2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: No Dressel But Familiar Names In The Hunt In The 50 Fly

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• • Tuesday, June 3 – Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Indiana University Natatorium
  • LCM (50 meters)
  • World Championship Selection Criteria
  • SwimSwam Preview Index
  • Meet Central
  • Psych Sheets
  • Live Results

MEN’S 50 Fly: BY THE NUMBERS

• World Record: 22.27, Andriy Govorov (UKR) – 2018
• American Record: 22.35, Caeleb Dressel– 2019
• 2023 U.S. National Champion: Michael Andrew, 23.11
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 23.36

Only three men return from the 2023 final of this event – Michael Andrew, Dare Rose and Jonny Kulow. Caeleb Dressel, third in that final but the American Record holder and 2022 World Champion, is forgoing the U.S. National Championships this year.

That leaves the three returners, along with Shaine Casas, the opportunity to nail down a place on the team. With the 50 now falling under priority one for World Championship team selection, both of the top two should make the team.

Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd

There are three recent American World Championship entrants in the 50 fly who will be in the field in Indianapolis. Michael Andrew, Dare Rose and Shaine Casas had varying levels of success at that level but will be fighting for the two spots available here. The World Aquatics ‘A’ cut of 23.36 should not be an issue.

Michael Andrew won the bronze medal at Worlds back in 2022, where he set his personal best time of 22.79. That’s the equal-fastest best in the field along with Dare Rose, and Andrew has broken 23 seconds on 11 occasions – ten more than Rose who is the only other swimmer here to have done so.

He was 4th at Worlds back in 2019 and won silver at the Doha Worlds last year, but has not been quite as quick in-season this year as he has been previously. Part of that may be due to a change in training bases, as he is no longer training with his father Peter Andrew and moved to Tempe to train with Herbie Behm and a loaded Sun Devil sprint group.

Michael Andrew (photo: Jack Spitser)

However, Andrew has been no worse than a 23.0 in every full season since 2018, and has the second-fastest season best of anyone in the field. After missing the Worlds team in 2023 and Olympic team in 2024, Andrew will be looking to rebound this time around. If he’s down around the 23-second mark he should qualify.

The main threat to Andrew is the swimmer who finished just behind him at the 2023 National Championships, Dare Rose. He did qualify for the 2023 Worlds team thanks to his 1st place finish in the 100 fly and also swam the 50 in Fukuoka where he made the final, finishing 6th in 23.01.

His best time came in the semi-finals with a swim of 22.79, which would have been good enough for silver. That is still his best time, but he is coming off by far his best season at the college level.

Rose was in top form at Short Course Worlds back in December as well, and after missing the Olympic team in the 100 last year by four-hundredths, will be keen to return to the World stage.

He split 23.83 in his season best 50.93 100 fly, which would rank third in the 50 itself among American men. He’ll be looking to make a statement ahead of the 100 fly on Day 3.

Shaine Casas is the fastest American this year but is in the position of playing spoiler rather than defending top spot. His time of 23.25 is three-hundredths off his best of 23.22, but he is entered in the 200 free earlier on Day 2.

The 200 free has appeared to be a focus of Casas’ so far this season, one he may scratch this event in favor of. The 50 fly is one of the likeliest of his events that Casas would drop, however if he does swim he will certainly be in the final and fighting for the top two. If he opts to swim both the 200 free and the 50 fly and qualifies individually in both, the double remains on his schedule, as the 50 butterfly final and 200 freestyle semifinals are both on Day 2 in Singapore.

He swam the event at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships, finishing 29th and 8th respectively, but it has not been one of his main events. He has the raw speed to be dangerous though – he split 23.31 on his personal best 50.40 100 fly.

Aiming To Break Through

Behind the three at the top the field is fairly open. Jonny Kulow, Luca Urlando and Luke Miller are three of the biggest college stars who will look to turn NCAA success into National success.

Kulow was in the final in 2023, but has switched to mainly swimming freestyle at the NCAA level since then. He’s kept the butterfly going in long course though, and should be one of the top contenders to gatecrash the trio at the top.

He was 23.43 to finish 4th in that final, less than a quarter of a second behind 2nd place Dare Rose, and given his drops in the sprint events in yards since should shave some time off that. He’s yet to swim fly in long course this season, but his entry here is a mark of intent.

Jonny Kulow (photo: Jack Spitser)

Urlando translated his phenomenal NCAA season into a breakout performance at the Sacramento Pro Swim Series, inserting himself at #4 all-time in the 200 fly and setting a new best of 51.32 in the 100. He did not race the 50 there, and doesn’t actually appear to have a 50 swim on record since 2019.

That swim of 24.15 stands as his official personal best, and he should blow past that if he swims, as he was 24.06 on the front end of that 100 fly in Sacramento. Urlando is entered in the 200 free on Day 2 as well as this event, with a potential relay spot on the line.

He’s more likely to make the top-six there than the top two here, so we could see him go all in on that event if he makes the final.

Luke Miller couldn’t quite match his 3rd-place-finish in the 100 fly from 2024 at NCAAs this year, finishing tenth, but has a 19.35 fly split under his belt from the 200 medley relay in 2024 and was 19.48 this year.

He was the 2022 Pan American Games champion in the 100 fly, and has shown enough sprint speed to indicate he’ll be a finals contender in the 50. His best time of 24.08 in the 50 comes from his split in the 100 fly at last year’s Olympic Trials, and it would not be a stretch to see him shave half a second off that to crack 24 and make the final.

College Stars

Aiden Hayes has recently returned from the wrist injury that sidelined him for the NCAA season, and was 52.52 in the 100 at a TAC Titans meet just two weeks ago. That featured a 24.45 opening split, just over half a second off his best of 23.87 (also from a 100 split). A slight drop from that time should be in the top eight when all is said and done on Day 2.

Tommy Palmer had a great NCAA season, and he has already translated it over to long course. He was 23.98 in Fort Lauderdale to hack over a second off his PB and put his name in conversations for the ‘A’ final. He added to his in-season times at NCAAs though, so will need to reverse that trend in Indianapolis.

Virginia Tech’s Will Hayon finished 8th in the ‘B’ final in 2023 and will try to make it one step further this year. His best time of 23.92 does come from Nationals in 2023, but he’s been 24.16 already this year for his fastest-ever in-season time.

There are a few more current and former NCAA swimmers who will be in the field. PJ Foy, Kyle Peck and Noah Henderson could all make some noise, most notably Henderson who holds a best time of 23.97 from 2022. He’s one of only five returners from the top-16 in 2025, and has been 24.13 this season.

Finally, Spencer Nicholas was a late addition to the psych sheets but could  be dangerous after some big drops at midseason. He holds a best of 24.20 in the 50 which he set in May last year, but has dropped from 45.0 to 44.4 in yards since then.

Fresh Faces

Thomas Heilman is one of the favourites in the other two butterfly distances, but his strength is far more in the longer distances. His best in the 50 is 24.05, and with the 50 sandwiched between the 200 (Day 1) and 100 (Day 3) on the schedule, this one is unlikely to be his priority.

Thomas Heilman (photo: Jack Spitser)

However, after splitting 24.2 on the front end of multiple 100 butterflies he’s certainly capable of a 23-mid, which would be more than enough to final.

Kamal Muhammed was 23.68 at the start of April in Sacramento, which was a half-second personal best and his first time under 24. He followed that up with a 23.83 at Fort Lauderdale, and has had a good amount of long course racing already this season to get into his groove. He should finish higher than his 13th place he achieved in 2023.

Rowan Cox is the highest seeded junior, but is better at the 100 than the 50. A silver medallist in the 100 at Junior Pan Pacs last year, Cox is currently listed with Longhorn Aquatics and will join Texas in the fall. His PB stands at 24.58, although with a 52.59 in the 100 should expect to knock some time off that.

Shareef Elaydi is in a similar position, holding a best in the 100 of 53.45 but only 26.07 in the 50. He’s been 25.0 on the opening split of the 100, so a 24-low is not out of the question here.

SWIMSWAM’S PICKS

Dark Horse – Ryan Branon: A first-time NCAA qualifier this year, Branon is much more of a 200 specialist but has had some big drops in all three distances in meters since the NCAA season finished in March. Through multiple PBs, he enters Nationals with bests of 1:56.45 in the 200, 52.46 in the 100 and 24.61 in the 50. However, he split 24.8 in that 100 fly and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him drop another chunk of time to scare the 24-second barrier