ATLANTA — Stanford men’s swimming and diving earned two more All-America nods on Friday during the third day of the 2026 NCAA swimming and diving championships. Despite not landing anyone in a Friday night final, the Cardinal had some times in the morning that were near personal bests and put them right on the cusp of advancing.
Stanford landed two individual All-Americans in the pool during the morning prelims. Daniel Li earned a career-best 11th-place finish in the 200 breast with a time of 1:51.53, finishing third in his overall heat. It’s the second year in a row for Li to be named a Second Team All-American, after finishing 16th one year ago.
Go Nagaoka was the other Cardinal to compete in the 200 breast on Friday. He swam it in 1:55.14, which was good for sixth in the second heat, but he showed a lot of speed early, leading at the quarter mark.
Ethan Ekk became an individual All-American for the first time in his career thanks to a 4:11.50 in the 500 free, which put him in 11th overall. Ekk swam in the final heat and finished third, and was right on the cusp of advancing to Friday’s finals. He needed a 4:11.43 in his 500 free run, and used his endurance to close in on that mark late in the swim, but came up just short. Still, it is his second All-America honor this week, after taking part in Stanford’s 800 free relay team that came in second.
Liam Custer and Henry McFadden both swam in the 500 free as well. They finished with nearly identical times, with Custer posting a 4:18.55 and McFadden a 4:18.63.
Stanford’s relay team of Finn Harland, Zhier Fan, Rafael Gu, and Andres Dupont Cabrera swam the 400 medley relay on Friday morning. In the third heat, they finished eighth with a 3:05.28, dropping over three seconds from their seed time. They missed out on All-America status with an overall finish of 23rd.
For the divers, Misha Andriyuk came the closest to earning All-America status on the springboard, scoring 354.80 in the 3-meter trials, good for 22nd overall. Gunnar Grubbs finished 39th with 312.70.
Stanford remains in tenth place overall with 95 team points scored, good for fourth in the ACC. California leads all ACC programs with 186 points.
The final day of the 2026 NCAA swimming and diving championships begins at 7 a.m. PT, with the final six events on tap. There will be prelims in the morning in the 200 IM, 100 free, 200 fly, and 200 back. Teams will also compete in the 400 free relay, with morning heats followed by the finals in the evening. Platform diving will also take place, with two Stanford divers starting at 9 a.m. PT.