Courtesy of Army West Point Communications

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the first time in 39 seasons, Army West Point Men's Swimming & Diving will be sending multiple athletes to compete at the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. Freshman Johnny Crush and junior Kohen Rankin were selected as individual competitors for the national meet in addition to representing Army's 400 medley relay team in Federal Way, Washington later this month.

"Earning an invite to the NCAA Championships has always been one of the primary goals for our program since I started here in 2019," said Director of Swimming & Diving Brandt Nigro. "It's the ultimate measure of the quality of an NCAA Swimming & Diving program. It's the fastest and most intense meet in the world. Qualifying for NCAAs is incredibly difficult and an achievement in itself!"

The NCAA Men's Championships will be held over March 26-29 in Federal Way, Washington at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. This will be the third time the facility has hosted the NCAA Championships after previously hosting the meet in 2008 and 2012.

"To me, the most exciting moment of the season was when our men's 400 medley relay hit the NCAA A-Cut a few weeks ago," said Nigro. "We had been close a few times, so when we were able to break through - it was pure elation. I couldn't be more proud of those four for coming together and getting the job done! Hats off to Thomas [Hadji] and Danny [Daniel Verdolaga] for this achievement and earning the right to compete at NCAAs. We haven't sent a relay to NCAAs since 1986, and we are excited for the opportunity to race against the best in the world. I'm excited for Wes [Tate] and Ben [Vorthmann] to join us at NCAAs and provide both leadership and depth for our relays."

The Black Knights secured their first confirmed place at the meet as Johnny Crush, Kohen Rankin, Daniel Verdolaga, and Thomas Hadji earned a NCAA A-Cut worthy time of 3:04.51 in the men's 400 medley relay at the ECAC Open Championships earlier this month. Army will travel senior Wes Tate and junior Ben Vorthmann as alternates for the relay squad.

The group's A-Cut time automatically qualified the quartet for the 2025 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships and allows them the opportunity to compete in the men's 200 medley relay as Crush, Rankin, Verdolaga, and Owen Harlow clocked a NCAA B-cut time of 1:23.85 in the shorter relay against Navy earlier this season.

Army has not sent a relay team to the national meet since 1986 when the Black Knights sent a 400 medley relay team comprised of Mark Migaleddi, John Van Sant, Tom Albanese, and John Kilroy. The quartet clocked a 3:24.98 with leg times of 53.16, 56.11, 49.92, and 45.79 to finish 27^th overall.

The NCAA released its list of individual competitors selected for the Men's Championships on Wednesday and the power duo of Kohen Rankin and Johnny Crush became the first pair of Army Men's Swimming & Diving cadet-athletes to earn a place at the championships since 1987 when John Van Sant, John Kilroy, and Coll Haddon attended the meet for Army.

"I'm super proud of these men for the journey and the hard work that they put into the pool to get to this meet," said Rankin. "I'm honored to be able to swim with my brothers and look forward to competing at NCAAs. It's a blessing and an honor to represent West Point on one of the biggest stages in the swimming world."

Rankin made history in the 2023-24 season as he became the first Army swimmer to qualify for the national meet since the trio in 1987. The then-sophomore finished 28^th overall in the 100 breast with a time of 52.40 and 30^th overall in the 200 breast with a time of 1:55.10.

Rankin qualified for the second consecutive season for the men's 200 breast and 100 breast in his junior campaign. One of Army's top breaststroke swimmers, the Hull, Iowa native clocked a 1:54.52 during the Army-Navy meet to clear the 200 breast B-cut threshold of 1:56.96 before improving on his time to a program-record-setting 1:54.14 at the 2025 Patriot League Championships.

Rankin first recorded a NCAA B-cut time in the 100 breast during Army's dual meet at Minnesota with a 53.26 to clear the 53.43 B-cut threshold before improving to a season-best time of 51.26 at the ECAC Championships. His 100 breast time currently stands as the 17^th fastest time in the nation.

"When Kohen [Rankin] ended our NCAA drought last season, he helped to set the tone and expectation that qualifying for this meet was not only possible for our program but something we should expect to do each season," Nigro continued "Having both Kohen and Johnny [Crush] qualify individually this year is huge. It is rare for a mid-major program to have multiple NCAA qualifiers and is a true testament to the quality of the culture and program we are building here at Army West Point."

A breakout sensation, Johnny Crush has been making waves for Army since his first collegiate meet where he logged a NCAA B-cut time in the 100 back with a 47.07 to clear the threshold of 47.16. He then shattered the program record with a blazing time of 44.53 at the 2024-25 Army-Navy meet – a time that stood just 0.05 seconds off the NCAA A-cut time of 44.48 and ranked third in the nation for the majority of the 2024-25 season.

"Being able to go into the fastest meet in the world with 'Army' on the side of our caps, supporting the Army team, and all of us back at West Point, there's no greater honor," said Crush. "Knowing they'll all support us no matter what the outcome is, it's the greatest thing in the world."

Crush has become a key piece of Army's relay squads over the season, first earning a NCAA B-cut in the men's 50 free as part of the 200 free relay team at the 2025 Wolfpack Invitational with a 19.68 leadoff time to clear the 19.69 B-cut threshold before putting up a season-best time of 19.60 in the individual 50 free at the Patriot League Championships.

Crush's third event will be the men's 100 back, an event he first earned a B-cut time for with a 43.17 at the Wolfpack Invitational in the men's individual 100 back before improving to a program-record setting time of 42.33 as the leadoff in the men's 400 free relay at the 2025 Patriot League Championships to clear the B-cut threshold of 43.25.

"We know there's no room for error at a meet like NCAAs, but we also know it's important that we stay grounded and just focus on being ourselves," finished Nigro. "Last year, Kohen attended NCAAs alone - this year he'll head there with five of his teammates and friends. Having a group at a meet like this will go a long way to make sure we can be ourselves and enjoy the experience! Go Army!"

The Black Knights will first compete in the 200 medley relay on Wednesday, March 26^th with the first heat set to begin at 6:00 p.m. local time. Thursday, March 27^th will see Crush compete in the 50 free with the day's preliminaries set to begin at 10:00 a.m. local time. Should Crush advance the day's finals will commence at 6:00 p.m. local time.

Rankin and Crush both will compete in Friday's preliminary rounds of the 100 breast and 100 back, respectively, with the day's first prelim kicking off at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Should either of the two advance out of the prelims, they will compete in the finals for the event that evening, followed by the 400 medley relay to conclude Friday's lineup final of events, set to begin at 6:00 p.m. PDT.

Rankin will wrap up the Black Knights' time at the 2025 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships as he partakes in the 200 breast preliminaries in the morning on Saturday, March 29^th. Should Rankin advance to the final, he will compete in the evening's final rounds, set to begin at 6:00 p.m. local time.

The 2025 NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships will be broadcasted on ESPN+. Live results will be available through Meet Mobile. Tickets are available for purchase here.