NCAA Men’s Championships: Remi Fabiani Takes Turn as Relay Hero as Arizona State Grabs Another Win in 400 Medley
Central to the Arizona State University program under second-year head coach Herbie Behm is racing, the Sun Devils’ large contingent of top-notch sprinters going facing off daily in practice. The fruits of that competition have showed out at the NCAA Championships as the men have combined to produce some relay magic. In three sprint relays, Arizona State has now earned three victories, the latest with a comeback win in the 400 medley.
Of course, none of ASU’s wins have been dominant performance. Jonny Kulow had to wait until the anchor leg to take over in the 200 medley relay on night one. Ilya Kharun got the job done on his third split in Thursday’s 200 freestyle relay. This time, the spotlight belonged to Remi Fabiani, a graduate transfer from Cal-Baptist who has broken out this season.
Fabiani entered the pool tied for second place with Florida but facing a deficit of almost seven tenths. He nearly erased that margin going out, covering the first two lengths in 18.84 and then pulling away down the back end. His 40.24 split allowed the Sun Devils to get to the wall in 2:56.79, four tenths ahead of second-place Texas.
“I think it was all about, we knew the other teams had a good first half. Not that we don’t, but I think they did a good job of keeping me within range. And I thought that compared to the two guys who were next to me, I was a better freestyler. And so I felt like I could take it home. It was great to be able to do that and be part of a relay like that. It’s a forever memory,” Fabiani said.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been in a situation like that with that much at stake, but I think I’ve been doing this for a little bit now, and then when I was at CBU, we tried to qualify for NCAA relays. I’ve always been able to do good swims in relays. I didn’t think it was done much ground to cover, but I knew what I was capable of.”
His teammates provided the perfect setup for a dramatic anchor. Fellow fifth-year transfer Adam Chaney had the team in the mix with a 43.64 leadoff leg, and Andy Dobrzanski held his own at 50.28 on breaststroke, just behind the splits of the other main contenders. On butterfly, Kharun faced tough competition from Josh Liendo and Hubert Kos, the men who edged him out in the 100 fly final Thursday, but Kharun more than held his own with a 42.63 performance.
“We thought this one was gonna be harder to win, but I think everyone did their job,” Chaney said. “I think that’s what it came down to. I think actually me and Andy were probably the most important part. Andy touched second, so I think we knew it was enough.”
The Sun Devils enter the final day in contention for a top-three finish, largely thanks to the relays and the sprint events, with the team getting four of the top nine finishers in the 50 free. The most credit, the swimmers argue, belongs to Behm.
“I really just wanted to shout out Herbie and what he’s built after Bob (Bowman) left,” Fabiani said. “I’ve had the most fun I’ve ever had in my life swimming, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team. But also, I couldn’t have asked for a better coach.
“Herbie told me last year I would go 40.5, and I honestly didn’t really believe it. And, you know, the culture and the people we train with, just, you start believing it yourself too. And Herbie’s a very capable coach. I think people mistake him for just being a sprint coach. I dropped six seconds in my 200 free compared to last year. I never thought I could go 1:30. I remember watching the 200 free last year from the stands and seeing people go 1:30. I didn’t even think that was physically possible for me.”
Texas held on to finish second in 2:57.22 thanks to a stellar front half. Will Modglin led off in 43.49, quicker than he swam in the individual 100 back final earlier in the session, and Nate Germonprez extended the lead with a race-best 49.77 backstroke split. Kos came through with a 42.52, but the versatile Taylor could not handle Fabiani’s raw speed at the end. Still, the second-place finish here combined with two finalists in 3-meter diving allowed Texas to hold down a 9.5-point advantage over Florida in the team competition entering the final day.
The Gators got third in 2:57.54 behind Jonny Marshall, Koen de Groot, Liendo and Alex Painter. Marshall rebounded from a disappointing 17th-place finish in the 100 back to go 44.09 on the leadoff leg while de Groot’s 50.05 was tied for third-quickest overall. Liendo fired off a 42.41 fly split before Painter snuck under 41 on his anchor leg.
Michigan, led by a 50.08 breaststroke split from Luka Mladenovic, placed fourth in 2:58.53. Indiana also benefitted from a big breaststroke leg, Alexei Ivanov’s 50.05, to take fifth in 2:59.96. Tennessee and Virginia both got into the top-eight by virtue of their morning performances while Cal finished between those teams in seventh place, with Yamato Okadome splitting 49.98 on breaststroke.
Entering the final day, the team competition has spread itself out with Texas (340.5) and Florida (331) well ahead of their competition. Indiana sits just ahead of Arizona State for third, 254 to 245. Tennessee currently rounds out the top five (199), with Cal (186), NC State (175.5) and Michigan (163) still in the mix.
Event 15 Men 400 Yard Medley Relay
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NCAA: N 2:55.66 2/21/2025 Florida
J Marshall, J Smith, J Liendo, A Painter
Meet: M 2:56.10 3/28/2025 Florida
J Marshall, J Smith, J Liendo, A Painter
American: A 3:00.34 11/20/2025Texas
W Modglin, N Germonprez, G Gould, C Taylor
U. S. Open: O 2:55.66 2/21/2025 Florida
J Marshall, J Smith, J Liendo, A Painter
Pool: P 2:56.79 3/27/2026 Arizona St
A Chaney, A Dobrzanski, I Kharun, R Fabiani
School Seed Finals Points
==================================================================================
1 ASU 2:57.48 2:56.79P 40
1) Chaney, Adam 5Y 2) r:0.16 Dobrzanski, Andy SR
3) r:0.26 Kharun, Ilya JR 4) r:0.20 Fabiani, Remi 5Y
r:+0.73 21.09 43.64 (43.64)
1:06.85 (23.21) 1:33.92 (50.28)
1:53.70 (19.78) 2:16.55 (42.63)
2:35.39 (18.84) 2:56.79 (40.24)
2 Texas 2:57.64 2:57.22 34
1) Modglin, Will JR 2) r:0.17 Germonprez, Nate JR
3) r:0.20 Kos, Hubert SR 4) r:0.35 Taylor, Camden JR
r:+0.81 20.68 43.49 (43.49)
1:06.13 (22.64) 1:33.26 (49.77)
1:52.63 (19.37) 2:15.78 (42.52)
2:35.22 (19.44) 2:57.22 (41.44)
3 Florida 2:58.49 2:57.54 32
1) Marshall, Jonny JR 2) r:0.02 de Groot, Koen SR
3) r:0.12 Liendo, Josh SR 4) r:0.23 Painter, Alexander SO
r:+0.70 20.93 44.09 (44.09)
1:07.16 (23.07) 1:34.14 (50.05)
1:53.57 (19.43) 2:16.55 (42.41)
2:36.16 (19.61) 2:57.54 (40.99)
4 Michigan 3:00.15 2:58.53 30
1) Wilkening, Jack SR 2) r:0.24 Mladenovic, Luka FR
3) r:0.25 Ray, Tyler SR 4) r:0.17 Sauve, Antoine FR
r:+0.66 21.07 43.98 (43.98)
1:06.92 (22.94) 1:34.06 (50.08)
1:53.66 (19.60) 2:17.23 (43.17)
2:37.08 (19.85) 2:58.53 (41.30)
5 Indiana 3:00.16 2:59.96 28
1) Knedla, Mira SO 2) r:0.00 Avakov, Alexei SO
3) r:0.11 McDonald, Owen SR 4) r:0.17 Smiley, Dylan JR
r:+0.68 21.30 44.40 (44.40)
1:07.16 (22.76) 1:34.45 (50.05)
1:54.63 (20.18) 2:18.87 (44.42)
2:38.00 (19.13) 2:59.96 (41.09)
6 Tennessee 3:01.20 3:00.34 26
1) Saravia, Ulises FR 2) r:0.22 Nunziata, Gabe FR
3) r:0.17 Paula, Lucio FR 4) r:0.23 Caribe, Gui SR
r:+0.60 21.39 44.39 (44.39)
1:08.04 (23.65) 1:35.24 (50.85)
1:55.71 (20.47) 2:20.03 (44.79)
2:39.20 (19.17) 3:00.34 (40.31)
7 California 3:00.74 3:00.41 24
1) Petty, Evan 5Y 2) r:0.21 Okadome, Yamato SO
3) r:0.15 Puggaard, Casper FR 4) r:0.21 Wrede, Martin FR
r:+0.63 21.53 44.64 (44.64)
1:07.96 (23.32) 1:34.62 (49.98)
1:54.95 (20.33) 2:19.25 (44.63)
2:38.64 (19.39) 3:00.41 (41.16)
8 Virginia 3:01.75 3:00.55 22
1) King, David SO 2) r:0.21 Heilman, Matthew SR
3) r:0.16 Heilman, Thomas FR 4) r:0.13 Williamson, Maximus FR
r:+0.74 21.95 45.05 (45.05)
1:09.32 (24.27) 1:36.92 (51.87)
1:56.53 (19.61) 2:19.89 (42.97)
2:38.88 (18.99) 3:00.55 (40.66)
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