Josh Bey, Gabe Nunziata Raise the Bar for U.S. Men in 200 Breaststroke
Last year, Josh Matheny was the only swimmer to break 2:09 in the 200 breaststroke final at U.S. Nationals, following up an Olympic final appearance with a time of 2:08.87. Matheny struggled in the event at the World Championships, but AJ Pouch broke through with a time of 2:08.34 in the semifinal round. The following evening, Pouch swam into the lead at the 150-meter mark before fading to fifth.
One year later, the American men are sitting in a much better position in the 200 breast, even with Matheny and Pouch saving their best swims for the upcoming Pan Pacific Championships. That’s thanks to a pair of swimmers who made massive improvements during their first years of college swimming, culminating in performances at this year’s national meet that lifted them to second and third, respectively, in the 2026 world rankings.
Gabe Nunziata — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Last Wednesday in Irvine, Calif., Indiana’s Josh Bey and Tennessee’s Gabe Nunziata pulled away from the rest of their competitors in the 200 breast final. Bey took control on the third length, with a 32.50 split, only for Nunziata to fight back down the stretch. With both men maintaining 32-second splits the entire way, Bey touched in 2:07.58, Nunziata four hundredths back at 2:07.62.
Both men lowered their best times by substantial margins. Bey began the year with a best mark of 2:10.89, set in his fifth-place finishing swim at last year’s Nationals. He dropped to 2:10.06 in June, 2:09.30 in prelims and then his 2:07-mid at night for a total of more than three seconds subtracted in less than two months. Similar story for Nunziata, whose best of 2:09.70 last summer went to 2:08.42 in prelims before a further drop when head-to-head against Bey in the final.
The only man to swim faster than the two Americans thus far in 2026 is Japan’s Shin Ohashi, the world-junior-record holder. Only five swimmers achieved swifter marks all of last year, Ohashi, Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki, China’s Qin Haiyang and Japan’s Yamato Fukasawa. Bey and Nunziata swam two tenths off the 2:07.41 that Qin swam on his way to a world title, and they surpassed the 2:07.87 that Nowacki had posted for gold in the Commonwealth Games final days earlier.
Those performances bring a dash of hope in what has been a relatively weak event for the United States for most of the last decade. Since Josh Prenot narrowly missed out on gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, the Americans have reached just one podium at a fully-attended international competition, when Matt Fallon took bronze at the 2023 World Championships.
Fallon looked set to contend for an Olympic medal after he swam an American record of 2:06.54 at the 2024 Trials, but he faltered in Paris and did not reach the final. Fallon has not competed since March 2025, and these 2:07s were the two quickest performances by any American swimmers since those Olympic Trials.
The European Championships and Pan Pacs are still to come, and more swimmers could move into 2:07-territory within the next two weeks. The field at Pan Pacs will include Pouch, Matheny, Tokyo Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook and a deep Japanese featuring Shin, Fukasawa and multi-time Worlds medalist Ippei Watanabe. Olympic champion Leon Marchand might skip the event at the European Championships, but Nowacki, Caspar Corbeau and Kirill Prigoda should be in the field. Qin will have a chance for fast times at the Asian Games later in the year.
Still, 2:07s put these two Americans into the global conversation in this event, especially in a year without a single championship meet. Moreover, if Bey and Nunziata can carry their momentum into 2027 and drop more time, they will be favorites to not only qualify for the World Championship team but challenge for one of those elusive podium finishes.
