NCAA Men’s Championships: Josh Liendo Runs Down Hubert Kos for 100 Fly Title as Three Men Break 43
To win his third consecutive NCAA title in the 100 butterfly, Florida’s Josh Liendo needed every ounce of energy and every inch of reach. Pushed to his limit by Texas’ Hubert Kos, Liendo came through in the final strokes by five hundredths, posting the fastest time in history to win the fastest 100 fly race in history.
For the first time in a 100 fly race since his freshman year, Liendo had to play catch-up as Kos jumped out to an early advantage, with splits of 8.86 after one length and 19.56 after two. The margin stretched over three tenths by the final turn. But Liendo had one surge remaining off the final turn, and a perfectly-timed finish helped him get to the wall ahead in 42.49, just ahead of Kos’ 42.54.
Liendo’s time broke the NCAA and U.S. Open record of 42.54 that he set in prelims, while Kos equaled the existing mark.
“Hubi just cooked me on the first 50, first 25,” Liendo said. “It was a really fun race. Honestly didn’t really see him, but on the last 25, I was just trying to get my hand on the wall. Super fun, really enjoyed that race.”
Lost in the sensational race between the top two finishers was Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun, who closed even faster than Liendo on the way to third place in 42.92. Kharun became the fourth member of a sub-43 club that had included only one swimmer prior to Thursday.
In prelims, Liendo had wiped out the record of 42.80 set by Florida great Caeleb Dressel in 2018. Liendo had been chasing that time for several seasons, posting winning marks of 43.07 and 43.06 at the NCAA Championships in 2024 and 2025, respectively. He matched his best time at last month’s SEC Championships.
“Just the way the swim felt this morning — everyone was going fast, so I kind of just fed off that energy,” Liendo said. “I can’t really explain. That morning swim just felt really good, and then I just wanted to back it up and do the same thing or even better at night. My sophomore year, I definitely had a good chance, but I was focused on chasing the record, chasing the record. And his time, I just wanted to have fun with it, go out fast, don’t put a limit or barrier on what I was shooting for. Just kind of go for it, and yeah, it went well.”
Liendo had already clocked 42-second relay splits on four separate occasions, topping out at 42.12 last season. Liendo has joined the world’s elite in the 100-meter fly, winning Olympic silver in 2024 and setting a world record in short-course meters in October 2025.
That world record, Liendo said, provided fuel for his final college championship season. The time conversion of his world record from short course meters to yards equaled Dressel’s record time.
“It changed a lot, because I wasn’t expecting to be that fast, especially so early in the season and with where I was at in training,” Liendo said. “That just gave me real confidence throughout the year, obviously in fly especially, but just gave me a lot of confidence in training. I just used that momentum the whole season.”
This event massively shook up the all-time rankings in the event. While there had only been one 42-second swim ever prior to Thursday, the two rounds delivered five. Kos, best known as the Olympic and world champion in the 200-meter backstroke, added the 100 fly to his event lineup this season after a schedule change put the 200 back and 200 IM on the same day. Kos came through with a 42.97 in prelims, then the third-quickest mark in history, before blasting that time again at night.
Also in the morning, Indiana’s Tyler Ray shattered his best time by a half-second with a 43.32 while Kharun qualified fourth after going 43.38 at midseason. That set up a sensational battle at night, and the race delivered beyond even the greatest expectation. Behind the exploits of the top-three, Virginia’s Thomas Heilman claimed fourth in 43.58 to edge out Ray (43.62) and Liendo’s Florida teammate Scotty Buff (43.67). Those three swimmers now rank among the all-time top-10 in the event.
Event 4 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 42.54 3/26/2026 Josh Liendo, Florida
Meet: M 42.54 3/26/2026 Josh Liendo, Florida
American: A 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: O 42.54 3/26/2026 Josh Liendo, Florida
Pool: P 42.54 3/26/2026 Josh Liendo, Florida
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Liendo, Josh SR Florida 42.54 42.49N 20
r:+0.65 9.02 19.84 (10.82)
31.05 (11.21) 42.49 (11.44)
2 Kos, Hubert SR Texas 42.97 42.54N 17
r:+0.59 8.86 19.56 (10.70)
30.73 (11.17) 42.54 (11.81)
3 Kharun, Ilya JR ASU 43.54 42.92 16
r:+0.65 9.11 20.19 (11.08)
31.49 (11.30) 42.92 (11.43)
4 Heilman, Thomas FR Virginia 44.07 43.58 15
r:+0.65 9.26 20.31 (11.05)
31.73 (11.42) 43.58 (11.85)
5 Ray, Tyler SR Michigan 43.32 43.62 14
r:+0.64 9.18 20.12 (10.94)
31.69 (11.57) 43.62 (11.93)
6 Buff, Scotty JR Florida 44.10 43.67 13
r:+0.61 9.17 20.29 (11.12)
31.59 (11.30) 43.67 (12.08)
7 Hayes, Aiden 5Y NC State 44.04 43.85 12
r:+0.64 9.21 20.46 (11.25)
31.93 (11.47) 43.85 (11.92)
8 Koch, Julian SO Pittsburgh 43.85 44.28 11
r:+0.65 9.14 20.53 (11.39)
32.06 (11.53) 44.28 (12.22)
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