2025 M. NCAA Previews: Luke Hobson Reigns Over A Chaotic 200 Freestyle Field

2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 26-29, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• SwimSwam Pick’Em Contest
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Psych Sheet

Men’s 200 Freestyle — By The Numbers 

• NCAA Record: 1:28.81 — Luke Hobson, Texas (2024)
• American Record: 1:28.81 — Luke Hobson, Texas (2024)
• U.S. Open Record: 1:28.81 — Luke Hobson, Texas (2024)
• Championship Record: 1:28.81 — Luke Hobson, Texas (2024)
• 2024 Champion: Luke Hobson, Texas — 1:28.81

The men’s 200 freestyle has not been immune to the swimflation of the past two seasons. Last year, it took a 1:31.42 to make the championship final at NCAAs. This year at the SEC Championships, four men popped 1:30 efforts in the prelims. Given that speed in the morning in Athens and Texas—a mid-distance freestyle powerhouse—moving to the SEC, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the conference owns the five fastest times on the psych sheet and six of the top eight.

SEC Stronghold

Texas 

The Longhorns have made big changes this season, moving to a new conference and getting a new head coach in Bob Bowman. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the team’s 200 freestyle skills, which they showed off with a 1-2 finish at the SEC Championships. 

Luke Hobson doesn’t own the fastest time swum in a yards pool this season, that accolade belongs to Jordan Crooks, who swam 1:30.00 at the Tennessee Invitational. Nevertheless, it’s Hobson who owns the top time on the psych sheet with a converted 1:29.34 from the 2024 Short Course World Championships. 

Though Hobson hasn’t swum the fastest yards effort this season, it’s hard not to see him as the favorite. He’s the defending champion and the NCAA record holder with a 1:28.81, which he swam to win his title last season and reclaim the NCAA record, becoming the first swimmer to break an NCAA mark swum by Leon Marchand. Since hitting that time, he’s won bronze at the Olympics in the long-course 200 freestyle and broken Paul Biedermann’s super-suited short-course meters 200 freestyle record twice. 

So, not only does he arrive in Federal Way riding a wave of momentum, but he’s also proven he knows how to show up for the NCAA Championships—and make the in-meet adjustments that he needs to get to the wall first. 

The Longhorns’ 200 freestyle crew got a boost when Chris Guiliano arrived at midseason. A first-time Olympian himself this summer, Guiliano is the defending bronze medalist in this race at NCAAs. He’s already been faster than the 1:30.38, then a lifetime best, he swam for that spot on the podium, clocking a lifetime best 1:30.31 in prelims of the SEC Championships last month. Guiliano fully broke out on the national stage last season and it’s a strong sign for Texas’ title hopes that he’s already been faster than he was last season. 

Last year, Cal was the only school that put two men into the 200 freestyle championship final, which Texas will look to match this season. 

Tennessee

As we mentioned, it’s Crooks who has been the fastest in the actual short-course yards pool this season. He’s been on fire this season, swimming lifetime bests in the 50/100/200 freestyle. Though Tennessee did qualify its 800 freestyle relay for NCAAs this year, Crooks opted to stick to the same individual event lineup at the championships he did last season, keeping the 200 free on his schedule instead of reverting to the 100 butterfly. 

The 200 freestyle is right at the top of the sprint star’s freestyle range. Similarly to Hobson, he’s bringing plenty of momentum to the back half of this season—his last racing for the Tennessee college team—after a historic SC World Championships. But even that meet highlights what makes it hard to pencil Crooks in for the win—the majority of his best swims don’t come in the final of the big meet. He’s followed this pattern at SC Worlds, the Olympics, and the last NCAA Championships. He’s a safe pick for the final but as it seems it will take a sub-1:30 effort to win, it’s a risk to pick him to stand atop the podium. It could certainly happen—but it would break the pattern he’s set for himself.

Alabama

Crooks finished sixth at the 2025 SEC Championships. It was Alabama’s Charlie Hawke who took third behind the Texas 1-2 finish, leading three Crimson Tide swimmers in the ‘A’ final. Hawke has established himself as the school’s go-to 200 freestyler and hit a lifetime best 1:30.44 leading off the 800 freestyle relay. He was fourth-place last year at the NCAA Championships and looks set for another ‘A’ final appearance. 

Georgia

Tomas Koski took big strides during his freshman season at Georgia and has continued to excel since. His sweet spot is the mid-distance freestyle events and after ending his freshman year with a 1:31.93 lifetime best, he’s improved to 1:30.70 in the 200 freestyle this season. That swim placed him fourth at the SEC Championships and puts him in line to make the championship final—he’s seeded fifth—an improvement from his 21st-place finish last season. 

Florida

Alex Painter has consistently improved during his freshman season at Florida. He’s from the UK and seemed to put all the pieces of yards swimming together at the SEC Championships. He exploded in Athens; not only was he a key part of the Gators’ relays, including an NCAA record-setting 400 medley, but he had strong swims in his individual races. Among them, Painter clocked a lifetime best 1:31.13 in the 200 freestyle. 

Florida has had a couple of misfires at the last two NCAA Championships, including in this event, but if Painter transitions well from SECs to NCAAs, the Gators could have an ‘A’ finalist in the event for the first time since Kieran Smith three years ago. 

The Rest Of The Championship Final Returns 

Another layer that makes this event so challenging to break into is that the entire 2024 championship final returns in Federal Way. That includes Jack Alexy, who you’ll have to scroll down the psych sheet to find tied for the 38th seed (1:32.98). The Golden Bears won the ACC Championship in their first season in the conference, but their top stars, including Alexy, were unrested. 

The Golden Bears make no secret of the fact that they only care about swimming fast at one meet: the NCAA Championships. It’s a strategy that’s paid off for them, making them one of the most dominant programs in the sport. It also means there are plenty of points for them to gain versus the projected scores from the psych sheet. 

Alexy was the runner-up in this race last year, flexing his 200 free skill after a breakout long-course season in the 50/100-meter freestyle. He broke the magical 1:30 barrier, clocking 1:29.75. So don’t be fooled by his presence towards the bottom of the psych sheet and watch for him to make the final from one of the early heats. 

Cal’s other ‘A’ finalist last year was the versatile Gabriel Jett who has been flexible about his event lineup during his senior season to maximize team points. He swam a lifetime best 1:30.32 while leading off Cal’s NCAA record-setting 800 freestyle relay during NCAAs last year but hasn’t raced the event since his 1:32.13 at the Minnesota Invite. During an interview on the SwimSwam podcast after that meet, Jett spoke openly about spending the summer analyzing his best races to figure out how to rediscover that form—this will be the moment for that work to pay off. 

Cal had four finalists in this event last year, so beyond Alexy and Jett, watch for returning ‘B’ finalists Robin Hanson (1:31.87) and Keaton Jones (1:32.97) along with freshman Nans Mazellier (1:32.00). Hanson is the top-seeded Cal swimmer at 17th, meaning this is an event where Cal could gain a lot of points against projections. 

Indiana, the third team in the hunt for the NCAA Championship, will counter Texas and Cal’s strength in this race with Rafael Miroslaw. He did not race for the Hoosiers during the fall semester; instead, he spent time on the World Cup circuit. However, he has been competing for the team since January. He’s seeded in ‘B’ final territory with a season-best of 1:31.73. He’s been as fast as 1:30.76—swum at last year’s NCAA Championships—and will aim to be much closer to that mark next week. Miroslaw is the only Hoosier who has entered the event, and Indiana needs him to deliver to mitigate the potential damage this event could do to their title hopes. 

The final returning ‘A’ finalist is Louisville’s Murilo Sartori. He swam a lifetime best in prelims of the 200 free at last year’s NCAA Championship, sneaking into the ‘A’ final ahead of Florida’s Jake Mitchell by .13 seconds (1:31.42). He placed 8th in the final with a 1:32.12 but has already been faster than that this season, clocking a 1:31.87 that ties him for 17th with Hanson. This event is increasingly competitive, but that was true last year and it was Sartori who won the last lane in the final.

More Contenders 

The prelims of this event will inevitably be chaotic as the returning ‘A’ finalists fight it out with the ‘B’ finalists looking to move up, plus the up-and-coming challengers in this race. The returning ‘B’ finalists include Mitchell (19th, 1:31.88), Henry McFadden (8th, 1:31.30), and Patrick Sammon (10th, 1:31.57). Mitchell has been relatively quiet this season but both McFadden and Sammon have swum lifetime bests this season. McFadden swam 1:31.30 at the ACC Championships while Sammon is just a tick behind at 1:31.57. 

Sammon was an A-Finalist in 2023.

Then, there’s sixth-seed Tomas Navikonis, who has taken a second off his lifetime best this season. The Ohio State junior lowered his lifetime best twice at the Big Ten Championships, getting down to a 1:31.01 to win the individual title.

The competitive races at the Big Ten and Big 12 championships have put swimmers like Ralph Daleiden Ciuferri (1:31.48) and Gal Groumi (1:31.57) into the mix as well. 

Back in the ACC, the UNC men were excellent at the ACC Championships. Canadian Olympian Patrick Hussey was a key part of that success; he placed second in the 200 freestyle, swimming a 1:31.38, his second lifetime best of the meet in the event. 

SwimSwam Picks 

Dark Horse: Noah Millard, Yale — After an Olympic redshirt year, Noah Millard returned to the Yale campus and hit the ground running. He was excellent at midseason, then turned in several standout times at the Ivy League Championships, including a lifetime best 1:31.86 200 freestyle. Two years ago, Millard was projected to score at the NCAA Championships after Ivies but was presumably focused on the Ivy League Championships and did not transition to the big show well. If the focus has shifted for Millard this season, he could upset some of the Power 4 swimmers and book a spot in the final.