2024-25 NCAA Digest: The 200 Flyers Are Not Playing Around This Season

Here at NCAA Digest HQ, we usually try to keep the news balanced between industry news, realignment news, and actual swims. But that’s going out the window this week—there were simply too many fast swims.

But before we dive into it all, there is one piece of realignment news we need to discuss. The University of Hawaii will move from a football-only member of the Mountain West Conference to a full-time member on July 1, 2026. This gives the conference eight full-time members, the minimum needed to remain in the FBS. In the pool, this gives the conference seven women’s programs and four men’s programs, which could reopen the discussion for the return of a men’s championship.

Alright, onto the swims.

1:39, 1:39…Are We Sure It’s October?

One thing that’s stuck out this season is the ridiculously fast times swimmers are posting in the 200s of stroke already.

200 Fly

It all started in the 200 fly when Ilya Kharun turned in a 1:39.47 back at ASU’s dual with UNLV. Then, another Olympian, Luca Urlando, added another sub-1:40 swim of his own with a 1:39.87.

It’s a significant swim for Urlando in his first meet in the NCAA since October 2022. It’s the fifth-fastest time in UGA history for the 2022 200-fly NCAA runner-up. Urlando owns a lifetime best of 1:38.22 and in his return for the Dawgs, cemented just how important he is to their quest to return to the top 10 in the NCAA this season.

But we’re not even done with the 200 flys yet. In her first meet as an SEC swimmer, Emma Sticklen torched the SEC record in the 200 fly, swimming a lifetime best 1:49.77. Sticklen is the 2x defending NCAA champion in the event and this is the fourth-fastest performance in history behind Regan Smith, Alex Walsh, and Ella Eastin, bettering her previous best of 1:49.95 from 2023.

Fastest 200 Butterflys All-Time (SCY):

1. Regan Smith – 1:48.33 (2023)
2. Alex Walsh – 1:49.16 (2024)
3. Ella Eastin – 1:49.51 (2018)
4. Emma Sticklen – 1:49.77 (2024)
5. Regan Smith – 1:49.78 (2021)
6. Elaine Breeden – 1:49.92 (2009)
7. Emma Sticklen – 1:49.95 (2023)

Back on the men’s side, Jacob Johnson swam a Minnesota 200 fly school record of 1:42.41 in front of a 1,000+ strong home crowd during the Golden Gophers’ home meet against the Army Black Knights (more on that later). Johnson shaved .06 seconds off Kaiser Neverman’s record from last year’s Big Ten Championships. Johnson owns a lifetime best of 1:42.29 so don’t be surprised if he continues to hack time off the program mark, much like Johnny Crush, who reset the Army 100 backstroke record for the second time already this season (46.98).

200 Breast

But it isn’t just the 200 butterfliers who are showing out in October. At the SMU Classic, which has historically been a fast early-season meet, Carles Coll Marti dropped a 1:50.77 200 breaststroke as the highlight of a strong start to his fifth year. It was a meet record, a pool record, and would’ve finished 7th in the 2024 NCAA ‘A’ final, where Coll Marti himself finished third.

Florida State’s Maddie Huggins is starting strong for her second season in a row. At the Seminoles dual with Georgia Tech, Huggins logged a lifetime best 2:07.98, breaking 2:08 for the first time. Not only does this shoot her toward the top of the event’s fastest times this season, but it’s a time that would’ve earned her a spot in the ‘B’ final at 2024 NCAAs. At the meet, Huggins finished 19th.

200 Back

Carmen Weiler Sastre also had a fantastic outing at the SMU Classic for the Okies. She swept the backstroke events with new lifetime bests of 52.17/1:52.55, the latter of which particularly stands out as it was a pool record and her first personal best in the event since 2022. Leading off the 200 medley relay, she clocked 24.49 in the 50 backstroke to go three-for-three with backstroke PBs at the meet.

Also at the SMU Classic, Olympian Miroslav Knedla made his debut for the Indiana Hoosiers, who won the overall men’s title at the meet. Knedla’s flown a bit under the radar because of the star power of the Hoosiers’ transfer class but he won’t do so for much longer if he stays on this trajectory. In his yards debut, Knedla swam a 45.27 100 backstroke, then followed up with a 1:39.88 200 backstroke, missing Aaron Piersol’s 2008 meet record by a tenth. His 200 back time would’ve snuck into the ‘B’ final of 2024 NCAAs; Indiana had two scorers in that event last year, the now-graduated Brendan Burns and current junior Kai Van Westering.

Making the Most Of The Yards Debut

Knedla was not the only international swimmer to swim well in their introduction to the bathtub this past week. At another Indiana-based school, Germany’s Jeremias Pock made an impression in his UIndy debut. At the Dan Ross Intercollegiate Meet, Pock swam 52.21 in the 100 breast. That time would’ve made him the runner-up at 2024 Division II NCAAs and also puts him within a second of the 51.63 Division record—which has stood since 2015—in his first yards swim.

And out west, Yamato Okadome and Mary-Ambre Moluh both impressed in Cal’s meet against UCSD. While Moluh had swum at the King and Queen of the Pool Pentathlon, this meet marked Okadome’s first NCAA meet.

He performed very well, sweeping the breaststroke events and claiming second in the 200 IM. The highlight of his individual swims was the 200 breaststroke, where he popped a 1:52.85—an NCAA ‘B’ cut-worthy time that would’ve finished 18th at 2024 NCAAs. Per SwimCloud, he ranks second on the season behind only Coll Marti. His 52.02 100 breaststroke (also a ‘B’ cut) wouldn’t have been too far from scoring either. It’s a good sign for Cal as they eye a return to the top of the NCAA standings as they graduated their ace breaststroker, NCAA record holder Liam Bell last season.

For her part, Moluh logged lifetime bests in the 50/100 free, swimming 22.16/48.12. She leads the team in both events this season and would’ve been 4th/2nd on last season’s depth chart, highlighting just how much value she can add to this Bears roster individually and on relays.

Growing The Game

The quest to reenergize NCAA regular season dual meets keeps getting stronger. The Army vs. Minnesota meet, which was one of the stops on swim influencer Kyle Sockwell’s dual meet tour, brought in 1,058 fans, which is believed to be a dual meet attendance record for the Golden Gophers.

Further south, LSU held a cannonball competition for fans in the middle of their dual meet with Texas as part of an effort to attract people to the pool at the start of homecoming weekend. Only non-student athletes could participate, and eight competitors lined up for the chance to win a team-issued LSU backpack from a panel of judges.

Finally, UGA has announced their “Swimpalooza” promotion for their dual meet against NC State on Nov. 8. The free event will feature commemorative t-shirts, free food, face painters, balloon artists, and more.

More Notable Swims

• Ilya Kharun is on fire this season. Not only has he turned in that 1:39-point 200 fly, but at the All-Arizona quad, he swam the 3rd fastest 100 IM in history, becoming just the third man to crack the 47-second barrier (46.91). He also dropped a 19.94 50 butterfly, which appears to be the second-fastest flat start of all-time.
• Sticklen wasn’t the only Texas swimmer to impress in their LSU dual. Redshirt freshman Jillian Cox swam a program record 9:25.88 in the 1000 free, Emma Kern was .04 seconds off her 100-back lifetime best with a 51.49, and Rex Maurer dropped a 4:14.88 500 freestyle.
• At the same meet, LSU sophomore Jere Hribar split 18.30 anchoring the Tigers winning 200 medley relay. Hribar’s lifetime best flat start is 18.81 from 2024 NCAAs.
• Owen McDonald had a meet as he made his Indiana Hoosiers debut. The junior and Arizona State transfer led the way for the winning Hoosiers with 64 points, winning his four individual events. He swam 1:42.09 in the 200 IM (meet record), 3:41.69 in the 400 IM (PB), 4:18.10 in the 500 free (PB), and 45.35 in the 100 back.
• Audrey Crawford swam a trio of best times in her first NCAA meet. The Auburn freshman clocked 1:02.78 in the 100 breast, 2:11.01 in the 200 breast, and 1:59.55 in the 200 IM, winning the SMU Classic ‘B’ flight in the latter two events. It was her first time sub-2:14 in the 200 breast, as she chopped 3.43 seconds from her best.
• Matthew Chai is back for the California Golden Bears at exactly the right moment, as distance freestyle is one of their weakest disciplines this season. Chai swam 4:18.79 at the UCSD meet, his fastest outing in the event since 2022 and a solid early-season swim that ranks 5th in the league, per SwimCloud.