2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
- March 26-29, 2025
- Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Pre-Selection Psych Sheets
The NCAA released the preselection psych sheets for the upcoming 2025 Men’s NCAA Division I Championships on Tuesday, March 11. The official psych sheets drop tomorrow, which will reveal which swimmers are invited to Federal Way, but the preselection psych sheets are still important as they show which events swimmers have entered.
None of the top swimmers with multiple events to choose from went completely off-book, indeed, many swimmers like Jordan Crooks and Hubert Kos stuck with their event lineups from last season. One of the most notable lineup decisions came from California senior Gabriel Jett, who entered the 200 backstroke instead of the 200 butterfly.
Jett is a versatile swimmer in the NCAA format, which was on full display at the Minnesota Invite in December. There, Jett raced the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly, and 200 IM. He also swam on all five relays.
Jett has made the ‘A’ final at the NCAA Championships in the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and 200 butterfly the past two seasons. But, the revelation of the Minnesota Invite was his backstroke, where he swam lifetime bests of 44.54/1:38.31 in the 100/200 backstroke, vaulting up the NCAA season-best rankings and throwing his postseason lineup into question.
The ACC Championships run a five-day format with the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly on different days, so Jett didn’t need to choose at conferences. He won the 200 backstroke in a lifetime best 1:37.19, a 1.12-second drop from his midseason swim that showcased his further development in the discipline.
During his appearance on the SwimSwam podcast after the Minnesota Invite, Jett emphasized that in his senior season with the Golden Bears, he wanted to do whatever the team needed. He shared that he told head coach Dave Durden at the beginning of the season to put him wherever he was most needed.
And apparently, where Durden feels the team needs him most is the 200 backstroke. Jett is seeded fourth in the 200 backstroke with his time from ACCs–which incidentally is his highest seed–behind Kos, Jonny Marshall, and Owen McDonald. Reigning NCAA champion Destin Lasco is seeded sixth (1:38.21). These four swimmers were the top four finishers at the 2024 NCAA Championships and will be Jett’s biggest competition, with Will Modglin (1:37.84) aiming to be involved as well.
Jett and Lasco are the only Cal swimmers seeded to score in the 200 backstroke. 200 backstroke Olympic finalist Keaton Jones is within range at 19th (1:39.76) and there’s the question of what mid-season Olympic addition Mewen Tomac (23rd, 1:39.99) is capable of throwing down after a short adjustment to yards.
Meanwhile, Cal will likely only have two NCAA qualifiers in the 200 butterfly. Both Dare Rose (6th, 1:39.47) and Frank Applebaum (12th, 1:40.39) are seeded to score, with Rose certainly capable of getting involved in what seems to be a developing two-man race for the title between NCAA record holder Luca Urlando and defending champion Ilya Kharun.
Rose and Jett finished second and fifth in the 200 butterfly last season and Cal was one of two schools to put two swimmers into the ‘A’ final.
Jett’s been as fast as 1:40.06 in the 200 butterfly this season, which would rank 9th on the pre-selection psych sheet. He’s been as fast as 1:39.27, which he swam at the Pac-12 Championships two years ago.
It’s certainly a gamble to put Jett into the 200 backstroke rather than the 200 butterfly given Cal’s backstroke depth. He could swim a lifetime best and dip into 1:36 territory and still end up in the back half of the ‘A’ final. However, with eight swimmers already under 1:40 in the 200 fly this season, the same could happen there.
Cal’s goal is to lift the team trophy at the end of the meet. They’ve decided the best strategy to achieve that goal is to switch Jett’s lineup. But even though it’s a new championship event for the senior, it’s one the team has a long history of success in that likely feels like familiar territory they know how to succeed in.
“There, Jett raced the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 butterfly, and 200 IM. He also swam on all five relays.”
This is crazy. Cal has so much talent its wild.
Maybe they think he will go 1:35 high – 1:36 low.
I enjoyed his sassiness with AvD.
Also, is this him?
https://youtu.be/eH-YxAU4YII
Hope it’s ok to ask. Delete if not.
I believe so. Looks enough like him and his parents names are Scott and Kristie (S&K)
Multi-talented!
Looks like him and yes…..his dad Scott (listed on the youtube post) was an elite sprinter at Auburn when I was at IU years ago. Very cool. Talented kid.