Championship Central | Day 3 Champions Interviews (Men)


HOUSTON, Texas — After another exciting day in the pool at the CRWC Natatorium, Hawai'i regained the team lead at the 2026 Big West Men's Swimming & Diving Championships, leapfrogging GCU for the top line in the standings. 

UH finished the night with a total of 512 points and notched three more individual event wins on Friday. 

Hawai'i's Karol Ostrowski posted an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 100-yard backstroke race with a time of 46.16. Tom Thalau swam to the title in the 400 individual medley at 3:47.09, and the 200 free went to Victor Dagenais with a time of 1:34.77.

GCU, which entered the day leading the standings, slipped into second with 487 points and two more event wins in its first year as a Big West affiliate. Carter Dooling reigned supreme in the 100 breaststroke at 52.69, and the 400 medley relay foursome of Alex Volkov, Dooling, Jesu Ovaskainen, and Guillermo Carrey finished in 3:07.69. Carrey's final touch was just one one-hundredth faster than second-place Hawai'i in the nail-biting finish, with UC Santa Barbara rounding out the podium in third. Both GCU triumphs were the team's first individual and relay finishes in the Big West era. 

Another Friday highlight came in the first final contested in the night session, as Cal State Bakersfield's Vili Sivec clinched the 100-yard butterfly title and secured a spot in the NCAA field with a 45.91-second finish. Sivec successfully defended his Big West title for the Roadrunners and became the first CUSB male swimmer to qualify for nationals in 11 years. 

Championship Saturday from Houston is set to start at 10 a.m. CT/8 a.m. PT with the final session taking center stage beginning at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m. PT. Seven more event champions, along with the team title-winners, will be crowned. 

Overall Team Scores - through Day 3  
1. Hawai'i - 512  
2. GCU - 487  
3. UC Santa Barbara - 381  
4. UC San Diego - 367  
5. Cal State Bakersfield - 271.5  
6. Seattle U - 199.5