2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: Smith and Berkoff Lead The Way Into Women’s 50 Backstroke

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

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

Women’s 50 Backstroke – By The Numbers

• World Record: 26.86 – Kaylee McKeown, Australia (20230
• American Record: 27.10 – Regan Smith (2023)
• 2025 World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 28.22

Backstroke has long been one of the American women’s greatest strengths and that’s still the case this year as we begin a new Olympic cycle. But even in a discipline as deep as this one, there are still two swimmers who have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

Paris Olympic 100 Backstroke Medalists

Those two swimmers, of course, are Regan Smith and Katharine Berkoff, who are the American and U.S. Open record holders, respectively, in the 50 backstroke. The pair qualified for the 2022 and 2023 World Championships—the last two World Championships with U.S. qualification meets–in the 50 backstroke and were the country’s 100 backstroke representatives at the Paris Games.

Smith has been at the top of the pile in American women’s backstroke for the better part of the past decade. She first burst onto the scene in the 100/200 backstroke at the 2019 World Championships and has steadily built herself into an international podium threat in this race. She finished off the podium in fifth at the 2022 World Aquatic Championships, but won silver a year later with a 27.11. The swim was just a hundredth off the 27.10 American record she posted in the semifinal.

Katharine Berkoff (photo: Jack Spitser)

She brings a season-best of 27.43 from racing outside at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim to Indianapolis, which ranks her fifth in the world.

Smith is a versatile swimmer, medaling on the biggest international stages in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 200 butterfly. She narrowly missed adding the 100 butterfly to her Olympic schedule last summer, taking third in Lucas Oil Stadium a tenth behind eventual Olympic champion Torri Huske. The women’s 100 butterfly falls on the same day as the women’s 50 backstroke. Smith does not often shy away from a double, but it’s still worth a mention as she’d have the 100 butterfly final first. Smith’s lifetime and season-bests make her a safe bet for a top two spot though, even with the double.

The win is not as certain though, as Berkoff has a lifetime best of 27.12—just two-hundredths behind Smith—and sits ahead of her in the global rankings this season with a 27.34 (4^th in the world). Over the last Olympic quad, Berkoff carved a spot for herself on the national scene in the women’s sprint backstroke.

She qualified for the 2022 World Championships in the 50 backstroke, swimming a 27.12 for what was then both an American and U.S. Open record. Berkoff went on to win silver in the 50 backstroke in Budapest and found herself back on the World Championship podium a year later, though this time with a bronze in the 100 backstroke.

Berkoff continued to establish herself on the national and international stage last season. She became the second-fastest American woman in the 100 backstroke at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, ripping a 57.83 and qualifying for her first Olympic team. Berkoff went on to win bronze in Paris. After making three straight senior international teams, she arrives in Indianapolis this year in a strong position to extend the streak to four.

The 2024 Worlds Gold Medalist

Claire Curzan (Credit: Jason Wang / Peak Images)

Neither Smith nor Berkoff attended the 2024 World Championships at the start of the Olympic year. Claire Curzan did though, and she became the second woman to sweep the backstrokes at a World Championships, swimming a lifetime best 27.43 to win gold in the 50 backstroke final.

Curzan did not qualify for the 2024 Olympic team and aims to qualify for her first senior international U.S. roster since the 2022 World Championship team. Over the last year while training at Virginia, she seems to have found her groove in backstroke, so it’s likely that we see her focus her efforts here on Day 3 in Indianapolis rather than the 100 butterfly, an event she qualified for the Tokyo Games in three years ago.

Curzan found a new gear in backstroke during the yards season, sweeping the backstroke events at the NCAA Championships and breaking the 200-yard backstroke NCAA and American records twice. Whether she’ll be able to apply those improvements in yards and get ahead of the two favorites is the big question. She finished fourth in this event in Fort Lauderdale racing against both Smith and Berkoff, swimming a season-best 27.86 that ranks 18^th in the world this season.

The Wolfpack Contingent

Berkoff leads a stacked backstroke training group from NC State to Indianapolis. That group includes Olympian Rhyan White, who like Curzan, is hunting for a return to the senior international meet roster this season. White swam a season-best 27.75 in Westmont, which is her fastest swim since she clocked her lifetime best 27.45 at the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials.

Erika Pelaez (photo: Jack Spitser)

It’s worth noting that White has gotten a lot of racing in this season, traveling to all three Pro Swims and she’s gotten slower in the 50 backstroke at each one. After her 27.75 that ranks 15^th in the world, her fastest time in Sacramento was a 27.91, then in Fort Lauderdale it was a 28.22. That could be a product of where she’s at in her training cycle, or maybe suggests her focus is shifting towards the 200 backstroke. Regardless, White will need to be at or better than her season-best to place highly in this final.

The Wolfpack’s backstroke group also boasts Leah Shackley, Erika Pelaez, and Kennedy Noble. Noble has backstroke bests of 28.40/58.55/2:06.54 and should be more of a factor in the 100/200 backstroke, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see her shave a few tenths off and book a lane in the final.

Shackley and Pelaez will also be eyeing a trip to the final in Indianapolis. The two just finished their freshman year at NC State and are about to test their long-course taper with head coach Braden Holloway for the first time. They have similar season-bests; Shackley swam a 28.24 in Sacramento and Pelaez was 28.28 in Fort Lauderdale. Their lifetime bests are even closer, with Pelaez having been as fast as 28.07 and Shackley a tick back at 28.08.

Both have gotten better since their Pro Swim appearances; Shackley swam a lifetime best in the 100 backstroke at the Charlotte Open (58.53) while Pelaez swam a 100 backstroke season-best at the TAC Titans Spring Fling (1:00.75). It’s a strong indicator that both could be headed for an exciting U.S. Nationals.

More Names To Consider

Isabelle Stadden said on Instagram that she was not quite done with swimming after her final NCAA Championships in March. She has not been at an official meet since wrapping up her college season with Cal, but that post makes it likely she will be at U.S. Nationals. And with a lifetime best under 28 seconds, Stadden could find herself in the middle of the finals action. She finished fifth in this event at the 2023 U.S. National Championships and owns a 27.64 personal best.

Erika Connolly was also a championship finalist in this event two years ago. She popped up at the Westmont Pro Swim and raced only the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly, suggesting those events are where her focus is this year. Other 2023 ‘A’ finalists Olivia Smoliga and Amy Fulmer have not raced since the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Isabelle Stadden (photo: Jack Spitser)

Teenage Rylee Erisman has been quickly climbing the national ranks in a range of events this season. Her best chance to upset some of the more veteran names in the field and make the 2025 World Aquatic Championship team may be in the 100 freestyle, but she could also be a factor in this final.

Erisman ranks in the event’s top eight this season after swimming a lifetime best 28.42 at the Westmont Pro Swim. She was a couple tenths off that in Fort Lauderdale, swimming 28.65 for 11^th. Another teenager, Cal commit Teagan O’Dell could also swim her way into the final. She posted a lifetime best 28.52 at the 2023 World Junior Championships. As the swimming world resets in 2025 for the new Olympic cycle it is difficult to tell where the cut line for the championship final will fall. In 2023, it took a 28.39 to make it back. If that is the benchmark we’re using, Erisman will need to be at or better than her best to make the final, while O’Dell will need a PB, but both could put up a big swim in prelims and surprise for a finals lane.

Catie Choate owns a lifetime best of 28.30, which puts her in a similar position to Erisman on paper. Choate was .16 seconds off that mark in Fort Lauderdale with a 28.46, which makes her another championship final challenger. Charlotte Crush was not too far from her lifetime best either, clocking 28.81 in Fort Lauderdale. She has been as fast as 28.70 and may choose to focus on the 100 butterfly on Day 3 of U.S. Nationals but is still worth keeping an eye out for.

There’s also Bella Sims, Choate’s now former Gator teammate. Sims had an up and down sophomore season in the NCAA but one thing that really worked for her was her backstroke. She swam lifetime bests in the 50/100/200-yard backstroke (23.25/48.97/1:47.11), finishing second in the 100/200 backstroke at the NCAA Championships. The “Let Bella Sprint” agenda has often been focused on sprint freestyle, but could we see her extend that to backstroke?

Sims answered a major question about her next direction by announcing her transfer to the University of Michigan. But that does not fully answer where her focus will be as she aims to return to the senior international roster. She swam a lifetime best 28.57 in Fort Lauderdale and it would take a significant drop to see her make the Worlds roster in this event. That said, it is possible she swims it as a fun, low stakes event at an otherwise pressure-filled meet.

SwimSwam’s Picks

Dark Horse: Gretchen Walsh — Gretchen Walsh is the one championship finalist from the 2023 field that we haven’t mentioned yet. Walsh has fully broken onto the international stage since 2023 U.S. Nationals, breaking world records and winning Olympic medals. She just shattered her 100 butterfly world record in Fort Lauderdale and presumably, that is where her focus will be on Day 3 at U.S. Nationals. But could the addition of the stroke 50s to the Olympics tempt her to add this event back onto her schedule this season? She’s the fastest 50-yard backstroker in history (22.10) and after all the gains she’s made it seems implausible that she can’t be faster than her 27.54 lifetime best. She’s only the dark horse because we aren’t sure she swims this. But if she does, she’s the only one who could beat Smith and Berkoff.