Yale Athletics

Six members of the Yale men’s swimming team (7–1, 6–1 Ivy) competed in the NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Washington from March 26 to March 29. The team posted a top-20 finish, making the meet “historic for Yale in a number of ways,” according to Noah Millard ’26. 

After the team collected 23 medals and posted impressive performances at the Ivy League Championships earlier this year, Millard, Nick Finch ’28, Lucius Brown ’26, Deniel Nankov ’27, Jake Wang ’28 and Charlie Egeland ’27 qualified to represent Yale at the NCAA tournament. 

Millard qualified for the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle, while Finch raced in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle. Brown, Nankov, Wang and Egeland qualified for the relays. 

Millard told the News he enjoyed competing in the season’s biggest tournament with his fellow Bulldogs by his side.

“It was amazing to have two individual point scorers but also to bring four swimmers for relays as well (six total) which is something we haven’t done for many years,” Millard wrote to the News. “My freshman year, I went to the competition by myself, but it was a much more enjoyable experience going with my teammates and having more of a presence on the pool deck, giving the Ivy League the respect it deserves.”

At the Ivy League Championships, Millard and Finch both took home gold and claimed championship titles in the 500 and 1650-yard freestyle events for Millard and the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly for Finch. 

Also at Ivies, the Bulldogs finished first in three key relays, which qualified them for the NCAA Championships. Brown, Finch and Nankov qualified in the 200-yard medley relay. Alexander Hazlett ’26 was also a part of the qualifying team; however, he did not attend the NCAA competition. Finch, Nankov, Brown and Millard also qualified in the 200-yard freestyle relay and Finch, Nankov, Wang and Millard in the 400-yard freestyle relay. 

The Elis were keyed to keep up the momentum as they faced the nation’s most talented swimmers at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in the NCAA Championships. 

In the individual events, Finch and Millard posted stellar times that earned them All-American honors.  

Finch finished the 50-yard freestyle preliminaries in 19:34. His time of 44.57 in the 100-yard butterfly consolation final put him in third place in the event, 11th overall. This impressive finish earned him Honorable Mention All-American honors, making him the first Yale freshman to achieve the honors since 2015.

Millard finished with a time of 1:32.21 in the 200-yard freestyle preliminaries. In the 500-yard freestyle consolation final, he took first in the event in 4:08.69. He was thus also awarded Honorable Mention All-American honors for his top-10 finish. Millard’s best race was in the timed final for the 1650-yard freestyle, where he came in fourth nationally. His time of 14:28.43 was an Ivy record, earning him First Team All-American honors.  

On the relay side, Wang, Millard, Egeland and Nankov’s time of 6:15.36 in the timed final for the 800-yard freestyle relay earned them a solid 23rd place finish. The team of Wang, Brown, Nankov and Finch took 2lst in the 200-yard freestyle relay with their time of 1:16.94. The relays continued to post strong times with Wang, Egeland, Finch and Nankov’s 3:05.73 time breaking a team record and putting them at 22nd in the 400 medley relay. The Bulldogs’ last relay quartet of Finch, Nankov, Wang and Millard finished in 2:50.14 in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Overall, the team finished in 20th place and was the only mid-major school in the top 25. The last time the Bulldogs scored at the NCAA Championships was in 2017 with only one point.

Millard reflected on the program’s impressive results and looks forward to the team’s bright future. 

“This is a turning point for the Yale program as we’ve really been able to see some of the potential of this team in action, and we’re on the way up rapidly,” Millard wrote to the News. “While I only have one more year left, I cannot wait to see where this team is headed in the next three to five years.”

The Elis concluded the 2024-25 season with a near-perfect record, with a loss only to Princeton: the 2025 Ivy League Champions.