Luca Urlando, Ilya Kharun Chasing Leon Marchand for 200 Butterfly Supremacy
In his most recent World Championships appearance, Kristof Milak put forth arguably the finest performance of his career. The Hungarian swept the 100 and 200 butterfly in front of a partisan crowd in Budapest, knocking off his own world record over 200 meters in the process. He recorded a time of 1:50.34, more than a second ahead of what Michael Phelps ever clocked, and the world seemed to be on the verge of witnessing a sub-1:50 performance in that event.
That has not happened, with the record going untouched since and Leon Marchand taking command of the event internationally. Marchand took gold in Milak’s absence at the 2023 global meet, and in an Olympic-final showdown between the two men, Milak led by seven tenths entering the final turn before Marchand’s epic 28.97 final split lifted him ahead and to gold. Marchand’s time of 1:51.21 made him the second-fastest performer ever in the event.
Now, Milak is missing another World Championships, but the field assembling for the 200 fly is an intriguing one. Marchand is the clear favorite, although this world record poses a greater challenge than in any of his other gold-medal events. The times posted around the world in the early portion of the year have been relatively pedestrian, with two exceptions in North America.
Kristof Milak, Leon Marchand and Ilya Kharun (left to right) with their 200 butterfly Olympic medals — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
The first comes as little surprise, given the results posted by Ilya Kharun over the past two summers. Kharun had yet to begin his college career when he raced in the 200 fly final at the 2023 Worlds, blasting from eighth place into a tie for fourth on the last 50 and missing a medal by just 0.16. In March 2024, he won an NCAA title in the 200-yard fly as part of Arizona State’s national-title-winning performance, and in July, he reached the Olympic podium. Clocking 1:52.80 for bronze, Kharun won the first Olympic medal for Canada in men’s swimming in 12 years. He and Josh Liendo would add to that tally with further podium performances three days later in the 100 fly.
In winning the event at Canadian Trials in June, Kharun swam a time of 1:53.41, only six tenths off his best despite minimal competition, and he ranks second in the world this year. The top-ranked swimmer, meanwhile, is a man who placed 17th in Paris and has never won a senior-level international medal. But a stunning star turn from Luca Urlando in 2025 has quickly thrust him into this year’s medal conversation.
Urlando set the tone for his year with his performances in short course yards. During a January dual meet, he lowered an eight-year-old NCAA record in the 200-yard fly, and two months later, he swam seven tenths faster on the way to the first NCAA win of his career. Kharun was among the swimmers in Urlando’s wake that evening, finishing almost two-and-a-half seconds behind.
A week later, Urlando raced at USA Swimming’s Pro Series in Sacramento, Calif., and fired off a long course time of 1:52.37. Urlando had not recorded a best time in six years, having been unable to replicate the 1:53.84 he posted as a 17-year-old, but now he is the fourth-fastest performer in history, with only Milak, Marchand and Phelps ahead.
A talented field awaited Urlando at U.S. Nationals, but a solid swim secured Urlando’s spot in Singapore. He finished in 1:53.42 to beat out Carson Foster (1:53.70) and Thomas Heilman (1:54.03), who did not advance onto the American team despite holding a time ranked fourth-fastest globally. Now, Urlando will attempt to bring a 200 fly World Championships medal back to the United States for the first time since Phelps won gold at the 2011 edition of the meet.
No American man has reached a podium at Worlds or the Olympics in the 200 fly since Phelps retired, and the last American aside from Phelps to earn a medal in this race as Tom Malchow in 2003. The U.S. men are also coming off an especially poor performance in the butterfly events in Paris, with no Americans making the final in either the 100 or 200-meter races.
In Singapore, the 200 fly contenders will also include Foster, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 400 IM and a 2023 Worlds finalist in this event. This will not be a particularly deep field as only five other swimmers heading to Singapore have broken 1:55 this year. That list includes Poland’s Krzysztof Chmielewski, Japan’s Genki Terakado, Italy’s Federico Burdisso, Great Britain’s Duncan Scott and Australia’s Harrison Turner.
Don’t sleep on Chmielewski, the silver medalist at the 2023 Worlds and fourth-place finisher in Paris. Burdisso also has a record of success in this event, winning Olympic bronze four years ago in Tokyo. Switzerland’s Noè Ponti was fifth in the most recent Olympic final, but he is focused on the 50 and 100-meter races at this stage of his career. Austria’s Martin Espernberger and Italy’s Alberto Razzetti were both Paris finalists with room to move up while the 22-year-old Terakado and 21-year-old Turner are both potential new contenders in this event. For Scott, an appearance in the 200 fly will mark a break from his usual freestyle and individual medley program.
Interestingly, Marchand has yet to record any official performances in the 200 fly this year, but that will not stop him from entering as favorite if his name is on the start list. Still, the recent results from Urlando, Kharun and to a lesser extend Foster and Chmielewski have the potential to make this interesting.
