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The calendars have flipped to September, which signifies that NCAA Division I applications are gearing up for the beginning of the 2026-27 season.
Now that we’ve gone by means of the Honorable Mentions and the Thirteenth-Sixteenth-ranked groups, it’s time to dive into the highest 12.
See Also:
A couple of vital notes on our rankings:
Honorable Mentions: Minnesota, Harvard, Ohio State, Northwestern, UNC, Kentucky, Georgia Tech
Previously Ranked:
Alabama brings in two BOTR-ranked swimmers together with 4 extra home recruits and two internationals, making for an intriguing class.
Gunnar Hansen is the quickest 100 breaststroker within the boys’ highschool class of 2026 together with his greatest time of 52.46, produced en path to successful the Winter Juniors – West title this previous December. Also the Texas UIL 5A state champion within the 100 breast, Hansen not too long ago broke the 28-second barrier for the primary time within the lengthy course 50 breast at U.S. Nationals (27.88), exhibiting that his pure velocity is in good type getting into his first faculty season.
Sarasota Sharks’ Bogdan Zverev is extraordinarily versatile, although his specialty lies in fly. The reigning FHSAA 4A state champion within the 100 fly (46.99) and 200 IM (1:45.84), Zverev gained the 50 fly (21.69) and 200 fly (1:44.71) titles on the Florida Swimming Senior Champs in March, and he’s additionally robust within the 400 IM (3:52.2) and has spectacular freestyle vary (45.0/1:36.9/4:26.2).
Joey Stauss has the same skillset to Zverev, specializing in butterfly (46.6/1:46.5) but additionally proudly owning respectable freestyle skills (20.5/45.0/1:37.5) and a decent 1:47.8 200 IM. Carter Wright is a backstroke sprinter (22.0/47.9) who can also be 20.3/45.0 within the freestyle occasions, whereas Michael Gorey brings some breaststroke pedigree to the combination, proudly owning greatest occasions of 54.2/1:58.3 to associate with 1:46.9/3:50.4 IMs.
Romanian Eric Stefan Andries is a rangy freestyler who notably positioned fifteenth on the 2025 SC European Championships within the 400 free, clocking 3:41.61. His SCM bests, which additionally embody a 48.0 within the 100 and a 1:44.0 within the 200, convert to 43.2/1:33.7/4:13.2, indicating he may very well be an NCAA qualifier and SEC ‘A’ finalist instantly within the 500.
Bosnian Kenan Dracic could be very related, having been 1:43.9 within the SCM 200 free, and in lengthy course, 50.0/1:48.5/3:52.8. His conversions come out to 43.6/1:33.6/4:20.8, giving the Crimson Tide loads of depth in mid-distance free.
Alabama’s whole 800 free relay from final season is returning (from SECs, they didn’t subject a workforce at NCAAs), so there will probably be some inside competitors for relay spots with Andries and Dracic becoming a member of the fold.
Virginia Tech brings in a various class that’s headlined by a trio of notable home recruits, two single-stroke specialist internationals, two divers, and one switch.
#16 Matthew Wolfle dropped large in his senior season to turn into the fifth-fastest 400 IMer within the boys’ class of 2026, clocking 3:44.64 on the NCSA Spring Championships. That time would’ve ranked him an in depth 2nd on Virginia Tech’s roster final season behind rising sophomore Andy Roose (3:44.56), who will make for a superb coaching accomplice.
Wolfle can also be 1:45.25 within the 200 IM, and owns an elite 53.1/1:55.8 breaststroke combo.
Honorable Mention recruit Alex Grocholski can also be a superb IM pickup (1:46.5/3:46.3), however his greatest occasion lies within the 500 free, the place he’s been 4:19.98, which ranks him #2 on VT’s depth chart this season. He’s versatile throughout the 200 free (1:37.0), 200 again (1:47.4), 100 breast (55.8) and 100 fly (49.7).
Alex Parent is extra of a pure distance freestyler, proudly owning greatest occasions of 4:26.9 within the 500 and 15:14 within the 1650. With Lee Naber graduating, Parent would be the Hokeis’ prime miler this season.
One of the extra underrated additions to an NCAA roster this season could be Turkish breaststroker Doruk Yogurtcuoglu, who gained the European Junior (LCM) title within the boys’ 200 breast in dominant style two months in the past, clocking 2:09.43. He additionally goes 2:05.18 within the SCM 200 breast, giving him a yards conversion of 1:52.77 (it took 1:52.05 to attain at NCAAs final season).
Yogurtcuoglu can also be 59.2 SCM/1:00.9 LCM within the 100 breast. His addition provides Virginia Tech three elite breaststrokers alongside Eli Martin and Oscar Bilbao.
Polish newcomer Olivier Urbaniak doesn’t have the identical credentials as Yogurtcuoglu, however is a creating backstroker with LCM bests of 55.1/2:03.8 and SCM occasions of 24.0/52.4/1:57.7. He’s additionally been 49.3 within the 100 free (SCM).
Louisville switch Aidan Paro is available in as an elite butterflier, having set a lifetime better of 45.23 within the 100 fly on the U of L Last Chance Meet this previous February, inside three-tenths of what was required to attain at NCAAs. All three of VT’s sub-46 swimmers from final season have moved on, making Paro a vital addition for the medley relays.
Paro, who enters his senior 12 months however might have two seasons of eligibility below the brand new guidelines, can also be 1:42.7 within the 200 fly, 1:44.5 within the 200 IM, 54.8 within the 100 breast and 20.0 within the 50 free, making him a Swiss military knife of types for the Hokies.
The Hokies additionally add two-time Virginia Class 3 state champion Luke Rawlings and Egypt’s Aly Hassan, who was 4th on the World Junior Diving Championships within the 3-meter synchro, to their diving group.
Virginia continues to construct after a breakthrough Ninth-place end at NCAAs final season with a robust recruiting class that’s headlined by two of the highest 11 home recruits and a pair of intriguing worldwide additions.
The Cavaliers didn’t race the 200 medley relay on the 2026 NCAAs resulting from a scarcity of breaststroke expertise, however that may now not be the case as #9 Ian Heysen Ricci and Romanian Danis Volontir come into the fold.
Heysen Ricci gained the Winter Juniors – East title final season within the 200 breast (1:54.61), and he was the runner-up within the 100 breast (52.88), setting greatest occasions there that put him atop UVA’s depth chart in each races this season.
Volontir has drop-dead velocity, proudly owning SCM greatest occasions of 26.93 within the 50 breast and 57.92 within the 100 breast, which give him 24.2/52.1 conversions in yards.
With Heysen Ricci and Volontir, together with some further assist from Gerhardt Hoover (54.2/1:56.2), Virginia’s breaststroke group is in a lot better form than it was final season.
In addition to his breaststroke prowess, Heysen Ricci can also be an elite IMer, proudly owning bests of 1:44.9/3:43.2, and he’s additionally been 4:26.6 within the 500 free. Hoover is only a step under within the medley occasions (1:46.1/3:47.1), however may fill in some gaps in backstroke (48.5/1:43.8) and dash free (20.8/45.3) if wanted.
Along with Heysen Ricci, the Cavaliers nabbed one other top-ranked recruit in #11 Micah Davis, a butterfly specialist who can also be an elite dash freestyler and respectable 200 IMer.
Davis is the quickest 200 fly swimmer within the class together with his PB of 1:41.90, which is inside hanging distance of incomes an NCAA invite (1:41.26 final season) and cracking the ACC ‘A’ remaining (1:41.64 final season). In the 100 fly, he lowered his greatest time to 46.17 final season, and with Thomas Heilman, Hayden Bellotti and Spencer Nicholas on the roster, Davis may have an elite fly group to coach with this season.
Nathan Carr may also be becoming a member of the fly group with greatest occasions of 47.6/1:44.5 making him an element on the convention stage.
Davis can also be an rising 200 IMer at 1:46.2, and has potential to be a free relay contributor together with his bests of 20.0/43.6/1:36.7.
The Cavaliers have extra dash free expertise becoming a member of the workforce this season in home recruit Liam Mac Colla, Frenchman Alexandre Chalendar and Italian Davide Passafaro.
Mac Colla owns bests of 20.0/44.1 in yards, whereas Chalendar has been as quick as 21.9/47.8/1:44.7 briefly course meters and 22.7/49.0/1:48.9 in lengthy course, giving him conversions of 19.7/42.7/1:34.3.
Passafaro is 22.3/49.3 in lengthy course meters and 21.7/48.1 briefly course, giving him conversions of 19.4/42.9, making him a possible relay contributor and particular person scoring menace. He’s additionally been 28.0/1:01.9 within the SCM breaststroke occasions and 1:59.9 within the SCM 200 IM, so there’s some sprinting versatility there.
Joining UVA as a switch this season is Seth Collet, who comes over after his freshman 12 months at UC Santa Barbara, although he didn’t compete final season resulting from harm. Collet is an all-around expertise who’s greatest occasions lie in mid-distance free (1:36.0/4:19.7) and IM (1:48.9/3:48.0).
Auburn has a deep worldwide class that’s headlined by the #4 ranked home recruit, Mike Rice, who’s coming off a powerful summer season.
Rice gained bronze within the 100 fly on the current Junior Pan Pacific Championships in a lifetime better of 53.15, and he additionally took fifth within the 50 fly (24.24) whereas successful a pair of relay medals. A couple of weeks earlier at U.S. Nationals, he posted PBs of twenty-two.51 within the 50 free and 49.07 within the 100—executed in a swim-off victory–to present him loads of momentum getting into his freshman 12 months.
In yards, Rice has established himself as a real all-around sprinter, proudly owning spectacular greatest occasions of 19.28 within the 50 free and 42.48 within the 100 free, which each rank him third within the class. In his greatest occasion, the 100 fly, he sits 2nd within the class together with his PB of 45.89, making him an instantaneous contender for an NCAA spot and a top-16 end at SECs.
Rice can also be one among 5 swimmers within the class sub-1:45 within the 200 IM (1:44.73), one among eight below 1:35 within the 200 free (1:34.96), and owns notable bests within the 100 again (48.17) and 100 breast (54.81) that make him somebody the coaches can enter in virtually something at a twin meet.
Along with Rice, Auburn’s dash free and fly group may have a number of extra key additions with Brazilian Gabriel Machucho, Ireland’s Matthew Hamilton and Hungarian Sebestyen Papp becoming a member of the combination, together with Texas switch Alexey Glivinskiy.
Machuco and Hamilton are very related, together with proudly owning the very same 100 fly greatest time in lengthy course, 52.62, which converts to 46.14 in yards. Machuco can also be 22.8/49.5/1:49.9 in LCM freestyle, and 47.8/1:46.0 in SCM, giving him conversions of 19.8/43.0/1:35.4, and he has a notable sub-2:00 200 IM in LCM (1:59.74) that converts him to 1:44.99.
Hamilton, who was Ninth on the Commonwealth Games within the 100 fly, can also be a 22.5/49.7 lengthy course freestyler, changing to 19.6/43.3 in yards.
Papp is at the same stage within the 100 free, proudly owning PBs of 49.95 (LCM) and 48.26 (SCM) that convert to the 43.4 vary, and his 52.44 SCM 100 again converts to 45.93 in yards. He was not too long ago a finalist at Euro Juniors within the 50 again, and his SCM greatest time of 23.84 converts to twenty.79, making him the frontrunner to take over medley relay lead-off duties.
As for Glivinskiy, he was 41.86/1:32.23 within the 100 and 200 free final season at Texas, placing him alongside rising sophomore and fellow Israeli Daniel Krichevsky (41.87/1:31.87) atop Auburn’s depth chart.
With the additions of Rice, Machuco, Hamilton, Papp and Glivinskiy, Auburn will certainly have new-look free relays this season, with Krichevsky probably being the one carryover—although Luke Bedsole and Warner Russ have been each robust final 12 months.
Glivinskiy additionally brings a 1:43.2 200 IM to the desk, making him the workforce’s prime possibility in that occasion alongside Machuco.
Auburn’s breaststroke group can also be getting a giant increase with the additions of Brazilian Kaua Santos Carvalho and NC State switch Arsen Kozhakhmetov.
Santos Carvalho is a powerful sprinter, having set a greatest time of 27.08 within the LCM 50 breast in June, which converts to a blistering 23.49 in yards. He’s additionally 1:00.87 within the 100 breast in lengthy course, and not too long ago cut up 59.97 on the 4×100 medley relay at Junior Pan Pacs. In quick course meters, Santos Carvalho has been 58.67/2:09.80, changing to 52.8/1:56.9.
Kozhakhmetov, a Kazakhstan native, was 52.1/1:55.8 final season at NC State.
Last season, Auburn had Uros Zivanovic go 51.1 within the 100 breast, and Maston Ballew clock 1:52.1 within the 200 breast, each qualifying for NCAAs.
Santos Carvalho and Kozhakhmetov give them an opportunity to have 4 NCAA qualifiers within the breast occasions, and there will probably be some good inside competitors brewing between Zivanovic and Santos Carvalho for the breast spots on the medley relays. Last season, Zivanovic stepped up with 22.76/50.84 splits at NCAAs.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
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This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you'll…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its unique location you…