Indianapolis, Ind. (March 18, 2026)- Five events and two individual champions later, the Denison men's swimming and diving team sits in first place with 118 points at the 2026 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The Big Red had a strong start in prelims, which secured eight All-American finishes, including national titles in the 500 Free by
George Goins and in the 3-meter dive by
Nick Fogle. In second place is Emory with 97 points, followed by Chicago with 96, and in fourth are the Owls of Kenyon with 83.
What Happened in Prelims
The Big Red finished the morning with three top-three finishers and eight finalists for the evening A and B finals.
George Goins swam the top time for the 500 Free with a prelim time of 4:22.17, which was two seconds faster than his seed time. Earning Denison's second top-three finish of the morning was
Jack Hill, who swam the 200 IM in 1:46.55 for third place. Rounding out the top three prelim finishers was senior
Nick Fogle, who finished first in the 3-meter dive prelims.
- Additional Final Qualifiers
In the 50 Free, there were two swim-offs due to tied times in prelims. First-year
Cam Blevins-Mohr swam the 50-free three times due to the swim-offs, posting a personal best time in the first swim-off, but ultimately falling to Spencer Stluka from Kenyon.
Day One Finals
The Big Red came back to the finals fired up, securing its first National Champion of the night in the very first finals event- the 500 Free. For the first time since 2014,
George Goins earned the 500 Free title for the Big Red after pulling away late in the last lap with a time of 4:22.30.
Over in the diving well, senior
Nick Fogle secured an impressive first-place finish in the 3-meter dive after scoring 530.35 points for the title. Just last year, Fogle finished in 8th place with a final score of 493.95. This is the first time Denison has held the 3-meter title since 2017.
Of the remaining six All-American finishes, four of them were earned in the 200 IM. Leading the charge for the Big Red was junior
Jack Hill, who finished runner-up in the 200 IM with a time of 1:45.52. Coming in sixth place was
Devin Testin, who finished in 1:47.66. In the B Finals,
Luke Swiggett swam the 200 IM in 1:47.85 for 11th place, and
Ben Bevill came in 15th place after finishing the 200 IM in 1:48.44.
The final two All-American finishes came in the 50 Free and 400 Medley Relay. In the 50 Free,
Nick Hensel swam a 19.92 for fifth place, and to close out the first day of competition, the relay team of Bevill,
Liam Nelson,
Cam Blevins-Mohr, and Hill finished sixth with a time of 3:13.31.
Up Next:
Denison continues to compete in the 2026 National Swimming and Diving Championships through Saturday evening inside the IU Natatorium. Prelim sessions are set to start at 10 a.m. each morning, with the final sessions starting at 6 p.m. each night.
Men's & Women's 200 Free
Men's & Women's 100 Fly
Men's & Women's 400 IM
Men's & Women's 200 Free Relay
Women's 1-meter
