Men's Swimming & Diving Finishes Third at 2026 NCAA Championships

INDIANAPOLIS- The University of Chicago men's swimming and diving team brought home a third-place overall finish from the 2026 NCAA Championships this weekend. In the final day of the meet, the Maroons won a National Championship, recorded three top-8 podium finishes, earned seven more All-American awards, and set a new NCAA record.

John Butler recorded the first podium finish with the Maroons, taking a third-place finish in the 100 freestyle. The sophomore recorded a time of 43.06, just a mere second behind first and second place. Butler's finish is up 17 spots from his finish in last year's meet.

Freshman

David Gutin earned his first spot at the podium in the 200 backstroke. Gutin recorded a fourth-place finish with a 1:45.05, shaving off a full second from his season's best.

In the 200 breaststroke,

Ethan Taylor picked up another top finish for the Maroons. Finishing in second-place with a time of 1:56.80, the freshman picked up his second podium finish of the meet.

The highlight of the meet came from UChicago's National Championship finish in the 400 freestyle relay. After

Cooper Costello recorded a 42.71 in his portion of the relay, the Maroons had an early lead over Denison. As

Alex Schwartz and

Ryan Lobo maintained the second lead over the opponents, anchor

John Butler won the race for the Maroons. Butler jumped out to a 19.52 split in his first 50 yards, finishing the race with a 42.04, the sophomore helped the Maroons snatch the NCAA record by 26 milliseconds.

The Maroons brought home a third-place finish in the meet for the fourth consecutive season. UChicago's five total National Championships are also the most that they have ever won in a single season, passing the 2025 team that won four titles.

1ST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS:

• 1st -

Cooper Costello - 200 IM - 1:45.13

• 1st -

Cooper Costello - 100 Butterfly - 45.85

• 1st -

Cooper Costello - 200 Butterfly - 1:42.98

• 1st -

Cooper Costello,

Rylan Kruep,

Igor Benderskii,

John Butler - 200 Freestyle Relay - 1:18.57

• 1st -

Cooper Costello,

Alex Schwartz,

Ryan Lobo,

John Butler - 400 Freestyle Relay - 2:53.33

• 2nd -

John Butler - 200 Freestyle - 1:35.01

• 2nd -

Ethan Taylor - 200 Breaststroke - 1:56.80

• 2nd -

Misha Kojanov,

Ethan Taylor,

Cooper Costello,

John Butler - 400 Medley Relay - 3:09.94

• 2nd -

Alex Schwartz,

Misha Kojanov,

Cooper Costello,

John Butler - 800 Freestyle Relay - 6:22.72

• 3rd -

John Butler - 50 Freestyle - 19.72

• 3rd -

John Butler - 100 Freestyle - 43.06

• 4th -

David Gutin - 200 Backstroke - 1:45.05

• 4th -

Alex Schwartz - 500 Freestyle - 4:24.71

• 5th -

Ethan Taylor - 100 Breaststroke - 53.45

2ND-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS:

• 9th -

Gray Spencer - 500 Freestyle - 4:25.55

• 11th -

Misha Kojanov - 200 Freestyle - 1:37.86

• 11th -

Gray Spencer - 200 Butterfly - 1:47.59

• 11th -

Armand Pierre Chan,

Ethan Taylor,

Igor Benderskii,

Rylan Kruep - 200 Medley Relay - 1:28.22

• 15th -

Danyal Ghadiali - 3m Diving - 459.70