ATLANTA — Stanford men’s swimming wrapped up the 2026 ACC Championships on Saturday night at Georgia Tech with two more podium finishes, but not enough to overcome California for the conference championship.
The first final of the night was the 1650 free, with Stanford having two in the finals: Ethan Ekk and Liam Custer. Both landed inside the top-five, with Ekk setting a new personal best thanks to his 14:42.37. Custer was next to touch the wall at 14:49.21. In an earlier 1650, Henry Morrissey finished third in his heat with a 15:03.11, his fastest of the season.
Josh Zuchowski was the top seed in the 200 back after his time of 1:39.08 in the prelims, the second-fastest time in Stanford history and over a half-second better than his previous best. His finals time was even better, setting the Stanford school record in the 200 back with a time of 1:38.73, besting Leon MacAlister’s time from 2022. Despite the record, Zuchowski finished second behind David King of Virginia, but claimed a spot on the podium for the second time this week.
Stanford’s only opportunity for big points in the 100 free came from Andres Dupont Cabrera, who qualified eighth for the finals with a prelim time of 41.71, a personal best and the second-fastest in Stanford history. He posted a 41.88 in the finals to settle for eighth place.
Daniel Li reached the finals in the breaststroke once again, this time doing so in the 200 breast, and he was joined by Go Nagaoka. Li qualified fourth with his 1:51.62 while Nagaoka posted a 1:52.29 to qualify fifth. As he does often, Li shaved off time for his finals performance, finishing with a 1:51.26, which earned him a spot on the podium and a third-place finish. Nagaoka dropped down to 1:53.56 in the finals, which placed him in eighth in the finals.
Stanford was fast in the 400 free relay, finishing on the podium with a third-place finish of 2:47.51. However, NC State stole the show, posting the American Record of 2:43.53 to clear the field by nearly four seconds.
After winning three individual conference championships in 2025, the Cardinal won four in 2026, including the 800 free relay.
1650 Free – 4. Ethan Ekk (14:42.37), 5. Liam Custer (14:49.21), 11. Henry Morrissey (15:03.11)
200 Back – 3. Josh Zuchowski (1:38.73 finals, 1:39.08 prelims), 15. Hayden Kwan (1:40.91 finals, 1:40.65 prelims), 16. Omer Wiener (1:41.13 finals, 1:40.35 prelims), 27. Finn Harland (1:43.23 prelims)
100 Free – 8. Andres Dupont Cabrera (41.88 finals, 41.71 prelims), 16. Rafael Gu (42.30 finals, 42.32 prelims), 24. Jonathan Tan (42.84 finals, 42.63 prelims), 31. Jason Zhao (42.99 prelims), 35. Ethan Harrington (43.14 prelims)
200 Breast – 3. Daniel Li (1:51.26 finals, 1:51.62 prelims), 8. Go Nagaoka (1:53.56 finals, 1:52.29 prelims), 13. Abram Mueller (1:53.88 finals, 1:53.66 prelims), 17. Zhier Fan (1:53.90 finals, 1:54.45 prelims)
400 Free Relay – 1. NC State, 2:43.53; 3. Stanford (Andres Dupont Cabrera, Henry McFadden, Rafael Gu, Jonathan Tan), 2:47.51
Overall Scoring – 1. California (1,154), 2. Stanford (1,076), 3. NC State (973)