By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
After skipping a week to digest from American Thanksgiving, we are back with the NCAA digest and boy, do we have a lot to get to. The first week of midseason invites hit hard as swimmers around the country and across divisions set the pool on fire. We have seen this pattern the past couple of seasons as the NCAA gets faster and teams evolve the arc of a season, but it’s still sometimes hard to believe these times are getting thrown down in November rather than March.
It would be impossible to distill all the action from the first week of invites into one digest so we are breaking things up. This recap will hit on the swims that you definitely didn’t miss and we will have a separate article up for the swims that might have flown under your radar, similar to the “Swims You May Have Missed” articles we do for major meets.
Will Modglin Unleashed
If you follow college swimming, it’s a pretty safe bet that you didn’t miss the week junior Will Modglin had at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite. The Longhorn got his weekend started with a 20.00 50 backstroke leading off the 200 medley relay. The swim makes him the fastest 50 backstroker in history and put him a fingernail from becoming the first swimmer to crack 20 seconds in the race.
Other Top Ten Relay Splits From Week One Of Midseason Invites
- Ilya Kharun: 18.68 50 butterfly – fastest all-time (2025 CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament)
- Torri Huske: 45.49, 100 freestyle – 9th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
- Torri Huske: 21.88, 50 butterfly – 7th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
- Torri Huske: 48.59, 100 butterfly – 5th fastest all-time (Texas Hall of Fame Invite)
- Anita Bottazzo: 56.38, 100 breaststroke – tie 8th fastest all-time (2025 UGA Fall Invite)
Modglin’s weekend was far from finished though. Later, he broke the American record in the 100 backstroke with a 43.26, overtaking Luca Urlando’s mark from the 2022 NCAA Championships. Modglin is now the third-fastest man in 100-yard backstroke history, six-hundredths back of teammate Hubert Kos’ NCAA record (43.20) and four-hundredths behind the second-fastest man, Florida’s Jonny Marshall (43.22). Both Kos and Marshall swam their bests at the 2025 NCAA Championships, setting up for a thrilling three-way race between the trio in March. Kos has not raced in the NCAA yet this season, but is expected back on the Texas roster for the spring.
Modglin was also a part of another American record, leading off the Texas men’s 400 medley relay that knocked exactly a second off the former record. Modglin (43.78) teamed with Nate Germonprez (49.91 breaststroke), Garrett Gould (45.31 butterfly), and Camden Taylor (41.34 freestyle) to erase NC State’s mark from the 2025 NCAA Championships with a 3:00.34.
NCAA Division Records Go Down
An NCAA record went down in each division during the first weekend of midseason. It was Urlando who took down the Division I record, racing his now signature 200 butterfly. Urlando missed some early dual meets for the Georgia Bulldogs but showed fine form at the Georgia Fall Invite, treating the home crowd to a 1:36.41 200 butterfly. The time shaves two-hundredths off the record he swam at the 2025 NCAA Championships to claim his first individual NCAA title.
Urlando showed that he was not messing around during prelims when he clocked 1:37.86. Including his new record, that swim ranks as the 7th fastest in event history, giving Urlando six of the top 10 times.
In Division II, Agata Naskret, now swimming for West Florida after beginning her career at Colorado Mesa, broke her own DII NCAA record in the 100 backstroke at the Delta State Thanksgiving Invite. She swam 51.26, improving the 51.52 mark set at last season’s DII NCAA Championships. It’s her 4th career 100 back DII NCAA record, as she broke the mark three times last season. This time last year, she swam 51.96 to take over the mark and become the first DII swimmer sub-52 seconds.
Like Naskret, NYU’s Kaley McIntyre continues to push Division III swimming into new territory. The 2025 CSCAA DIII Swimmer of the Year reset her 100 freestyle DIII NCAA record at the Phoenix Fall Classic; she swam 48.13, shattering the 48.53 mark she set to win last season’s DIII national title in the event. McIntyre is one of only two DIII women to break 49-seconds in the 100 freestyle—Kendra Stern is the next-fastest in DIII history with a 48.98 from the 2010 NCAA Championships.
More Highlights From Around The Midseason Invites
Women’s 100 Freestyle At The Texas Hall of Fame Invite
While swims from Modglin and other Texas swimmers like Germonprez, Baylor Nelson, and Will Scholtz highlighted the men’s racing in Austin, the women’s side of the meet was also speedy. Olympic champion Torri Huske put together an excellent meet, which she capped by winning a thrilling 100 freestyle against Texas’ Eva Okaro and USC’s Minna Abraham. Huske swam a 46.15 to win, just off her lifetime best 46.01. Okaro touched second in 46.61, swimming a new personal best and school record as she continues to make a quick transition to yards. Abraham swam 47.01, only six-hundredths off her lifetime best 46.95 after becoming the 7th fastest woman in the 200 freestyle (1:40.47). Coupled with Anna Moesch’s 100/200 freestyle antics at the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament, the 100 freestyle is shaping up to be one of the “can’t miss races” at the 2026 Women’s NCAA Championships.
Huske’s Other Swims:
- 50 freestyle: 21.01
- 100 butterfly: 48.90
- 49, 100 freestyle split – 9th fastest all-time
- 88, 50 butterfly split – 7th fastest all-time
- 59, 100 butterfly split – 5th fastest all-time
- 71, 50 freestyle split
- 1:41.22, 200 freestyle split
Hoosiers Pop Off At Ohio State
Indiana and Ohio State football play for the season’s Big Ten title this Saturday, but the Hoosier swim team has already taken care of business in Buckeye territory. The team excelled at the Ohio State Fall Invitational a year after graduating NCAA champions Anna Peplowski and Jassen Yep.
The Hoosiers started marking headlines when Miranda Grana opened the meet with a school record in the 100 butterfly, breaking 50 seconds in 49.98. She’s the first Hoosier woman to break 50-seconds in the event and made her the 13th woman all-time to clear that barrier.
The Hoosiers also got strong swims from many of their new additions, including Liberty Clark, Andrew Shackell, and Aaron Shackell, while the Shackell brothers, Andrew and Aaron, along with strong swims from returners Owen McDonald, Zalan Sarkany, and Miroslav Knedla.
Anna Moesch Climbs The Ranks In The 100/200 Freestyle
Earlier this season, we talked about how there’s a women’s 200 freestyle renaissance on this season, taking over after two seasons of the 500 freestyle rapidly picking up speed. Virginia sophomore Anna Moesch was a key player in making this the fastest fall for the women’s 200 freestyle that we’ve seen, leading a group of seven women who had broken 1:43 before November.
Well, once the calendars turned to November, Moesch continued to push the boat out in both the 200 and 100 freestyle. She moved into the top-five all-time in both events, establishing herself as one of the driving forces behind a five-time defending NCAA championship Virginia team that’s building a new identity in the post-Walsh sisters’ era.
During the Cavaliers’ duel against Michigan on Saturday morning of the CSCAA Dual Meet Tournament (which they went on to win) Moesch won the 100 and 200 freestyle, throwing down blistering times of 45.98/1:40.25.
Moesch now ranks #5 in the 100 freestyle, slotting ahead of Huske’s 46.01 lifetime best as she becomes the fifth woman to break 46 seconds in the 100 freestyle. She’s also now the third Cavalier in the top five, joining NCAA record holder Gretchen Walsh (44.71) and #4 Kate Douglass (45.86).
She’s now fourth in the 200 freestyle with her 1:40.25, moving ahead of Olympic legend Katie Ledecky (1:40.36). Her best time last season was a 1:42.39, meaning she’s already taken over two seconds off her personal record this season.
Quick Hits
- Change of heart – the NCAA rescinds the rule it put forth in October that would have allowed student athletes and staff to bet on professional sports.
- The Sun Devil sprint group is firing on all cylinders – five men went sub-19 seconds in the 50 freestyle on night one of the Tennessee Invite, led by Kharun’s 18.41. The other four: Tommy Palmer (18.90), Adam Chaney (18.92), Tolu Young (18.96), Remi Fabiani (18.98). Note that the list does not include Jonny Kulow, whose cleared that mark many times before, meaning we could see this list expand to six sub-19 swimmers at the same meet during the postseason. Similarly, the Texas men had four swimmers break 51 seconds in the 100 breaststroke, with Germonprez posting the fastest mid-season time in history.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025-26 NCAA Digest: The Swims You Definitely Did Not Miss During Midseason Invites Week One
