At the Indiana Last Chance Meet, Diego Nosack broke his own school record in the 200-yard butterfly, while four of five Wildcat swimmers posted new personal best times.
The Indiana Last Chance Meet is an annual competition that offers Division I swimmers one final opportunity to qualify for the NCAA men’s championships, taking place Wednesday, March 25, to Saturday, March 28, at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta. Oftentimes, teams only send their athletes who have an actual chance to secure a qualifying
time, meaning the meet is very small, consisting of just a few swimmers from a small group of teams.
Before the 2025-26 season, the NCAA approved changes to the format for the Division I Championships. Previously, there were two time standards listed for each event offered at the championships: an ‘A’ time and a ‘B’ time. If a swimmer achieved the ‘A’ time, they would automatically qualify for the meet in that event, while if they got the ‘B’ time, they would be considered, but not guaranteed a spot. The NCAA would select ‘B’ time swimmers in order of fastest times until they met the overall meet cap of 322 swimmers.
After the changes implemented to the championships’ format this summer, there is just one time standard for each event this season. Swimmers who meet the time standard for a particular event are considered for NCAAs, with swimmers being chosen for each event in the same way as before, in order of fastest times until the meet cap for participants is reached. The only way a swimmer can automatically qualify for NCAAs is by winning a conference championship event while also meeting the time standard for the event.
A more in-depth summary of the changes made to the NCAA Division I Swimming Championships can be viewed here.
Northwestern sent five swimmers to Bloomington for the Indiana Last Chance Meet: Diego Nosack, Aaron Baltaytis, Oli Kos, David Gerchik and Jack Doyle.
Nosack’s 200-yard butterfly was the headline Wildcat swim, as the Oregon native broke his own Northwestern school record in the event with a 1:41.40. After a disappointing showing at the Big Ten Men’s Swimming Championships, which saw Nosack post a 1:42.74 in heats and fail to qualify for finals, Nosack got redemption, swimming sub-1:42 for the first time since last March.
Before his 1:41.40, Nosack already had the 200-yard butterfly NCAA time standard and had a chance at meet selection. However, his 1:41.40 places him firmly in the field, currently standing as the 34th-best time in the nation.
Though Nosack was the only ‘Cat to break a school record, Northwestern did have a few other meaningful swims in Indiana. Kos swam a personal best in the 200-yard backstroke, posting a 1:39.32 and moving himself up to 20th in the country in the event. Already slated to qualify before his swims in Bloomington, there’s a chance Oli Kos will be able to join his Olympic gold medalist brother, Hubert Kos (Texas), in the top eight for the event in Atlanta. Hubert Kos is the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 back.
Baltaytis and Doyle also swam personal best times in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, respectively, though neither of their times is below the NCAA-meet’s qualifying time standards. Doyle also swam the 200-yard individual medley, but was unable to best his 1:43.91 from Big Tens. His mark already met the NCAA time standard in the 200 IM, though he’s on the outside looking in for selection, currently ranked 57th in the country in the event.
Gerchik was the only Wildcat swimmer to not post a best time at the meet, with a 1:42.82 200-yard backstroke that was well off of his 1:39.47 season best from Big Tens just over a week ago. However, Gerchik is ranked 25th in the event and will likely be part of Northwestern’s male contingent at the NCAA Championships. He is projected to be one of six Northwestern individual NCAA event qualifiers, swimming alongside Stuart Seymour, Joshua Staples, Cade Duncan, Kos and Nosack.
The pre-selection psych sheets for the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships can be viewed here.
