NCAA Preview: Hubert Kos, Rex Maurer Pushing Texas Toward Second Straight Crown (Predictions)
The University of Texas men’s swimming and diving program was the most successful in the sport’s history, winning 15 national titles under legendary head coach Eddie Reese. When Reese retired after the 2024 season, the Texas athletic department pulled off a coup recruiting Bob Bowman to take his place. The decision worked out better than anyone could have hoped.
Bowman, who was two days removed from winning a national title with Arizona State, immediately reloaded the Longhorns’ roster and made Texas the top team in the country once again, winning the 2025 national title by 19 points over Cal. Bowman’s group included impactful returners Luke Hobson, Will Modglin and Nate Germonprez plus transfers Hubert Kos, Chris Guiliano and Rex Maurer. Four of those six standouts return for the 2026 title campaign, and Texas is the overwhelming favorite to go back-to-back this week in Atlanta.
1. Texas Longhorns
Rex Maurer — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Good luck stopping a Texas team with Kos and Maurer defending a pair of NCAA titles each plus dazzling depth across the board. Kos swam the fastest times in history in both backstroke events at last year’s NCAAs, and he could improve upon those marks in 2026. Kos is also the defending champion in the 200 IM, but he dropped that race from his program due to a new racing schedule in place this year, and he picked up the 100 butterfly. Even if he has the 40th-best entry time, the favorites in that event should feel nervous.
Maurer, meanwhile, goes for repeat titles in the 500 free and 400 IM, while the 200 back has replaced the 1650 free as his third event. In the medley, Maurer will be one of three Longhorns seeded among the top-six with transfer Baylor Nelson first and the much-improved Cooper Lucas in fourth. Three more Longhorns are set to score in the 200 free, with Camden Taylor, Jacob Wimberly and Rafael Fente-Damers, and then Texas has four of the top nine entries in the 100 breaststroke with Germonprez, Campbell McKean, Modglin and Will Scholz. All three of those events take place Thursday, giving Texas a chance to open up a big lead early.
Texas will also have four potential scorers in the 200 breast (Germonprez, Scholz, Nelson and McKean) and five in the 200 IM (Nelson, Modglin, McKean Taylor and Germonprez). The trio of Germonprez, Modglin and Scholz, all freshman on Reese’s last Texas team, have taken enormous steps forward this season. Germonprez is the third-fastest man ever and top seed in the 100 breast while entering second in the 200 breast, and Modglin broke the American record in the 100 back earlier this season. Taylor, whose highest career NCAA finish is 14th, was the SEC champion in the 200 free with multi-event A-final potential at NCAAs.
The Longhorns do not have a perfect roster by any stretch, with a particular weakness in sprint freestyle, but Fente-Damers, Taylor and Garrett Gould provide coverage there to support dominance in other events. Texas graduated three members of its American-record-setting 800 free relay from last year but still has the country’s top time this season with Taylor, Fente-Damers and Nelson joining Maurer. Texas also has returning diving scorers in Nick Harris and Jacob Welsh. This buzzsaw looks like too much for anyone to stop.
2. Florida Gators
Josh Liendo — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The Gators will try to pull off their first top-two finish since 1985 at this year’s meet as star sprinter Josh Liendo closes out a decorated college career. Liendo has built an all-time legacy at Florida that stands up even against two multi-time Olympic champions who have competed for the school in the past decade, Caeleb Dressel and Bobby Finke. Liendo has already won six individual NCAA titles in his career, with three straight in the 100 free plus two in the 100 fly and one in the 50 free. He is among the favorites for all those events again, and he could threaten NCAA records in both 100-yard events.
Liendo has support from an exceptionally deep Gators sprint group that already swam the fastest time in history in the 200 medley relay at the SEC Championships. Joining Liendo on that team were Jonny Marshall, last year’s national runnerup in the 100 back and this year’s top seed for the 200-yard event, plus breaststroker Koen de Groot and freestyler Scotty Buff. Even with Julian Smith having graduated, de Groot has done an admirable job stepping up in his place.
Florida adds two world champion distance swimmers to its roster in Ahmed Jaouadi and Ahmed Hafnaoui, both natives of Tunisia. Jaouadi won gold in the 800 and 1500-meter races at last year’s World Championships while Hafnaoui captured those titles in 2023 after winning 400 free Olympic gold in Tokyo. Returning scorer Gio Linscheer joins them to create a stellar point-scoring trio in the distance races while Alex Painter complements the sprint group and Aiden Norman looks to contribute in backstroke. The battle for second place will be close, but Florida has the studs to get it done.
3. Arizona State Sun Devils
Ilya Kharun — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Last season marked something of a rebuilding year for the Sun Devils after Bowman’s departure. But with Herbie Behm now in his second season as head man, he has the country’s deepest sprint group seeking a return to contention. While Florida and Texas are favored in the relays opening the competition Wednesday evening, Arizona State has the top time in the country in all three other relays. The 400 free relay group of Ilya Kharun, Adam Chaney, Remi Fabiani and Jonny Kulow swam an NCAA record of 2:42.15 at the recent Big 12 Championships.
Kharun is the Sun Devils’ star, the 2024 NCAA champion in the 100 butterfly poised to challenge for three titles this year. He is tied with Liendo for the top seed in the 50 free entering the meet while sitting second in both butterfly races (first in the 200 following a scratch). Fabiani, a native of Luxembourg who transferred from Cal Baptist, leads an elite group of sprinters that also features Kulow, Tolu Young, Tommy Palmer and Quin Seider. Andy Dobrzanski provides steadiness in the breaststroke events, with the possibility of individual points to go along with fine relay performances.
Graduate transfers will account for a large percentage of ASU’s points between Fabiani, Chaney and potentially Jordan Tiffany. Chaney, formerly of Florida, has returned to his status among the country’s top backstrokers while JT Ewing also could make an impact in the 200-yard race. Michael Hochwalt will try to steal a few extra points in the 400 IM.
4. Indiana Hoosiers
Owen McDonald — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
A huge class of impactful graduates departed the Hoosiers in the offseason, including 2025 top-eight finishers Finn Brooks, Caspar Corbeau, Matt King, Jassen Yep, Carson Tyler and Quentin Henninger plus reliable veterans Josh Matheny, Rafael Miroslaw and Tomer Frankel. So how do the Hoosiers drop only one spot? With Owen McDonald and Zalan Sarkany as legitimate title contenders, Maxwell Weinrich returning as an impact diving scorer and a pair of 2024 U.S. Olympians joining the squad.
With Kos opting out of the 200 IM, McDonald is the top returning finisher from last season and top seed entering this year’s meet. McDonald is also expected to produce points in the 200 free and 100 back. Sarkany, meanwhile, is going for his third title in a row in the 1650 free, and he is joined in the longer events by Aaron Shackell, an Olympic finalist in the 400-meter free, and Luke Whitlock, who was second in the 800-meter race at the 2024 Trials. Backstroke specialist Kai Van Westering is the only other returning scorer for the Hoosiers, and Miroslav Knedla could also make a mark for Indiana in that stroke.
And even though the program loses a huge wave of breaststrokers from the 2025 team, head coach Ray Looze has reloaded, with freshmen Josh Bey and Noah Cakir both in scoring position entering the meet, with returners Toby Barnett and Alexei Avakov also contending. Bey has been particularly impressive this season, entering with the second-best seed time in the 400 IM and sixth-best in the 200 breast. Meanwhile, Dylan Smiley takes on a bigger role in sprints and relays.
5. California Golden Bears
Yamato Okadome — Photo credit: Al Sermeno/KLC fotos
Yes, a prediction for Cal to finish fifth, which would end a historic run of 15 consecutive top-two finishes at the men’s meet (a streak that would surely be 16 if not for the cancellation of the 2020 NCAAs). Not since the program’s fifth year under head coach Dave Durden have the Golden Bears finished this low. Still, top-five would be a strong result for a rebuilding year, and Cal might have found its newest star in breaststroker Yamato Okadome.
Okadome won ACC titles in both breaststroke events this year, his time of 1:48.87 in the 200 ranking first in the country entering the national meet and ninth-fastest in history while his 50.32 in the 100 sits third. The most accomplished swimmer on the roster is Keaton Jones, an Olympic finalist in the 200-meter back, but Jones has yet to match his long course results in short course. Okadome, Jones, Humberto Najera and diver Joshua Thai are the only returning Cal scorers from last season.
However, Cal still took the ACC title this year thanks in large part to strong efforts in the distance events, led by freshmen Nathan Wiffen and Ryan Erisman. The team will also be looking to get points from lesser-known swimmers such as Luca Battaglini, Evan Petty, Luca Gissendaner, Eduardo Moraes, Hank Rivers and Martin Wrede. When it comes to peak performance in March, never count out the Bears.
6. NC State Wolfpack
Quintin McCarty — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The Wolfpack have a shot at returning to the top five this year thanks to some of the country’s best freestyle relays and four individual ACC champions. The team’s top performer this year is freshman Max Carlsen, who swept conference titles in the 500 and 1650 free and earning himself top-eight seed times entering the NCAA Championships. On the other side of the age spectrum are graduate students Aiden Hayes and Arsenio Bustos, with both men seeking big finishes to their college careers. Hayes is the fourth seed in the 100 fly while hoping to return to the 200 fly form that made him NCAA champion as a freshman while Bustos is a top contender in the 200 IM.
The team’s most valuable performers, though, are Kaii Winkler and Quintin McCarty. Winkler is the second-ranked swimmer in the 200 free with a time of 1:30.92, and he could also contend in the 100 back and 100 free. McCarty, fresh off his World Championships debut for the U.S. last year, has a chance at contending in the sprint freestyle events along with the backstroke races.
Daniel Diehl will have chances to score individually, as will backstroker Hudson Williams, but those free relays are the big point-earners for this team: NC State enters the national meet seeded second in the 200 and 400 free relays and fourth in the 800, with Winkler and Jerry Fox highlighting all three squads while McCarty and Williams race on two free relays apiece.
7. Michigan Wolverines
Michigan finished 11th at last season’s NCAA Championships, but this team has a shot at massive improvement a group of standouts can back up breakout performances from the recent Big Ten Championships. Tyler Ray and Colin Geer have both taken huge steps since last season to put themselves in contention for multiple top-eight finishes each. Ray joined the sub-44 club in the 100 fly at Big Tens with a time of 43.83, good for the third seed entering NCAAs, and he also won the 200 fly conference title in 1:38.82 while posting a top-eight time in the 50 free. Geer, meanwhile, has the country’s second-quickest mark in the 200 IM at 1:40.15, and he hopes to return to contention in the 200 fly.
Luka Mladenovic, a freshman from Austria, has quickly figured out short course racing; conference titles in both breaststroke events sent him to the NCAA meet in third (200) and fifth (100) position. Lorne Wigginton has aims of replicating his sensational 400 IM time of 3:35.21, which has him ranked third coming into the meet, while Ole Eitam and Eitan Ben-Shitrit hope to break into scoring position. Finally, four of the Wolverines’ relays are top-eight in the country entering NCAAs.
8. Tennessee Volunteers
The Vols might take a step back in 2026 following the graduation of Jordan Crooks, but the sprint group still has big-time potential with Gui Caribe leading the way. Caribe was the third-place finisher in both sprint freestyle events in 2025 while taking ninth in the 100 fly, and he should be among the top challengers in those races yet again. Joining the mix of standouts for Tennessee is Koby Bujak-Upton, who broke out at the SEC Championships with a 200 free time of 1:30.77 that has him ranked first in the country.
Tennessee can count on points from diver Bennett Greene, a two-event scorer last year who won the conference title on 1-meter last month. Nikoli Blackman, a longtime depth piece on Tennessee’s stellar sprint relays, could fill a bigger role this year, with potential to score across the 50, 100 and 200 free. Freshman breaststroker Gabe Nunziata is seeded eighth in the 200 breast with a chance at moving into the points in the 100-yard event while Tennessee will also hope for points from Ulises Savaria in the 100 back, Martin Espernberger in the 200 fly and Nick Simons in the 200 back.
9. Stanford Cardinal
While the Cardinal graduated accomplished swimmers Andrei Minakov and Ron Polonsky plus diver Jack Ryan from their 2024-25 squad, the team has the pieces to make another run at the top 10. The best hope for Stanford is Henry McFadden, a two-time member of the U.S. World Championships team for the 200 freestyle. McFadden could make noise as a title contender in the 200-yard event, and he will try to contend along with freshman Ethan Ekk in the 500.
The team’s other returning scorers are distance swimmer Liam Custer, backstroke/IM specialist Josh Zuchowski, butterflyer Gibson Holmes and diver Misha Andriyuk, and Stanford could also get breaststroke help from Zhier Fan and Daniel Li. Andres Dupont Cabrera and Rafael Gu will play important sprint and relay roles.
10. Virginia Cavaliers
Georgia would have been favored for this spot before defending 200 fly national champion Luca Urlando withdrew from the meet. That might be the opening Virginia needs to return to the top 10 for the first time in several years as a pair of highly-touted freshman make their NCAA Championship debuts. Thomas Heilman has represented the U.S. in butterfly events at the last three major international competitions, and he should be in the mix in both the 100 and 200-yard races in Atlanta. Maximus Williamson, a former National High School Swimmer of the Year, figures to chase finals spots in the 200 free and 200 IM.
As for the Cavaliers’ returning swimmers, David King looks to be a contender in the 200 back after he won World University Games silver in the meters event over the summer, and Jack Aikins is another accomplished backstroker. Spencer Nicholas will try to pitch in points in the 100 fly as well.
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