College Swimming Reset (Men’s Butterfly and IM): Luca Urlando, Ilya Kharun Chasing Titles
The college swimming season has entered its home stretch. January features the final dual meets of the season before conference championships in February and the NCAA Championships in March. Prior to the holiday break, swimmers set themselves up for championship season with strong performances at various midseason invitationals. Here is a look at every women’s individual event as of right now, including the records, the winners from the 2025 NCAA Championships, the top returning swimmers, the top times in the country this season and the top performances in history.
This final entry includes the statistics for the men’s butterfly and individual medley races. Canadians Josh Liendo and Ilya Kharun plus American world champion Luca Urlando are the butterfly headliners, while the men’s 400 IM has seen an influx of University of Texas swimmers putting their names into the mix.
Men’s part one – freestyle
Men’s part two – backstroke & breaststroke
Women’s part one – freestyle
Women’s part two – backstroke & breaststroke
Women’s part three – butterfly & IM
100 Butterfly
- U.S. Open Record: Caeleb Dressel – 42.80 (2018)
- American Record: Caeleb Dressel – 42.80 (2018)
- NCAA Record: Caeleb Dressel – 42.80 (2018)
- 2025 Champion: Josh Liendo, Florida – 43.06
- Top Returning Finisher: Josh Liendo, Florida – 43.06
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Ilya Kharun, Arizona State – 43.38
- Josh Liendo, Florida – 43.42
- Luca Urlando, Georgia – 43.87
- Michel Arkhangelskiy, Florida State – 44.43
- Thomas Heilman, Virginia – 44.54
All-Time Rankings:
- Caeleb Dressel – 42.80
- Josh Liendo – 43.06
- Youssef Ramadan – 43.15
- Ilya Kharun – 43.38
- Luca Urlando – 43.49
- Dare Rose – 43.52
- Andrei Minakov – 43.71
- Joseph Schooling – 43.75
- Jordan Crooks – 43.77
- Tom Shields – 43.84
Two Olympic-medal-winning Canadians are the favorites in the 100 fly this season, and the long-standing NCAA record could come under fire. Florida’s Josh Liendo clocked 43.06 on the way to his national win last season while Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun went 43.43. Georgia’s Luca Urlando broke into the top-three with his 43.49. All three of those men return this season. While Kharun swam his best time at midseason, Liendo took the next step in his career by breaking the short course meters world record in the 100 fly at the World Cup meet in Toronto, hinting that a 42-second swim might be possible by the spring. There are two other active collegians with best times under 44, Virginia freshman Thomas Heilman and Florida veteran Scotty Buff.
200 Butterfly
- U.S. Open Record: Luca Urlando – 1:36.41 (2025)
- American Record: Luca Urlando – 1:36.41 (2025)
- NCAA Record: Luca Urlando – 1:36.41 (2025)
- 2025 Champion: Luca Urlando, Georgia – 1:36.43
- Top Returning Finisher: Luca Urlando, Georgia – 1:36.43
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Luca Urlando, Georgia – 1:36.41
- Ilya Kharun, Arizona State – 1:37.56
- Thomas Heilman, Virginia – 1:39.09
- Tyler Ray, Michigan – 1:39.60
- Krzysztof Chmielewski, USC – 1:39.81
All-Time Rankings:
- Luca Urlando – 1:36.41
- Jack Conger – 1:37.35
- Ilya Kharun – 1:37.56
- Nicolas Albiero – 1:37.92
- Joseph Schooling – 1:37.97
- Dare Rose – 1:38.04
- Trenton Julian – 1:38.57
- Andreas Vazaios – 1:38.57
- Andrei Minakov – 1:38.61
- Shaine Casas – 1:38.69
Two of the best 200 flyers in the world will face off again at the NCAA Championships. Urlando crushed the field at last year’s meet, leaving Kharun almost two seconds behind as he swam the fastest time in history. Since then, Urlando has gone on to win a world title in the 200-meter butterfly and lower his own record in the yards event at midseason. Kharun, meanwhile, was the NCAA champion in 2024 and the Olympic bronze medalist later that year, and he swam his best time at 1:37.56 in November. Additionally, this event features Virginia freshman Thomas Heilman, the U.S. Olympic Trials winner in the 200-meter fly from 2024, and USC’s Krzysztof Chmielewski, who won silver behind Urlando at Worlds.
200 Individual Medley
- U.S. Open Record: Leon Marchand – 1:36.34 (2023)
- American Record: Destin Lasco – 1:37.91 (2024)
- NCAA Record: Leon Marchand – 1:36.34 (2023)
- 2025 Champion: Hubert Kos, Texas – 1:37.91
- Top Returning Finisher: Hubert Kos, Texas – 1:37.91
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Baylor Nelson, Texas – 1:40.29
- Will Modglin, Texas – 1:40.58
- Owen McDonald, Indiana – 1:40.90
- Campbell McKean, Texas – 1:41.06
- Logan Brown, Texas A&M – 1:41.59
All-Time Rankings:
- Leon Marchand – 1:36.34
- Destin Lasco/Hubert Kos – 1:37.91
- Caeleb Dressel – 1:38.13
- Andrew Seliskar – 1:38.14
- Hugo Gonzalez – 1:38.72
- Shaine Casas – 1:38.95
- Luca Urlando – 1:39.22
- Owen McDonald – 1:39.23
- Andreas Vazaios – 1:39.35
Just like in the 200 IM on the women’s side with Torri Huske, the defending national champion might not compete in this event at the NCAA Championships. Hubert Kos might have to decide between the 200 back and 200 IM, with both races on the final night of the meet. If he drops the medley, that makes Owen McDonald the favorite for his first NCAA title. Aside from Kos, McDonald is the only returning swimmer who went sub-1:40 at the 2025 NCAA meet. Urlando has a quicker personal best, but he has not been under 1:40 since 2022. With or without Kos, expect a big performance from Texas here; Baylor Nelson, Will Modglin and Campbell McKean all impressed at midseason while Camden Taylor was a top-16 finisher last season.
400 Individual Medley
- U.S. Open Record: Leon Marchand – 3:28.82 (2023)
- American Record: Chase Kalisz – 3:33.42 (2017)
- NCAA Record: Leon Marchand – 3:28.82 (2023)
- 2025 Champion: Rex Maurer, Texas – 3:34.00
- Top Returning Finisher: Rex Maurer, Texas – 3:34.00
Current 2025-26 Rankings:
- Baylor Nelson, Texas – 3:34.83
- Cooper Lucas, Texas – 3:35.28
- Tristan Jankovics, Ohio State – 3:38.91
- Jackson Millard, Louisville – 3:39.11
- Drew Hitchcock, Georgia – 3:39.57
All-Time Rankings:
- Leon Marchand – 3:28.82
- Hugo Gonzalez – 3:32.88
- Chase Kalisz – 3:33.42
- Carson Foster – 3:33.79
- Rex Maurer – 3:34.00
- Shaine Casas – 3:34.09
- Baylor Nelson – 3:34.83
- Tristan Jankovics – 3:34.98
- David Schlicht – 3:35.27
- Cooper Lucas – 3:35.28
Texas all the way here? Rex Maurer was the national champion last season, with teammates Cooper Lucas and David Johnston also in the championship final. Also there was Baylor Nelson, who has since transferred to Texas. All four return this year, and Nelson and Lucas currently lead the national rankings after their enormous best times in November vaulted them into the top-10 in history in the event. The only man capable of breaking up the Texas stranglehold is Ohio State’s Tristan Jankovics, who was second to Maurer at the 2025 NCAA meet after briefly taking the lead on the breaststroke leg.