SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which swimmer will score the most at the Men’s NCAA Championships, excluding last season’s leading scorer:
Question: Outside of Hubert Kos, who will score the most individual points at Men’s NCAAs?
RESULTS
After Hubert Kos scored a perfect 60 points at the 2025 Men’s NCAA Championships, and showed incredible form during the fall by breaking a pair of backstroke world records in the short course pool on the World Cup circuit, we figured he would be the slam-dunk winner if he was included in this poll (likely even more dominant than Torri Huske was last week).
For a more competitive poll, we omitted Kos, asking SwimSwam readers which male swimmer outside of Kos would score the most points at NCAAs in less than two months.
Last season, trailing Kos’ 60 points were Josh Liendo and Rex Maurer, who scored 57 points apiece, and then the next-highest scorer who is active this season was Ilya Kharun, who put up 48 points.
Those were the three names that dominated last week’s poll, though in a slightly different order.
Liendo, who, like Kos, had a phenomenal showing in the fall at the World Cup circuit and set a new world record in the 100 fly, picked up nearly half of the votes at 48.6%.
The Florida senior has a near-flawless record in his NCAA Championship career, having finished no lower than 2nd in an individual event through three seasons. Liendo won the 100 free and was the runner-up in the 50 free and 100 fly as a freshman, then swept all three events as a sophomore, and the last year as a junior, three-peated in the 100 free, repeated in the 100 fly and was 2nd to Jordan Crooks in the 50 free.
In three NCAA Championship appearances, Liendo has scored 171 out of a possible 180 points.
This season, he’ll be the favorite to go three-for-three again, just like he did in 2024, though there will be no shortage of challengers.
Liendo’s biggest threat may come from Kharun, the Arizona State junior who was the runner-up last season in the 100 fly in a time of 43.43 (to Liendo’s 43.06).
Kharun leads the NCAA this season with his time of 43.38 from November’s CSCAA Dual Meet Challenge, doing so the same weekend that Liendo went 43.42 at the UGA Fall Invite.
Kharun ranked 2nd in the poll with 21.6% of votes, as he’ll also be a national title threat in the 200 fly, having won the NCAA crown as a freshman in 2024 and then following up by winning the short course world title that year. However, defending champion Luca Urlando will be the big favorite after setting the all-time record in last year’s final (1:36.43) and then re-lowering it earlier this season (1:36.41). Kharun, meanwhile, owns a PB of 1:37.56, set this past November.
Kharun will also be a threat to score big points in the 50 free after placing 4th last year in a best time of 18.31.
Maurer was the only other swimmer to earn more than 10% of votes in the poll, picking up 13.7% despite coming just three points shy of a perfect score last season.
The Texas junior hasn’t approached his personal best times yet this season, but perhaps he’s saving it all for the big dance. Last year, he won national titles in the 500 free and 400 IM, and was the runner-up in the 1650 free.
Urlando received 6.5% of votes as the favorite in the 200 fly and a likely top-three finisher in the 100 fly. With the new schedule, and his usual third event (200 IM) clashing with the 200 fly, maybe we’ll get to see Urlando in the 100 back this year after he stunningly broke the American Record in 2022 leading off Georgia’s 400 medley relay.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which conference race will be most intriguing this season?
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A3 Performance is an independently-owned, performance swimwear company built on a passion for swimming, athletes, and athletic performance. We encourage swimmers to swim better and faster at all ages and levels, from beginners to Olympians. Driven by a genuine leader and devoted staff that are passionate about swimming and service, A3 Performance strives to inspire and enrich the sport of swimming with innovative and impactful products that motivate swimmers to be their very best – an A3 Performer.
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
