Men’s College Performances of the Year: Hubert Kos, Luca Urlando Shatter 200-Yard Records
On the final evening of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Championships, two swimmers crushed their major rivals on the way to the fastest times in history in their respective events. For both Hubert Kos and Luca Urlando, those wins would be precursors to their career-defining world-title wins in long course later in the year.
Kos had never captured an individual NCAA title prior to this season, but he was already the world’s dominant 200-meter backstroker with a world title and Olympic gold medal in his pocket. Riding the momentum from his Paris performance, Kos became a dominant force for the Texas Longhorns in his junior season, joining with Rex Maurer and Luke Hobson to lead the team to a national title.
The Hungarian won all three of his individual races in Federal Way, Wash., holding off Destin Lasco down the stretch to win the 200 IM by seven hundredths before coming through over Florida’s Jonny Marshall in the 100 back by two hundredths, his time of 43.20 setting new U.S. Open and NCAA records. A day later, Kos would run roughshod over the field in the 200 back.
Lasco had won the event in three consecutive seasons, with the quickest time ever in 2024, but Kos blasted that mark out of the water by more than a second with his time of 1:34.21. In the race, Marshall gave an early challenge but could not hold onto the pace down the stretch while Lasco fell behind by more than a second on the opening 100 yards and could not make up ground. Kos ended up winning by more than two seconds.
“I knew that I had a chance to do something special in that event,” Kos said. “Obviously, I wanted to go 33, but it’s fine, maybe next year. And it was really a great feeling to get that second NCAA record and get the record back.”
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Later that evening, Urlando pulled off a huge victory for the Georgia Bulldogs in the 200 fly, capping off a magnificent comeback season. He had missed the previous two years after suffering a devastating shoulder injury, but his returned to qualify for the Paris Olympics, and then he swam the fastest time in history in his signature event midway through the season. In January, Urlando had gone 1:37.17 to beat the eight-year-old mark belonging to Jack Conger, and he was just one hundredth shy of that time at the SEC Championships.
On the national level, Urlando would have to deal with <strong>Ilya Kharun, the Arizona State swimmer who was the defending NCAA champion and Olympic bronze medalist in both long course butterfly events. Kharun entered the competition with a best time of 1:37.93, within eight tenths of Urlando’s new record.
When the duo met in Federal Way, Wash., the race would not be close. Urlando blasted out to a lead of more than a second by the halfway point, and the margin was two seconds with 50 yards remaining. Urlando would fade down the stretch but not nearly enough for the field to make inroads, and he touched in 1:36.43 to destroy his own record. However, that record would not last too long as Urlando went two hundredths before the end of the year at the Georgia Invite.
“It means everything. It means all the hard work I have put in the past 2-3 years, coming back from injury, has paid off. I told myself every day that I would be rewarded for going through the process,” Urlando said. “I let go of years of pent-up wanting to have a moment like this. It was having the confidence to hold on. It has felt like years of setbacks to get to a moment like this. To be rewarded like this makes everything worth it.”
Honorable Mention
Two other swimmers established the fastest times ever in their respective events in 2025. At the SEC Championships, Julian Smith knocked off the top mark in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 49.51, a huge accomplishment for a swimmer who had never been under 50 in his career and had never contended for an NCAA title. Smith went on to come through at the national meet, finishing just four hundredths off his best time.
Additionally, the NCAA Championships saw Caeleb Dressel’s long-standing record in the 100 free go down. Dressel had been the only swimmer in history under 40 seconds before Jordan Crooks broke that mark with a time of 39.83 in prelims. He was unable to replicate that in the evening, but Josh Liendo blasted a mark of 39.99, the third-quickest time in history, to win his third consecutive national title in the event.
The national meet also included a pair of near-misses worth mentioning. Liendo won the 100 fly in 43.06, just a quarter-second away from Dressel’s NCAA record of 42.80. One race later, Maurer was dominant in the 400 IM with a time of 3:34.00, within six tenths of Chase Kalisz’s American record.
