Who’s Back? A Look at the Returning NCAA Finalists for the 2026-27 Season (Men)
As the next NCAA season prepares to begin, more than half of the championship finalists from last year’s NCAA Championships are slated to return. Cal’s Yamato Okadome (100 breaststroke/200 breaststroke) and Virginia’s Maximus Williamson (200 freestyle/200 individual) will defend titles in a pair of events, while Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun (200 butterfly), Texas’ Rex Maurer (400 individual medley) and Florida’s Ahmed Jaouadi (1650 freestyle) and Ahmed Hafnaoui (500 freestyle) are also back as champions.
Julian Koch was a finalist for Pittsburgh in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly last year, but has since transferred to Tennessee. In the breaststroke events, two-time defending champion Texas picked up Luka Mladenovic (Michigan) as a transfer. Meanwhile, Indiana looks like it will retain multi-event finalists Zalan Sarkany and Owen McDonald after a judge ruled they would be given a fifth year of eligibility to coincide with the new five-in-five rule adopted by the NCAA.
Here is a look at the championship-heat finalists who are set to return to NCAA competition for the 2026-27 season:
NCAA Championships Results (2026)
50 Freestyle
3. Ilya Kjarun (Arizona State) – 18.24
4. Quintin McCarty (N.C. State) – 18.47
7. Nikita Sheremet (Louisville) – 18.65
8. Brendan Whitfield (Virginia Tech) – 18.66
100 Freestyle
2. Jere Hribar (LSU) – 40.33
4. Julian Koch (Pittsburgh) – 40.43**
6. Quintin McCarty (N.C. State) – 40.90
7. Tomas Lukminas (Arizona) – 41.11
8. Brendan Whitfield (Virginia Tech) – 41.22
**Transferred to Tennessee
200 Freestyle
1. Maximus Williamson (Virginia) – 1:30.03
2. Koby Bujak-Upton (Tennessee) – 1:30.11
3. Henry McFadden (Stanford) – 1:30.13
6. Kaii Winkler (N.C. State) – 1:30.93
7. Keaton Jones (Cal) – 1:31.08
500 Freestyle
1. Ahmed Hafnaoui (Florida) – 4:06.56
2. Ahmed Jaouadi (Florida) – 4:06.90
3. Rex Maurer (Texas) – 4:07.88
4. Zalan Sarkany (Indiana) – 4:07.95**
6. Leonardo Alcantara (Alabama) – 4:11.87
7. Aaron Shackell (Indiana) – 4:12.23
8. Sean Green (Georgia) – 4:13.29
**Granted Fifth Year of Eligibility
1650 Freestyle
1. Ahmed Jaouadi (Florida) – 14:10.03
2. Zalan Sarkany (Indiana) – 14:12.20**
4. Ahmed Hafnaoui (Florid) – 14:22.64
6. Luke Whitlock (Indiana) – 14:34.30
8. Carson Hick (Kentucky) – 14:39.66
**Granted Fifth Year of Eligibility
100 Backstroke
4. Will Modglin (Texas) – 43.80
5. Johnny Crush (Army) – 43.84
5. Owen McDonald (Indiana) – 43.84**
7. Marcus Reyes-Gentry (Notre Dame) – 44.14.
**Granted Fifth Year of Eligibility
200 Backstroke
2. Jonny Marshall (Florida) – 1:37.15
3. David King (Virginia) – 1:37.43
5. Tommy Hagar (Alabama) – 1:38.63
100 Breaststroke
1. Yamato Okadome (Cal) – 49.90
2. Campbell McKean (Texas) – 50.25
3. Nate Germonprez (Texas) – 50.38
5. Luka Mladenovic (Michigan) – 50.47**
6. Alexei Avakov (Indiana) – 50.58
8. Will Modglin (Texas) – 51.01
**Transferred to Texas
200 Breaststroke
1. Yamato Okadome (Cal) – 1:48.61
2. Josh Bey (Indiana) – 1:48.79
3. Luka Mladenovic (Michigan) – 1:49.34**
4. Ben Delmar (North Carolina) – 1:49.66
5. Nate Germonprez (Texas) – 1:49.69
6. Toby Barnett (Indiana) – 1:49.80
7. Gabe Nunziata (Tennessee) – 1:50.26
8. Eli Martin (Virginia Tech) – 1:52.04
**Transferred to Texas
100 Butterfly
3. Ilya Kharun (Arizona State) – 42.92
4. Thomas Heilman (Virginia) – 43.58
6. Scotty Buff (Florida) – 43.67
8. Julian Koch (Pittsburgh) – 44.28**
**Transferred to Tennessee
200 Butterfly
1. Ilya Kharun (Arizona State) – 1:37.66
2. Thomas Heilman (Virginia) – 1:38.16
4. Jacob Johnson (Minnesota) – 1:39.20**
5. Logan Robinson (Florida State) – 1:39.44
6. Raekwon Noel (Indiana) – 1:39.54
8. Abdalla Youssef (Auburn) – 1:40.68
**Transferred to Georgia
200 Individual Medley
1. Maximus Williamson (Virginia) – 1:38.48
2. Owen McDonald (Indiana) – 1:38.57**
4. Will Modglin (Texas) – 1:40.94
6. Daniel Diehl (N.C. State) – 1:41.03
7. Josh Bey (Indiana) – 1:41.98
8. Noah Cakir (Indiana) – 1:42.23
**Granted Fifth Year of Eligibility
400 Individual Medley
1. Rex Maurer (Texas) – 3:32.96
4. Lorne Wigginton (Michigan) – 3:35.63
5. Ryan Erisman (Cal) – 3:36.32
6. Cooper Lucas (Texas) – 3:36.87
7. Josh Bey (Indiana) – 3:37.23
8. Joshua Staples (Northwestern) – 3:43.95
