37 20.65 (11.28)
31.93 (11.28) 43.26 (11.33)
2 Urlando, Luca SR UGA-GA 43.87 44.72 qNC
r:+0.62 9.63 20.72 (11.09)
32.48 (11.76) 44.72 (12.24)
3 Peck, Kyle SO Texas 45.56 44.88 qNC
r:+0.61 9.39 20.90 (11.51)
32.58 (11.68) 44.88 (12.30)
4 Caribe, Gui C Tennessee-SE 45.44 44.94 qNC
r:+0.58 9.26 20.71 (11.45)
32.59 (11.88) 44.94 (12.35)
5 Niewold, Sean SR Alabama-SE 45.71 45.08 qNC
r:+0.68 9.27 20.86 (11.59)
32.91 (12.05) 45.08 (12.17)
6 Masiuk, Ksawery SO Texas 45.43 45.10 qNC
r:+0.64 9.61 20.86 (11.25)
32.99 (12.13) 45.10 (12.11)
7 Modglin, Will C JR Texas 45.74 45.14 qNC
r:+0.65 9.50 21.16 (11.66)
33.05 (11.89) 45.14 (12.09)
8 Buff, Scotty JR FLOR-FL 45.99 45.21 qNC
r:+0.65 9.81 21.07 (11.26)
32.99 (11.92) 45.21 (12.22)
Women’s 400 individual medley
Tennessee might have the edge in this one thanks to Emily Brown and Ella Jansen taking the top two seeds, as the were coming into the meet. Brown went 4:06.60 in prelims, .91 up on her teammate.
Texas has two in the A final, with Angie Coe third and Campbell Chase fifth. In between is Ieva Maluka of Georgia, with South Carolina’s Delaney Franklin.
Event 18 Women 400 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 3:54.60 3/16/2018 Ella Eastin, Stanford
SEC: S 3:58.23 3/22/2019 Sydney Pickrem, Texas A&M
Meet: M 3:58.35 2/16/2012 Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
Pool: P 3:57.24 3/17/2023 Alex Walsh, Virginia
4:13.20 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Brown, Emily Tennessee-SE 4:05.45 4:06.60 qNC
r:+0.71 25.28 54.50 (29.22)
1:25.57 (31.07) 1:55.93 (30.36)
2:31.32 (35.39) 3:07.95 (36.63)
3:38.04 (30.09) 4:06.60 (28.56)
2 Jansen, Ella Tennessee-SE 4:02.50 4:07.51 qNC
r:+0.76 25.54 54.90 (29.36)
1:25.35 (30.45) 1:55.27 (29.92)
2:30.90 (35.63) 3:07.96 (37.06)
3:37.78 (29.82) 4:07.51 (29.73)
3 Coe, Angie A JR Texas 4:10.49 4:08.44 qNC
r:+0.64 25.82 55.62 (29.80)
1:26.60 (30.98) 1:58.36 (31.76)
2:33.13 (34.77) 3:09.41 (36.28)
3:39.31 (29.90) 4:08.44 (29.13)
4 Maluka, Ieva SR UGA-GA 4:06.20 4:08.69 qNC
r:+0.68 26.64 56.52 (29.88)
1:27.84 (31.32) 1:58.40 (30.56)
2:33.98 (35.58) 3:10.18 (36.20)
3:39.70 (29.52) 4:08.69 (28.99)
5 Chase, Campbell SO Texas 4:08.09 4:09.45 qNC
r:+0.71 26.06 56.09 (30.03)
1:27.71 (31.62) 1:59.33 (31.62)
2:34.46 (35.13) 3:10.45 (35.99)
3:40.43 (29.98) 4:09.45 (29.02)
6 Franklin, Delan JR South Carolina-S 4:12.90 4:10.23 qNC
r:+0.70 27.25 57.74 (30.49)
1:30.46 (32.72) 2:02.80 (32.34)
2:37.73 (34.93) 3:11.95 (34.22)
3:41.39 (29.44) 4:10.23 (28.84)
7 Brousseau, Juli SO FLOR-FL 4:08.69 4:10.37 qNC
r:+0.72 26.52 56.70 (30.18)
1:28.80 (32.10) 2:00.11 (31.31)
2:35.33 (35.22) 3:12.30 (36.97)
3:42.05 (29.75) 4:10.37 (28.32)
8 Plaza, Sofia M SO FLOR-FL 4:14.29 4:12.48 qNC
r:+0.83 27.38 58.17 (30.79)
1:30.55 (32.38) 2:02.74 (32.19)
2:37.15 (34.41) 3:12.44 (35.29)
3:43.02 (30.58) 4:12.48 (29.46)
Men’s 400 individual medley
Texas was 1-2 in the 400 IM, with Baylor Nelson going 3:39.53 and Rex Maurer 3:40.56. Nelson entered as the top seed with a 3:34.83 this season. Only teammate Cooper Lucas was within four seconds of him this season, and Lucas stumbled a bit in prelims with the seventh seed in 3:41.87 but is still in the A final.
Georgia’s Drew Hitchcock was the only other sub-3:40 seed. He went 3:40.94 for third, ahead of teammate Cale Martter. Florida’s Gio Linscheer and Eric Brown tied for fifth.
Event 19 Men 400 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 3:28.82 3/24/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
SEC: S 3:33.42 3/24/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
Meet: M 3:35.61 2/21/2025 Rex Mauer, Texas
Pool: P 3:36.21 2/16/2017 Chase Kalisz, Georgia
3:46.19 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Nelson, Baylor SR Texas 3:34.83 3:39.53 qNC
r:+0.63 22.84 48.76 (25.92)
1:16.45 (27.69) 1:43.36 (26.91)
2:13.92 (30.56) 2:45.82 (31.90)
3:12.81 (26.99) 3:39.53 (26.72)
2 Maurer, Rex JR Texas 3:40.58 3:40.56 qNC
r:+0.71 23.57 50.10 (26.53)
1:18.03 (27.93) 1:45.98 (27.95)
2:17.12 (31.14) 2:49.14 (32.02)
3:14.86 (25.72) 3:40.56 (25.70)
3 Hitchcock, Drew SO UGA-GA 3:39.57 3:40.94 qNC
r:+0.68 23.30 49.92 (26.62)
1:18.41 (28.49) 1:45.93 (27.52)
2:16.83 (30.90) 2:48.41 (31.58)
3:15.38 (26.97) 3:40.94 (25.56)
4 Martter, Cale A SR UGA-GA 3:41.43 3:41.04 qNC
r:+0.68 23.69 51.10 (27.41)
1:19.85 (28.75) 1:48.18 (28.33)
2:18.34 (30.16) 2:48.59 (30.25)
3:15.37 (26.78) 3:41.04 (25.67)
5 Linscheer, Giov SR FLOR-FL 3:45.85 3:41.86 qNC
r:+0.71 23.97 51.15 (27.18)
1:20.11 (28.96) 1:47.69 (27.58)
2:18.38 (30.69) 2:49.47 (31.09)
3:16.16 (26.69) 3:41.86 (25.70)
5 Brown, Eric G SR FLOR-FL 3:43.25 3:41.86 qNC
r:+0.68 23.54 50.25 (26.71)
1:18.67 (28.42) 1:46.53 (27.86)
2:18.59 (32.06) 2:50.86 (32.27)
3:16.84 (25.98) 3:41.86 (25.02)
7 Lucas, Cooper SO Texas 3:35.28 3:41.87 qNC
r:+0.68 23.23 49.81 (26.58)
1:18.15 (28.34) 1:46.27 (28.12)
2:17.96 (31.69) 2:50.13 (32.17)
3:16.67 (26.54) 3:41.87 (25.20)
8 Kabbara, Munzy 5T Texas A&M-GU 3:42.59 3:42.14 qNC
r:+0.66 23.43 50.09 (26.66)
1:18.60 (28.51) 1:46.20 (27.60)
2:17.59 (31.39) 2:48.85 (31.26)
3:15.61 (26.76) 3:42.14 (26.53)
Women’s 200 freestyle
Nikolett Padar of Texas led the way and paced three Longhorns in the A final to just one from Tennessee. Padar went 1:41.78 to lead the field. Lillian Nesty was fourth in 1:43.30, .06 up on teammate Erin Gemmell.
Camille Spink is carrying the flag for Tennessee, in second at 1:42.53. Kennedi Dobson of Georgia is third. South Carolina (with Amy Riordan) and LSU (Megan Barnes) add some variety to the A final.
Event 20 Women 200 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 1:39.10 3/20/2015 Missy Franklin, California
SEC: S 1:40.90 3/21/2024 Bella Sims, Florida
Meet: M 1:40.90 2/21/2024 Bella Sims, Florida
Pool: P 1:40.25 11/22/2025Anna Moesch, Virginia
1:45.53 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Padar, Nikolett FR Texas 1:42.10 1:41.78 qNC
r:+0.72 23.69 49.30 (25.61)
1:15.52 (26.22) 1:41.78 (26.26)
2 Spink, Camille Tennessee-SE 1:42.57 1:42.53 qNC
r:+0.66 23.58 49.51 (25.93)
1:15.87 (26.36) 1:42.53 (26.66)
3 Dobson, Kennedi FR UGA-GA 1:42.19 1:42.81 qNC
r:+0.70 24.16 50.06 (25.90)
1:16.32 (26.26) 1:42.81 (26.49)
4 Nesty, Lillian SO Texas 1:42.36 1:43.30 qNC
r:+0.70 24.16 50.40 (26.24)
1:16.81 (26.41) 1:43.30 (26.49)
5 Gemmell, Erin M JR Texas 1:42.64 1:43.36 qNC
r:+0.77 24.58 50.67 (26.09)
1:17.04 (26.37) 1:43.36 (26.32)
6 Riordan, Amy L SR South Carolina-S 1:43.75 1:43.60 qNC
r:+0.64 24.32 50.40 (26.08)
1:16.76 (26.36) 1:43.60 (26.84)
7 Barnes, Megan SR LSU-LA 1:44.39 1:43.77 qNC
r:+0.69 24.28 50.38 (26.10)
1:17.07 (26.69) 1:43.77 (26.70)
8 Landreneau, Mar SO UGA-GA 1:43.47 1:43.83 qNC
r:+0.77 23.89 49.83 (25.94)
1:16.51 (26.68) 1:43.83 (27.32)
Men’s 200 freestyle
Camden Taylor leads a bread-and-butter event for Texas in which Longhorns sit 1-4-5-9 after prelims. Taylor went 1:31.03. Rafael Fente-Damers was fourth, the last 1:31 of the group, with Jacob Wimberly tied for fifth.
Tennessee’s Koby Bujak-Upton was second in 1:31.38, with Jere Hribar of LSU third. Daniel Kirchevsky of Auburn tied Wimberly for fifth.
Event 21 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
==================================================================
NCAA: N 1:28.33 3/28/2025 Luke Hobson, Texas
SEC: S 1:28.33 3/28/2025 Luke Hobson, Texas
Meet: M 1:29.48 2/18/2019 Kieran Smith, Florida
Pool: P 1:30.00 11/19/2024Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
1:33.93 NC
Name Year School Seed Prelims
==================================================================
=== Preliminaries ===
1 Taylor, Camden JR Texas 1:32.38 1:31.03 qNC
r:+0.69 21.00 43.81 (22.81)
1:07.05 (23.24) 1:31.03 (23.98)
2 Bujak-Upton, Ko Tennessee-SE 1:31.30 1:31.38 qNC
r:+0.61 20.96 43.96 (23.00)
1:07.69 (23.73) 1:31.38 (23.69)
3 Hribar, Jere JR LSU-LA 1:32.80 1:31.86 qNC
r:+0.72 20.91 44.05 (23.14)
1:07.88 (23.83) 1:31.86 (23.98)
4 Fente-Damers, R FR Texas 1:33.66 1:31.97 qNC
r:+0.63 21.04 44.28 (23.24)
1:07.97 (23.69) 1:31.97 (24.00)
5 Wimberly, Jacob SO Texas 1:31.51 1:32.12 qNC
r:+0.63 20.94 43.93 (22.99)
1:07.64 (23.71) 1:32.12 (24.48)
5 Krichevsky, Dan FR Auburn-SE 1:32.18 1:32.12 qNC
r:+0.70 20.84 43.91 (23.07)
1:07.75 (23.84) 1:32.12 (24.37)
7 Koski, Tomas S JR UGA-GA 1:31.42 1:32.51 qNC
r:+0.64 21.26 44.36 (23.10)
1:08.18 (23.82) 1:32.51 (24.33)
8 Painter, Alex J SO FLOR-FL 1:34.83 1:32.53 qNC
r:+0.62 20.88 44.11 (23.23)
1:08.12 (24.01) 1:32.53 (24.41)
