Swimming

SwimSwam’s 2023 Pre-NCAA Champion Picks (Men)

March 22, 2023

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 22-25, 2023
Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center | Minneapolis, MN
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Just like we did with the women’s meet last week, we have now updated our men’s picks for NCAAs. Back in September/October, we picked who we thought would win each event at NCAAs. Read in-depth about those picks here. A quick summary of the most common pick at the start of the season can be seen in the chart below:

	SwimSwam’s Top Pick
50 Free	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal
100 Free	Josh Liendo, Florida
200 Free	Luke Hobson, Texas
500 Free	Luke Hobson, Texas/ Jake Magahey, Georgia
1650 Free	David Johnston, Texas
100 back	Luca Urlando, Georgia
200 Back	Destin Lasco, Cal
100 Breast	Max McHugh, Minnesota
200 Breast	Leon Marchand, ASU
100 Fly	Andrei Minakov, Stanford
200 Fly	Luca Urlando, Georgia
200 IM	Leon Marchand, ASU
400 IM	Leon Marchand, ASU
200 Medley Relay	Florida
400 medley Relay	Indiana
200 Free relay	Florida
400 free relay	NC State
800 free relay	Texas

Things have changed throughout the season. Notably, Luca Urlando of Georgia was the most popular pick at the beginning of the season in the 200 fly, but Urlando will not be at NCAAs due to a shoulder injury.

Compared to the women’s meet where there were only three unanimous picks, the men’s meet has a lot more. Leon Marchand was picked by all writers to win both the 200 breast and 400 IM. Max McHugh of Minnesota was picked to win the 100 breast, Destin Lasco of Cal was picked to win the 200 back, Jordan Crooks of Tennessee was picked to win the 50 free, and Grant House of ASU was picked to win the 200 free.

Interestingly, the most “indecisive” event was the 100 fly where three writers each picked Andrei Minakov (Stanford), Youssef Ramadan (VT), and Josh Liendo (Florida) to win.

Updated Picks:

	SwimSwam’s Top Pick	Highest 2022 Returner	Anya	Braden	James	Robert	YanYan	Sophie	Spencer	Riley	Reid
50 Free	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Brooks Curry, LSU	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee	Jordan Crooks, Tennessee
100 Free	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Brooks Curry, LSU	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Brooks Curry, LSU	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal	Bjorn Seeliger, Cal
200 Free	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, Arizona State	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, Arizona State	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, ASU	Grant House, Arizona State	Grant House, ASU
500 Free	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Luke Hobson, Texas	Luke Hobson, TX	Luke Hobson, Texas	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia	Jake Magahey, Georgia
1650 Free	David Johnston, Texas	Will Gallant, NC State	David Johnston, Texas	David Johnston, Texas	David Johnston, Texas	Will Gallant, NC State	David Johnston, Texas	David Johnston, Texas	David Johnston, Texas	David Johnston, Texas	Will Galant, NC State
100 back	Adam Chaney, Florida	Kacper Stokowski, NC State	Adam Chaney, Florida	Destin Lasco, Cal	Adam Chaney, Florida	Adam Chaney, Florida	Destin Lasco, Cal	Adam Chaney, Florida	Destin Lasco, Cal	Kacper Stokowski, NC State	Adam Chaney, Florida
200 Back	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal	Destin Lasco, Cal
100 Breast	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota	Max McHugh, Minnesota
200 Breast	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU
100 Fly	Andrei Minakov, Stanford/ Youssef Ramadan, VT/ Josh Liendo, Florida	Andrei Minakov, Stanford	Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech	Andrei Minakov, Stanford	Josh Liendo, Florida	Josh Liendo, Florida	Youssef Ramadan, VT	Josh Liendo, Florida	Andrei Minakov, Stanford	Andrei Minakov, Stanford	Youssef Ramadan, VT
200 Fly	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Gabriel Jett, Cal	Gabriel Jett, Cal	Aiden Hayes, NC State	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Brendan Burns, Indiana	Gabriel Jett, Cal	Alexander Colson, ASU
200 IM	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Carson Foster, Texas	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU
400 IM	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU	Leon Marchand, ASU
200 Medley Relay	Florida		Florida	Florida	Florida	NC State	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida
400 medley Relay	Florida		Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	ASU
200 Free relay	Florida		Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida	Florida
400 free relay	Cal		Cal	Cal	Cal	Florida	ASU	Cal	Cal	Cal	ASU
800 free relay	ASU		ASU	Texas	ASU	Texas	ASU	ASU	ASU	ASU	ASU
Potential Upset					Charlie Hawke wins the 200 free. Not the craziest upset in the world given his seed time, but he’s got the 1:31s dialled in and will keep House on his toes.	Texas, out of the running for the team title by the last event, goes for broke, and wins the 400 free relay to close out the meet. That’ll make them 3-3 in that event when Cal wins the meet since 2019.	Carson Foster beating Leon Marchand in the 400 IM is very much possible.	Cal keeps the 200 back title in the team–but it’s Hugo Gonzalez who wins it.	It’s a bit obvious, since he is the defending champion in the event, but I’m going with Hugo Gonzalez beating Leon Marchand in the 400 IM.