NCAA Men’s Championships: Hubert Kos Becomes First Man Under 43 in 100 Back, Swims ‘Crazy’ 42.61
Entering the meet, the 100 backstroke looked like one of the most competitive events of the meet. The race featured the three fastest swimmers in history, all with best times within six hundredths, all recorded within the past year.
Instead, the race became the latest display of dominance from Hubert Kos.
The Texas senior, last year’s NCAA titlist by merely two hundredths, dominated this final. In the process, he became the first swimmer ever to break 43 seconds, smashing through the previous record he set in prelims. Entering with a time of 43.20 from last season, he went 43.08 in qualifying to set up his evening breakthrough.
The record was toast from the moment Kos flipped in 9.98, five hundredths ahead of his morning time and the first time ever a swimmer has gone out under 10 seconds in the 100 back. After that, each ensuing split matched or exceeded his pace from prelims, not to mention everyone else in the field. Off the final turn, the lead stretched to almost a bodylength.
A final length of 11.10 punctuated the performance, and Kos touched the wall in 42.61, a time so fast even he could not fully comprehend it.
“42.6 is crazy,” Kos said.
The time was 0.47 faster than he went in the morning and 0.59 ahead of his NCAA and U.S. Open records entering the day. Realizing his accomplishment, Kos mounted the lane line and raised his arms to invite the adoration of his Texas teammates and Longhorn fans in attendance.
“I kind of felt like I was going to throw up all day, and then somehow I didn’t before the race. But once I touched the wall and that adrenaline rush hit me, I was just throwing up afterward. As per usual, just like at Worlds, somehow I always throw up after a backstroke event,” Kos said. “I’ve been doing a lot more weights. I guess that helps a lot for sprints.”
Indeed, his sprinting has been a revelation over the past two years and particularly at this meet. One day earlier, Kos’ last-minute addition of the 100 butterfly to his program saw him lead almost the entire race before finishing second behind Josh Liendo, crushing the time that had stood as the NCAA record prior to the meet. That performance alone helped Kos realize what was possible in his best stroke.
“After last year’s 43.2, I thought that I could break 43 and go potentially 42.9 or something like that. But then when I saw what I did in the 100 fly yesterday, which, mind you, I probably swam about four 100s fly throughout my college career, not counting relays. So once I saw what I could do there, it was a different mindset going into that 100 backstroke this morning.
“I really wanted to not prove a point, but show myself that I can swim fast in the morning and then come back at night, which is what I did in the 100 fly too. Wanted to break the record in the morning just so that I could get some momentum going in and maybe flush out the mistakes, which I was able to do. My touch was horrible this morning, so I knew what to fix going into tonight. So that was a good strategy.”
That tiny margin of victory last season turned into more than nine tenths, with Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen touching second in 43.54. Van Renen had moved into the all-time top-five with his time of 43.41 in the morning, and he went just a bit slower to secure second at night. Arizona State’s Adam Chaney had the second-best closing split in the field, and that lifted him to a third-place time of 43.75.
Will Modglin, another Texas Longhorn who set the American record at 43.26 in November, fell to fourth at 43.80. Army’s Johnny Crush and Indiana’s Owen McDonald tied for fifth with identical times of 43.84. Jonny Marshall, the Florida Gator who was the runnerup behind Kos last season, struggled in prelims and ended up 17th.
Event 10 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 43.08 3/27/2026 Hubert Kos, Texas
Meet: M 43.08 3/27/2026 Hubert Kos, Texas
American: A 43.26 11/19/2025Will Modglin, Texas
U. S. Open: O 43.08 3/27/2026 Hubert Kos, Texas
Pool: P 43.08 3/27/2026 Hubert Kos, Texas
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Kos, Hubert SR Texas 43.08 42.61N 20
r:+0.66 9.98 20.42 (10.44)
31.51 (11.09) 42.61 (11.10)
2 Van Renen, Ruard SR Georgia 43.41 43.54 17
r:+0.53 10.17 20.81 (10.64)
32.06 (11.25) 43.54 (11.48)
3 Chaney, Adam 5Y ASU 44.25 43.75 16
r:+0.66 10.16 21.15 (10.99)
32.45 (11.30) 43.75 (11.30)
4 Modglin, Will JR Texas 44.08 43.80 15
r:+0.61 10.02 21.06 (11.04)
32.45 (11.39) 43.80 (11.35)
5 Crush, Johnny SO Army 44.32 43.84 13.5
r:+0.54 10.16 21.15 (10.99)
32.56 (11.41) 43.84 (11.28)
5 McDonald, Owen SR Indiana 43.98 43.84 13.5
r:+0.59 10.46 21.33 (10.87)
32.65 (11.32) 43.84 (11.19)
7 Reyes-Gentry, Marcus JR Notre Dame 44.07 44.14 12
r:+0.57 10.09 20.91 (10.82)
32.41 (11.50) 44.14 (11.73)
8 Hayes, Aiden 5Y NC State 44.45 44.49 11
r:+0.60 10.18 21.22 (11.04)
32.82 (11.60) 44.49 (11.67)
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