University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
NCAA Men's Championships
Panthers Claim Three All-American Honors Through Day 3
3/27/2026 6:00:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
ATLANTA, Ga. — The Pitt men's swimming and diving team gathered three All-American honors through three days of NCAAs, highlighted by two individual performances from Julian Koch.
On Friday, Koch swam 18.85 in the 50 free to secure a 15th place finish anf All-American Honorable Mention. After Friday, Koch has three All-American honors.
Pitt's men's 800-yard freestyle relay posted a program-record 6:11.87 Wednesday at the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, finishing 14th to earn All-American Honorable Mention and tie the highest finish by a Pitt men's relay at NCAAs.
Koch, James Allison, Merlin Belmon and Alan Vergine combined to set the program record, with Koch's leadoff split of 1:31.95 a program record in its own right. The Panthers returned Thursday with more program records, highlighted by Koch's performance in the 100-yard butterfly.
Koch clocked a program-record 43.85 in prelims to qualify for the 100 butterfly final, then finished eighth in 44.28 to earn first-team All-American honors. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Koch, Belmon, Witte and Vergine also broke the program record, touching in 1:16.20 to eclipse the previous mark of 1:17.18 set at the 2025 ACC Championships. Koch's leadoff split of 18.65 was itself a program record in the 50 free. Pitt sits 23rd in the team standings with 17 points through two days of competition.
Up Next
Saturday, March 28
- 200-yard individual medley
- 100-yard freestyle
- 200-yard butterfly
- 200-yard backstroke
- 400-yard freestyle relay
- Platform diving
Players Mentioned
