The second day of the 2026 USA Swimming Open Water National and Junior National Championships in Sarasota, Florida saw the senior men take to the calm water in the always exciting 3 km Knockout Sprints.

Similar to yesterday’s 10 km race, Ivan Puskovitch (25, MSF bio here, World Aquatics bio here, @swimimp) was in control throughout the competition. While he was not in the lead until the last stages of the 10 km race, he also did not go all-out until the final 500 meters.

Puskovitch finished second to Alexander Lyubavskiy in the 1500m heat and finished first out of the 1000m heat. He out-sprinted Colin Jacobs (18, World Aquatics bio here, @colin.jacobss) and Joey Tepper (24, @joey_tepper) to capture the 3 km Knockout Sprints national title. Jacobs, originally from Florida, but now trains with one of France’s most successful swim teams, Cercle des Nageurs d’Antibes, as he and his parents have lived overseas in Dubai and France.

The top men will all end the championships with a fast 5 km race tomorrow at the Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Florida.

USA Swimming National Championship 3 km Knockout Sprints Men’s Results

1. Ivan Puskovitch, 25, TSM Aquatics [shown above on left]
2. Colin Jacobs, 18, [shown above in middle]
3. Joey Tepper, 24, University of Minnesota [shown above on right]
4. Alexander Lyubavskiy, 22, Longhorn Aquatics
5. William Siegel, 19, Long Island Aquatic Club
6. Gabriel Manteufel, 19, Sandpipers Of Nevada
7. Luke Ellis, 20, Indiana University
8. Joshua Brown, 23, Sandpipers Of Nevada
9. Dylan Gravley, 24, Unattached
10. Jackson Irwin, 18, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team

Other competitors included:

1. Caden Askren, 18, Fishers Area Swimming Tigers
2. Noah Bocalan, 16, San Ramon Valley Aquatics
3. Luke Brennan, 20, University of Minnesota
4. Charlie Clark, 24, Ohio State University
5. Jackson Cooper, 19, Badger Swim Club,Inc.
6. Nicholas Diaconescu, 17, Sandpipers Of Nevada
7. Dylan Fisk, 18, Bellingham Bay Swim Team
8. Jaxon Griffin, 17, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team
9. Finn Holdredge, 20, Unattached
10. Nicholas Liberty, 17, Rockville Montgomery Swim Club
11. Quinn Macphail, 20, Blazing Barracudas
12. Ian McKinney, 22, West Virginia University
13. Grant O’Mara, 17, Irvine Novaquatics
14. Cono Presti, 19, Northern KY Clippers Swimming
15. Eli Rolfsen, 19, Unattached
16. Jake Salcedo, 19, West Virginia University
17. Grant Sanders, 29, Saint Petersburg Aquatics
18. Levi Sandidge, 22, Kentucky Aquatics
19. Jackson Scheiber, 20, University of Minnesota
20. Oliver Shao, 19, Badger Swim Club,Inc.
21. Brenden Sharp, 17, Jersey Wahoos
22. Henry Shoemaker, 20, Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team
23. Marshall Smith, 18, TSM Aquatics
24. Parker Sterlitz, 22, West Virginia University
25. Zach Tower, 19, TSM Aquatics
26. Gabe Waggoner, 16, Jersey Wahoos
27. Stuart Wineman, 17, Santa Maria Swim Club
28. Cooper Zakorchemny, 19, Rockville Montgomery Swim Club

The remaining races will be live-streamed on the USA Swimming Network. Watch for free here with Mike Lewis as the race announcer.

© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“

World Open Water Swimming Federation, a human-powered project

New Open Water Swimming Educational and Motivational Course – register here