Ten Vols Punch Ticket to NCAA Championships, Top Seed in Five Events

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA released its cut lines for the 2025 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday, and 10 Tennessee swimmers qualified for the meet.

Based on the seeding heading into the championships, the Vols are projected to have seven championship final finishes by four different individuals. In total, six different individuals are projected to score, including three in multiple events. Four UT relays are also projected to finish inside the top eight.

Tennessee is favored in five events heading into the meet, with Jordan Crooks holding the top time in the 50 and 100 freestyles. The Big Orange also boasts the fastest 200 free, 400 free and 200 medley relays so far this season.

At SECs last month, the Vols shattered the NCAA record in both the 200 free relay (1:12.80) and the 400 free relay (2:42.41). Both squads are made up by Crooks, Gui Caribe, Nikoli Blackman and Lamar Taylor. In the 200 medley relay, the lineup of Taylor, Kevin Houseman, Caribe and Crooks narrowly missed a third national record (1:20.15), clocking a 1:20.22 effort to win gold. Tennessee's 400 medley relay checks in a third nationally with a time of 2:59.69, using 100 back school record holder Harrison Lierz on the first leg and switching Crooks and Caribe to the butterfly and freestyle, respectively.

Competing at the Zone B Diving Championships this week, Bennett Greene and Nick Stone punched their tickets to the national meet in two weeks. Both divers qualified in all three events.

All meet information, including schedules, heat sheets/results and streaming links, can be found on the 2025 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships Central page. Every session of the meet will be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can also follow along with live results online or by using the Meet Mobile app.

Last year, the Vols took sixth at NCAAs, marking the best finish since 2001 and placing inside the top 10 for the second straight meet. Here's a breakdown of all 12 swimmers and divers who qualified:

Nikoli Blackman – 100 Free, 200 Free
After swimming as a member of the 200 free relay at last year's NCAA Championships, Nikoli Blackman earned his first individual qualification to this season's national meet. The sophomore earned a bid in two events and is a member of the 200 free and 400 free relays that broke NCAA records last month at SECs.

Blackman will compete in the sprint freestyles after ranking 23rd in the 100 free (41.84) and 23rd in the 200 free (1:32.12). He was a finalist in both events at SECs, placing eighth in the 100 free and 12th in the 200 free. He ranks top five in school history in all three sprint freestyle events, highlighted by being second in the 200 free.

Gui Caribe – 50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly
One of the top sprint freestylers in the country, Gui Caribe looks to build off an impressive showing at the 2024 NCAA Championships, when he won silver in the 100 free and placed sixth in the 50 free. The Paris Olympian has finished top 10 in both events during his first two seasons of collegiate swimming, and he's ranked third in the 50 free and fourth in the 100 free heading into the meet.

Caribe won bronze in both events at SECs last month, clocking a personal-best effort in the 50 free at 18.42. He matched his season-best mark in the 100 free (40.85) and is ahead of his time at this point last season, when he posted a career-best 40.55 during his silver medal performance. Caribe also qualified for the 100 fly, checking in at 20th with a time of 44.76.

Jordan Crooks – 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free
It's the last dance for Tennessee superstar Jordan Crooks. The senior enters the NCAA Championships ranked first in the 50 free and 100 free and is second in the 200 free. The most decorated Vol of all time boasts 27 SEC medals, including 11 gold, and 18 All-America honors for his career. He's the school record holder in four different individual events and helped break all five UT relay records.

The George Town, Cayman Islands, native will look to make a splash in his final collegiate meet. Crooks won the 2023 national title in the 50 free but failed to defend it in 2024, losing by 0.02 seconds to take silver. He enters as the heavy favorite thanks to a blazing 17.85 effort at SECs. In the 100 free, he's finished inside the top five during his previous three national meets and will look to bring home his first medal in the event. He tied for gold at SECs with a mark of 40.45, but his time from the midseason invite (40.26) creates excitement for the potential of a sub-40 seconds swim—a feat that has only occurred one before by Caeleb Dressel (39.90).

In the 200 free, Crooks threw down a 1:30.00 effort at the midseason invite, which would've been good for first at SECs. It will be his second straight year of swimming the event at NCAAs after finishing sixth last season.

Martin Espernberger – 200 Fly
For the third year in row, Martin Espernberger is heading back to NCAAs as a projected scorer in the 200 fly, ranking fifth with a time of 1:39.34. The junior took silver in the event last month at SECs after winning the title in 2024. Coming off one a strong year of swimming that saw him win bronze in the 200 fly at the Doha World Championships and finish sixth at the Paris Olympics, Espernberger will look to earn his first-ever NCAA championship final.

Jed Garner – 200 Breast
After being on the bubble coming off of the SEC Championships, Jed Garner secured his first NCAA appearance with a strong effort at UT's last chance meet. The sophomore jumped 15 spots to solidify his spot in Federal Way thanks to 1:52.30 performance, which ranks 20th nationally and second in school history. At SECs, he placed fifth overall in the event.

Bennett Greene – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
In his first season at UT, Bennett Greene qualified for the NCAA Championships in all three diving disciplines and won a bronze medal on 3-meter at the SEC Championships. The Knoxville native earned six conference weekly honors, including four SEC Diver of the Week recognitions. That tied former national champion Colin Zeng for the most weekly honors in a single season in program history. Greene ranks eighth on the program leaderboard on 1-meter and is 10th on platform.

Kevin Houseman – 100 Breast
A graduate student from Bainbridge Island, Wash., Kevin Houseman moved up 23 spots in Tennessee's last chance meet to earn his spot in this year's NCAA Championships. It will be his fourth national meet appearance. In 2021, he placed ninth in prelims to qualify for the 100 breast consolation final but had to scratch due to medical issues. A year later, Houseman finished 10th in the event. He earned a spot at the 2023 meet but didn't make finals.

Björn Kammann – 100 Fly, 200 Fly
A staple of Tennessee relays the last few years, Björn Kammann is coming off his best season at UT, projecting to score in the 200 fly by ranking 10th with a time of 1:40.18. It will be his third NCAA meet qualifying as an individual and his fourth overall. He's never advanced to finals in an event. At SECs, he finished fourth in the 200 fly and was seventh in the 100 fly, which he also qualified for with a time of 45.12.

Harrison Lierz – 100 Back, 100 Fly
Lierz is looking to make the most of his final season on Rocky Top, entering this year's national meet as a projected championship finalist in the 100 back, checking in at seventh overall with a time of 44.76. He also ranks 14th in the 100 fly (44.67), which would earn him a spot in the consolation final. The Westminster, Colo., native is coming off an impressive outing at SECs, where he posted a fourth-place finish in the 100 fly with a time of 45.40. It will be Lierz's third time competing as an individual at NCAAs. Last season, he narrowly missed advancing to his first finals, taking 17th in the 200 back.

Pedro Sansone – 100 Free
Thanks to an impressive showing at the last chance meet, freshman Pedro Sansone punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in the 100 free. He went from a time of 42.75 (106th nationally) to 41.92 (29th) for a jump of 77 spots. After scratches, he moved up to 27th on the psych sheet going into NCAAs. He ranks fifth in school history in the event.

Nick Stone – 1-Meter, 3-Meter, Platform
For the third season in a row, Nick Stone punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships, where he will compete in all three disciplines. At the 2023 meet, he earned second team All-America honors on platform thanks to a 15th-place finish. He narrowly missed making the consolation final a year ago, taking 18th in the event. This is the second straight national meet in which he's qualifed in all three events.

Lamar Taylor – 50 Free
In his lone season on Rocky Top, six-time DII national champion Lamar Taylor has made a big impact with the Volunteers' sprint group and relays. The 2024 Paris Olympian ranks tied for 15th in the 50 free heading into the meet with a time of 18.82. During SECs, he won the B final in the event to finish ninth and was 11th in the 100 free. He narrowly missed being a qualifier in the 100 free, tying for 31st. However, he will still swim the event at NCAAs thanks to his B cut effort.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Ten Vols Punch Ticket to NCAA Championships, Top Seed in Five Events

Players Mentioned

Nikoli Blackman

Gui Caribe

Jordan Crooks

Martin Espernberger

Jed Garner

Bennett Greene

Kevin Houseman

Björn Kammann

Björn Kammann

Harrison Lierz

Pedro Sansone

Nick Stone

Lamar Taylor

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