Get ready for an exciting day of swimming at the 2025 Ohio State Fall Invitational! Today, we're diving into the third day of this prestigious event, hosted at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus. With a diverse range of events lined up, including the 100-meter backstroke, 200-meter breaststroke, and both the 50-meter and 500-meter freestyle, it's set to be an action-packed day.
The morning session kicks off with the highly anticipated 100-meter backstroke, followed by the 200-meter breaststroke, and then the freestyle events will take center stage, with the 500-meter and 50-meter races back-to-back.
Let's take a closer look at the prelim results and see who's making waves in these events.
Women's 100-meter Backstroke - Prelims
- NCAA Record: 48.10, Gretchen Walsh (Virginia) - 2024
- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 52.65
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 51.68
And here's where it gets interesting! Indiana's Miranda Grana, fresh off her first sub-50-second performance in the 100-meter butterfly last night, continues her impressive streak with a fantastic prelim time of 50.79 in the 100-meter backstroke. Just missing her season-best of 50.75, set at the USC Invite in October, Grana is on fire!
Her teammate, Mya DeWitt, also had a breakthrough performance, smashing her season-best time by over a second and coming incredibly close to her personal best with a time of 51.07. DeWitt has already swum faster than her 2024 performance at this meet, a remarkable improvement!
UCLA's Claudia Yovanovich, who set a best time of 52.24 just two weeks ago, broke the 52-second barrier for the first time with a time of 51.73, advancing to the 'A' final in third place.
Men's 100-meter Backstroke - Prelims
- NCAA Record: 43.20, Hubert Kos (Texas) - 2025
- 2026 NCAA Qualifying Time: 46.29
- 2025 NCAA Invite Time: 45.26
Indiana dominates the men's 100-meter backstroke heats, with senior Owen McDonald leading the way. McDonald, who finished 6th in this event at the 2025 NCAA Championships, ripped an incredible time of 44.25, the fastest in the NCAA so far this season. This is his first swim in this event this season, but he's already faster than his performance at last year's OSU Invite.
His Hoosier teammate, Raekwon Noel, had an outstanding swim, knocking nearly a full second off his lifetime best with a time of 44.91, breaking the 45-second barrier for the first time. Miroslav Knedla completed the top-three sweep for IU with a time of 45.33, just shy of his season-best.
Louisville's Filip Kosinski and Purdue's Alex Hotta tied for 10th, setting up a potential swim-off for the last spot in the 'A' final.
Women's and Men's 200-meter Breaststroke, 500-meter Freestyle, and 50-meter Freestyle - Prelims
These events are sure to be thrilling, with some of the fastest swimmers in the country competing. Keep an eye on the 'A' final qualifiers as they battle it out for the top spots.
Don't miss a moment of the action! You can follow the live results, recaps, and stream (with a subscription) to catch all the excitement.
And this is the part most people miss... the athletes' stories! We'll be sharing some insights into the journeys of these talented swimmers, so stay tuned for more.
Are you excited for the finals? Who do you think will take home the top honors? Let's discuss in the comments and share our predictions!
