2025 M. NCAA Previews: Marshall and Modglin Set The Pace In 100 Backstroke

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 100 Backstroke  — By The Numbers 

• NCAA Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
• Championship Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
• American Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
• U.S. Open Record: 43.35 — Luca Urlando, Georgia (2022)
• 2024 Champion: Brendan Burns, Indiana — 43.86

The men’s 100 backstroke has been an exciting way to cap off night three of the men’s NCAA Championships for the last couple of seasons. After a battle in the morning to make the championship final, the event has produced some excellent races and some of the most memorable celebrations we’ve seen. 

It looks like more of the same on the menu in Federal Way this season. The top three finishers from last season, Brendan Burns, Kacper Stokowski, and Adam Chaney—who were all sub-44 seconds in the final—don’t return, setting the stage for a clash between the next wave of backstroke stars and returning aces aiming for a higher step of the podium. 

Sophomores Lead The Way 

Two sophomores highlight the top of the psych sheet, Jonny Marshall and Will Modglin. The pair, along with Modglin’s Texas teammate Hubert Kos, faced off at the SEC Championships, giving us a taste of what could happen this week at NCAAs. Marshall won the battle against the Longhorns, defending his 100/200 backstroke SEC titles. He won the 100 backstroke with a lifetime best of 43.73 that would’ve won NCAAs last year. That was Marshall’s first sub-44 effort and he backed it up later by leading off Florida’s NCAA record-setting 400 medley relay in 43.91. 

Will Modglin (photo: Jack Spitser)

Last year, Marshall put up the fastest swims of his freshman season at the SEC Championships. Still, he managed to sneak into the championship final in 8th, edging out Modglin by six-hundredths. Marshall is rolling into NCAAs with plenty of confidence; he has what it takes to win, and now he needs to put it all together at the right time for the second meet in a row. 

Modglin, last year’s ‘B’ final winner, has approached this season differently than Marshall. He’s been swimming fast all season but was at his best in the backstrokes during the Texas Hall of Fame Invite. There, he cracked a lifetime best 43.91, which makes him the only swimmer other than Marshall under the 44-second barrier this season. He got down to a 44.22 at the SEC Championships, winning bronze behind Marshall and Kos. Modglin has excelled in his sophomore season at Texas and it would be a shock to see him miss the ‘A’ final—expect him in the heart of the action for gold. 

Back In The Hunt  

While the top three finishers last season will be absent in Federal Way, the other five ‘A’ finalists return to the NCAA Championships looking to move up the standings.

That includes Kos, the 200-meter backstroke Olympic gold medalist. The Hungarian junior has spent the last nine months cementing himself as the man to beat on the international stage in the 200 backstroke. Post-Olympics, Kos has seemed to approach this season differently than last. Some of that is logistics—there wasn’t an SC World Championship last December—but he’s also become the Longhorns’ butterflyer on the medley relays. 

Owen McDonald (photo: Jack Spitser)

Last year, the Pac-12 Championship was Kos’ best meet of the season. He swam a then-NCAA record in the 200 backstroke and popped a lifetime best of 43.75 in the 100 backstroke before adding time at NCAAs. He’ll be looking to do the reverse this season; he’s yet to break 44 seconds but is right at the barrier (44.03). If he hits the taper right, he’ll push the younger swimmers for the crown. 

Meanwhile, Owen McDonald looks to keep that crown in Indianapolis. Like Kos, McDonald left Arizona State after last season. But instead of following Bowman, he landed in Bloomington and is a key part of the Hoosiers’ title aspirations. 

McDonald has been strong all season and went three-for-three in his individual events at the Big Ten Championships. He swam a season-best 44.38 in the 100 backstroke that approaches his lifetime best of 44.25, swum at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Like many of the top competitors in this race, McDonald likely took a measured approach to his conference championships in the hopes of being at his best this week. McDonald is a solid pick for the title, though he’ll likely need to put up his first sub-44 swim to do it. That said, he’s turned in consistently strong results all season and looks capable of making that drop. The Indiana women looked strong at their NCAA Championships and it stands to reason that will carry over to the men. 

Destin Lasco finished fifth in this event last season. But as with many of California’s top swimmers, if you want to find him on this year’s psych sheet, you’re going to have to do some scrolling. He’s 24th on the psych sheet, rocking a lifetime best of 45.23. This is Lasco’s fifth and final NCAA season; he knows how to be at his best at this meet and is familiar with Cal’s “all about NCAAs” season trajectory. 

Lasco is a consistent contender in this race but he’s yet to win. While he’s stood atop the NCAA podium in the 200 IM and 200 backstroke—multiple times in the latter event—his highest 100 backstroke finish is 3rd. Will this be the year he gets his hand on the wall first in his only individual sprint event? His lifetime best is a 43.93 from the 2023 NCAA Championships. 

Finally, Georgia’s Ruard van Renen was the 7th-place finisher in last year’s race. He’s right on the edge of the ‘A’ final on the psych sheet, holding the 9th seed with a 44.95 season-best. He’s been as fast as 44.21, which he did in prelims last year to qualify third for the NCAA final. If he repeats that time, he’ll likely book another ‘A’ final appearance. He’s made finals in both of his NCAA appearances so far, as he won the ‘B’ final in 2023 while swimming for SIU. 

Freshmen Surge 

The Greensboro Aquatic Center has seen two breakout performances from freshmen in the men’s 100 backstroke this season. First, Army’s Johnny Crush swam a 45.08 at the Wolfpack Elite Invitational. But Crush, who’d been rapidly improving during his first semester at West Point, wasn’t close to done. He rocketed to a 44.53 at the Star Meet, soaring to third on the all-time mid-major list.

Crush’s backstroke lifetime bests both come from that dual meet, he didn’t swim lifetime bests in either at the 2025 Patriot League Championships. Still, he won the conference title in the 100 back (45.32) and multiple end-of-year conference awards. He’s part of the largest contingent of swimmers the Black Knights have sent to the NCAA Championships since 1987 and it’s time to see if the swims at the Patriot League Championships were part of the larger progression of his season. 

Johnny Crush. Photo: Chip Dumstorf

For reference, it took 44.52 to earn a spot in the championship final last season, a hundredth faster than Crush’s current lifetime best. 

The other breakout at the GAC is, of course, Michel Arkhangelskiy, who was one of the revelations of the ACC Championships. The Florida State freshman exploded, swimming lifetime bests seemingly every time he jumped in the pool. He won the ACC title in the 100 backstroke with a 44.49. It was the French swimmer’s second lifetime best of the day; he came into the meet with a 46.69 best before improving to 45.32 in prelims. 

Florida State is seeded to score well in this event as junior Max Wilson sits 8th on the psych sheet with a lifetime best 44.82 that he swam leading off the 400 medley relay. 

At 5th (Arkhangelskiy) and 6th (Crush), the two are the highest-seeded freshmen in the event. There are more looking to perform well, including Indiana’s Miroslav Knedla (45.02), Texas’ Kyle Peck (45.02), and Virginia’s David King (45.11). Often, it’s the experienced hands that we see rise to the top at the NCAA Championships. But, all these swimmers will be looking to defy that trend by replicating—or improving—their early season successes. 

Given that, it will also be interesting to see how Olympian Mewen Tomac performs at this meet. He’s certainly not a freshman—and is entered as a grad student—but this will be his first NCAA Championships as he was one of the big roster moves Cal made in January. 

Cal worked for months to get Tomac’s eligibility sorted and the Golden Bears are hoping he’s someone who can swing the NCAA title race in their favor. He owns a lifetime best 45.16 from his 5th place finish at ACCs, which was also his fourth time swimming the race. Will he improve quickly enough to make an impact on the scorecard for Cal? He and Knedla bring Olympic experience to the NCAA Championships. We could see their experience on swimming’s biggest stage allow them to remain calm and excel in Federal Way. 

What About…

Harrison Lierz is the one swimmer seeded to score we haven’t mentioned yet. The Tennessee fifth-year improved his 100 backstroke best twice at the SEC Championships as he swam 44.76 after finishing fourth in the individual event with a 44.87. Those marked his second and third sub-45 swims. 

The other two swimmers who have broken 45 seconds this season are Cal senior Evan Petty and NC State sophomore Quintin McCarty. The two are separated by two-hundredths on the psych sheet, with Petty logging a lifetime best 44.97 at the Minnesota Invitational. It was a huge drop for Petty, as he improved from a 46.24. McCarty’s time is a best as well; he’s best known for his sprint freestyle abilities, but the excellent season he’s having has extended to his sprint backstroke. It’s just in time for the Wolfpack, as he provides the team with an answer to Aiden Hayes’ absence due to injury. 

Quintin McCarty (photo: Jack Spitser)

There are plenty of swimmers grouped at 45.0, including Arizona State’s Jack Wadsworth (45.01), Indiana’s Luke Barr (45.02), Auburn’s Nate Stoffle (45.04), and Stanford’s Aaron Sequeira (45.06). That could prove an important time to hit; last year, it took 45.20 to earn a second swim. 

Further down the psych sheet are more veteran names, including Virginia’s Jack Aikins and Cal’s Bjorn Seeliger. We haven’t seen Aikins at an NCAA Championship since 2023, and though he finished third in the 100-meter backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials, he trends heavily towards the 200 backstroke in the yards pool. He didn’t earn a second swim in the 100 backstroke at the 2022 or 2023 NCAAs. Meanwhile, since discovering his backstroke speed, Seeliger, who has a lifetime best of 44.58 from the 2022 NCAA Championships, has been a ‘B’ finalist in this event for the last two seasons. 

Among the notable absences from the event is Penn State’s Cooper Morley, who was 14th last year but didn’t qualify for the meet this season.

SwimSwam Picks 

Dark Horse: Youssef Ramadan, Virginia Tech — After going for a 50 free/100 fly/100 free NCAA lineup, Youssef Ramadan, a former 100 butterfly NCAA champion, has entered the 100 fly/100 back/100 free. That gives him a potential double on Day Three, though the 100 back does come after the 100 fly. Does the fact that the NCAA has swapped the 100 fly and 400 IM on the schedule mean we’ll see Ramadan stick to this double? He owns a lifetime best of 44.59 in this race from the 2023 ACC Championships which could earn him an ‘A’ final appearance if he matches it. This season, he owns a season-best of 45.07 which has him 18th on the psych sheet.