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While a bulk of the team points in NCAA Swimming and Diving meets come from swimming, it is no secret that diving has the potential to play a huge role and sway results in an unpredictable manner.
In an effort to expand NCAA coverage here on SwimSwam, we have compiled a list of the top 10 men’s recruits for the high school class of 2026. The goal of this expanded coverage is to provide our readers with a more complete view of how recruiting will impact the future of a team.
Methodology
Ranking divers is more complex and less black and white than ranking swimmers. Diving is a subjective sport, meaning that simply looking at scores does not provide a full picture compared to looking at a swimmer’s time. The scoring is open to interpretation, so it was important for us not just to look at results while compiling these rankings, but to also analyze video and formulate our own opinions in the process.
Within Division I of the NCAA, most dual meets in diving only contest the one-meter and three-meter springboard events. Platform diving, for the most part, only comes into play for invitationals and championship meets. Divers with the ability to compete on platform right out of high school are not very common but are very valuable. This versatility of having a platform-capable diver is important for college teams because it simply means more chances to score points.
Being successful in the junior ranks in diving does not always translate to success at the NCAA or senior level. It was important for us to consider potential when composing this ranking as previous success isn’t always a reliable indicator.
This list focuses on American-based athletes as it is difficult to predict if international athletes will choose to compete in the NCAA. Additionally, this list is not exhaustive of all the talented NCAA recruits in this class and does not mean any diver omitted doesn’t have the potential to make valuable contributions to a college team.
Honorable Mentions
Henry Palmquist – Mile High Dive Club – Pine, CO
Versatility is a good attribute to have when going through the NCAA recruiting process. Palmquist qualified to the most recent junior nationals in all three individual events, which shows his balance. Right now, Palmquist’s diving is a little messy, so this season he’ll be looking to clean up his form in order to try and crack the top ten. However, according to his divemeets.com profile, he has not been diving competitively for super long, so we could see a large improvement curve for him over the next year.
Kielan Liu – Los Angeles Dive Club – Los Angeles, CA
While Liu does compete in all three events, he really shines on the platform. He has good form and nice lines, which is already a huge asset for him. Like Palmquist, Liu has not been competitively diving all that long and has only started competing on platform in 2023. Based on the dives I have seen, his improvement curve is already massive and if it keeps up, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in the main list next year.
TOP 10 RECRUITS
10. Andrew Garrison – Mile High Dive Club – Littleton, CO
Andrew Garrison out of Mile High Dive Club starts out our list. Garrison’s best event is the platform and his skills are evident in his valuable ability to slice through the water cleanly on his dives. While the entries to his dives are great, his form in the air leaves a little to be desired and can be cleaned up a bit. That along with improving his difficulty would be what we’re looking for to move him up on the list.
9. Luke Rawlings – New River Diving – Christiansburg, VA
Luke Rawlings is an interesting case as a list addition as he failed to qualify to the junior nationals on the springboard events and only competed on the platform. However, he has a certain “wow” factor to his diving. His ability to cleanly enter the water (especially off of the 10-meter) is extremely valuable. Currently, his talents mostly shine through on platform, but we believe that he has the potential to translate that to the lower boards, which would make him a valuable asset at the NCAA level.
8. Mitchell Caldwell – American Flyers Diving – Solon, OH
Something that I immediately noticed when watching Caldwell’s diving is how high he jumps on springboard. This quality just screams “potential!” to college coaches. Along with his natural springboard ability, Caldwell has a decently difficult platform list and a lot of experience on that event. He is also noticeably tall for a diver, which can make things more difficult in this sport, but can also be an advantage as it can create the illusion of elongated lines to the judges. In diving, more grace equals higher scores. One weakness I see in him right now is that he lacks a bit of refinery in his form. If he plays to his strengths and utilizes his long lines, he could find his way onto any upper-level program.
7. Jasper Nemeth – Los Angeles Dive Club – Los Angeles, CA
Jasper Nemeth is a great platform diver with really solid technique. A key characteristic in a diving recruit is having sound fundamentals, as coaches have less to “fix” once an athlete finally arrives on campus. He is already training and competing in some pretty big dives, but has not yet shown the ability to put it all together in a singular competition list. Nemeth isn’t just a “one-trick pony,” he also is a very solid springboard diver. He has the ability to jump high and has been training some difficult dives. His strength in all of the events makes him highly recruitable.
6. Mason Lawson – Fishers Diving Team – Fishers, IN
Lawson has been throwing some really big dives in his recent training videos, some of which are only seen competing at the highest levels in the NCAA. Seeing this progression in someone so young is super impressive, but it’s important to note that we have not seen them in competition yet from him, so we cannot overreact to this exciting bit of information. While he executes platform as well, Lawson’s talents really lie in the one-meter and three-meter springboard. Depending on the program he chooses, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him focus solely on springboard post-high school. However, with his level of strength and impressive air awareness, he will do just fine wherever he chooses to go.
5. Noah Stasik – Orlando Dive Academy – Chuluota, FL
Stasik is mostly a platform diver, but he is a very proficient one. He does also compete on the one and three-meter springboard, but being a finalist on platform at the most recent junior nationals is definitely his resumé booster. He has a really big 10-meter list that would already do well in the NCAA as is. With a couple of years to keep progressing, he could potentially have one of the most difficult dive lists in the NCAA on platform as just a freshman. One minor issue we see is that he currently lacks sound consistency, but that comes with time and more competition. Seeing that Stasik has only seriously been competing for around three years, I would bet that he will improve that consistency before enrolling in 2026.
4. Tristan Yang – New York Dive Club – Jericho, NY
Tristan Yang has some of the sharp characteristics and near-perfect technique that we come to expect not just out of the top divers nationally, but in the world. Even without platform experience, he is at the top of his class because of his good execution and competitive difficulty at a young age. For unknown reasons, he did not compete at this year’s junior nationals, so his results aren’t as recent as the others on this list. Regardless, I can see a diver like him doing very well in the NCAA.
3. Thibault Lede – Dominion Dive Club – Oakton, VA
Across all events, Lede has a relatively easy and simple competition list. However, the reason we have him this high on this list is because of his elegance, execution, and stellar entries. Those characteristics are all teachable in the sport of diving, but Lede has an undeniable talent that no coach can simply replicate in other athletes. His recent results don’t paint the full picture, in my opinion, as he failed to finish in any event at the junior nationals. However, his potential is enormous and I expect to see big things from him next season..
Through analyzing his videos and looking through his results, it’s clear that Lede gets better the higher up he goes. His ability to rip on three-meter like a 10-meter dive would is a quality that I have seen from only a handful of divers. Once he increases his strength and explosivity off the springboard, he will be able to compete in those more difficult dives. I have no doubt that with another couple of years of development and some time in a collegiate-level strength and conditioning program, Lede has the capacity to be a big NCAA scorer for his team.
2. Mason Mankey – Indiana International School of Diving – Decatur, IN
Mason Mankey had a great 2022 season, making the World Junior Championships roster for Team USA, but had a slight downturn in the 2023 season, failing to final in that year’s national meet. This year was a different story as he turned it around to put in a solid performance. His one-meter meet looked especially impressive as he was consistent and in the hunt for a podium finish.
Mankey has the perfect balance of strength and grace in his diving, which is perfectly exemplified by his difficult dives completed with impeccable form. Though he focuses only on the springboard events, he already has the capacity to score at the conference level and will likely be in the hunt to score at the NCAAs by his freshman year. If he continues on this trajectory, Mankey has a bright future ahead of him.
1. Ivor Brown – Dominion Dive Club – Chantilly, VA
Divers from Dominion Dive Club take two of the top three spots on this list as Ivor Brown comes in as our #1 recruit in the high school class of 2026. Brown has been one of America’s top junior divers for years now, and with that, comes a lot of international and senior-level experience. As a junior diver entering into the NCAA, this is extremely valuable because it makes it easier to compete at the higher level championship meets, especially freshman year.
What ultimately guided us towards putting him in the top spot is his overall strength and his consistency over the years. Though Brown is a strict springboard diver, he is already training (and competing) some of the higher-difficulty dives needed to score at the NCAA meet. The height he already gets at such a young age is unbelievable, and will likely be even higher by the time he starts his freshman year. If there’s one area he can improve on, it’s with his consistency. However, once he gets that worked out, he’s sure to make an impact in the NCAA.
