Home Aquatic Quintin McCarty, Henry McFadden Expecting Jump This Season

Quintin McCarty, Henry McFadden Expecting Jump This Season

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Quintin McCarty, Henry McFadden Among Underrated Men’s College Swimmers Expecting Jump This Season

Trips to the World Championships as representatives of the United States swim team gave Henry McFadden and Quintin McCarty serious momentum in their junior seasons of college swimming. McFadden had been to Worlds before, qualifying as the sixth-place swimmer in the 200 freestyle in 2023, but his role expanded considerably this time with a central role on the American men’s 800 free relay. McCarty, meanwhile, was the surprise U.S. national champion in the 50 backstroke, an event taking on new importance with its addition to the Olympic schedule.

This season, both swimmers will try to catch their collegiate results up with what they have accomplished in long course. McFadden, in his third year racing for the Stanford Cardinal, has never finished higher than eighth in an individual event at the NCAA Championships. Yes, he swam a time of 1:30.83 in the 200-yard free at last year’s national meet, but that no longer stacks up nationally as numerous men clock times in the 1:30-low range or sub-1:30 each season. However, six A-finalists and nine of the top-11 finishers from the 2025 NCAAs have graduated, leaving plenty of room for McFadden to make a bigger stamp this year.

McCarty, meanwhile, is actually in his fourth year at NC State (with one redshirt year), and he has already played a key sprinting role. He was an A-finalist in the 50 free and B-finalist in the 100 back at last year’s NCAAs while leading off four scoring relays for the Wolfpack; three of those teams finished among the top-six while the ninth-place 400 medley relay established an American record. While it was backstroke that launched his international run, there is no 50 back on the college slate, so the 50 free could remain the event where McCarty makes the greatest individual impact collegiately. Still, he has a hard challenge to keep up with the likes of Josh Liendo, Gui Caribe and Ilya Kharun.

McFadden and McCarty are not the only less-heralded men carrying momentum into this college season. Here are a few more that could move up from teams at varying stages of contention.

Tomas Koski & Ruard Van Renen, Georgia

The Bulldogs will be best known for the exploits of Luca Urlando, who returns to college racing after a sensational 2025 saw him become NCAA champion in the 200-yard fly and world champion in the meters version of the event. A pair of his teammates with the Bulldogs also have big scoring potential for this year’s national meet. Van Renen, a native of South Africa, is a backstroke specialist who finished third in the 100 back at last year’s NCAAs in 43.85 before taking seventh in the 200. He could move up in the longer distance following the graduation of three top-finishing swimmers, including three-time champion Destin Lasco.

Koski, meanwhile, follows older brother Matias as a key scorer for Georgia in the freestyle events. Jake Magahey is gone after five strong seasons with the program, but Koski took fifth in the 500 free, sixth in the 200 free and 12th in the 1650 free at the 2025 NCAAs. In the 200, he and McFadden are the only returning championship finalists, and the 500 loses Luke Hobson, Lukas Henveaux and Magahey from last season, meaning Koski is the second-highest finisher returning after Rex Maurer.


Michel Arkhangelskiy, Florida State

A native of France, Arkhangelskiy seems poised to shake up the sprint events this season for an underrated Seminoles squad. Having never competed in short course yards before last season, Arkhangelskiy burst on the scene at the ACC Championships by splitting 19.10 for the 50 fly on Florida State’s 200 medley relay, and he went on to win the 100 back and take second to Andrei Minakov in the 100 fly at the conference meet. He could not replicate those times at NCAAs but still reached the B-final in both of his events. In the 200 medley relay, only three swimmers had quicker 50 fly splits than Arkhangelskiy. Don’t be surprised to see him contending for individual top-three finishes this year.


Jovan Levic & Jere Hribar, LSU

LSU placed 19th in the national standings last season but has two strong freestylers returning and poised for a strong haul in the SEC and nationally. Hribar could be one of the top sprinters in the country this year after finishing seventh in the 100 free (with a sub-41 time in prelims) and 12th in the 50 last season. Then, while representing Croatia over the summer, Hribar reached the World Championships semifinal of the 50-meter free, finishing 11th, and he narrowly missed earning a second swim in the 100 free. Meanwhile, Levic reached the NCAA A-final of the 500 free last season, and he is one of three returners (along with Maurer and Yale’s Noah Millard) who swam under 4:09 at the 2025 national meet.


Carson Hick & Levi Sandidge, Kentucky

The Wildcats put two men in the top-eight in the 1650 free at last season’s NCAAs. Swimming in the afternoon heats, Hick dropped more than 13 seconds from his entry time to finish in 14:30.35, good for No. 6 overall, while Sandidge placed eighth in 14:31.08. Those finishes marked a massive jump from one year earlier, when Hick was 19th and Sandidge 24th at the end of the season. The opportunity for even better results will present itself this season as Henveaux and NC State’s Owen Lloyd were top-eight finishers who have exhausted their eligibility.

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