2025 U.S. World Trials Previews: With 2024 Olympians Out, Men’s 100 BK Field is Wide Open

2025 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

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

MEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE: BY THE NUMBERS

• World Record: 51.60, Thomas Ceccon (ITA) – 2022
• American Record: 51.85, Ryan Murphy – 2016
• 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials Winner: Ryan Murphy, 52.22
• World Aquatics ‘A’ Cut: 53.94

Ryan Murphy has come out on top in the men’s 100 backstroke for most of the past decade, and he holds the American Record with a 51.85. While Murphy is still the top American men’s backstroker right now, the US features a very deep field of backstrokers, made up of a variety of veterans and up-and-comers. In fact, there were 9 American men who went under 54 seconds in the 100 backstroke last year.

Significant Absences

Before we dive into the preview of swimmers who will (likely) be competing in the 100 back at this year’s Nationals, we need to go over who we know is out of the meet. Leading off that list is Ryan Murphy, arguably the greatest American backstroker in history.

Ryan Murphy (photo: Jack Spitser)

Murphy recently announced he would be taking the summer off. He was the champion in the 100 back at last summer’s Olympic Trials, winning in 52.22. Murphy has represented, and earned a medal for, the U.S. at every World Championships and Olympics since 2015. He’s a nine-time Olympic medalist and a 17-time LC World Champs medalist.

The other high-profile swimmer we know who is out of the meet is Hunter Armstrong, who was the second U.S. Olympian in the 100 back last summer. Armstrong finished 2nd in the 100 back at Trials last summer with a 52.72, then went on to make semifinals in Paris, but fell short of making the final. He confirmed to SwimSwam that he will not be racing at Nationals next week.

Top Contenders

Shaine Casas (photo: Jack Spitser)

With Murphy and Armstrong sitting this meet out, Shaine Casas is in the best position of his career to make a World Champs team in the 100 back. Casas holds the fastest career best in the field, the 52.51 he swam at a Sectionals meet in July of 2022. While his career best is a bit of an old time, Casas is the top American in the world this year in the event, having gone 53.54 at the Westmont Pro Swim Series back in March.

At last summer’s Olympic Trials, Casas finished 9th in the 100 back in semifinals with a 54.08. Casas did, however, go on to make the Olympic Team in the 200 IM.

Justin Ress is another swimmer who stands to benefit greatly from the absence of last year’s Olympians. Ress holds a career best of 52.73 in the 100 back, which he swam at the International Team Trials back in April of 2022, and stands as the 2nd-fastest PB in this field, behind only Casas.

Ress hasn’t competed since the Olympic Trials last summer, but he’s been a factor on the national stage for a number of years now. Ress was the 2022 World Champion in the LC 50 back. He’s been competitive at each of the last 2 Olympic Trials, making the 100 back final at both. At last year’s Trials, Ress came in 5th with a 53.57.

Virginia’s Jack Aikins is perhaps the swimmer who stands to gain the most from the absences of Murphy and Armstrong.

Jack Aikins (photo: Jack Spitser)

That’s because Aikins was the 3rd place finisher in the 100 back at the Olympic Trials last summer, where he swam his career best of 52.74. With that swim, Aikins touched just 0.02 seconds behind Armstrong, missing out on qualifying for the Olympic time by an incredibly thin margin.

One of the most promising things going for Aikins is that he showed an ability to rise to the occasion at Trials last summer. He went 53.24 in prelims, 53.23 in semifinals, and 52.74 in finals, making him one of the few swimmers in the field to get faster through each of the 3 phases of the race.

This season, Aikins has swum one LCM meet so far, the Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale a few weeks ago. In Fort Lauderdale, Aikins went 54.69 in the 100 back.

Cal’s Destin Lasco is yet another swimmer in the field who has been under 53 seconds before. Lasco holds a career best of 52.93, which he swam at the 2023 Nationals. He swam the 100 back at last year’s Trials, where he went 54.17 in semifinals to finish 11th. Lasco is one of the fastest yards backstrokers in history, and his LCM times have gradually caught up. He’s qualified for the World Championships in backstroke once before, at the 2023 World Champs. Lasco swam the 200 back at the 2023 Worlds, where he qualified for semifinals, but didn’t make the final.

Adam Chaney has had an interesting year, but should still be a huge factor in the 100 back at this meet.  Chaney came in 4th in the 100 back at Trials last summer, swimming a 53.44. However, coming out of Trials, Chaney didn’t compete again until just a couple weeks ago. He was slated to compete for the Florida Gators for his 5th year, however, he didn’t end up competing for Florida at all this past season. He wound up entering the transfer portal as a grad transfer in January, and recently announced he will be joining Arizona State for the upcoming season.

Chaney competed at Trials last summer, then didn’t compete again until he swam at his home club Mason Manta Rays’ dual meet against Central Ohio Aquatics in early May. At that meet, Chaney went 22.89 in the 50 free (LCM) and 4:16.36 in the 400 free. He was slated to compete in the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series, but didn’t end up racing there. Chaney holds a career best of 53.08, so he definitely stands a chance of being a contender for the Worlds team.

Then there’s Hunter Tapp, who could be a factor here. Tapp hasn’t competed since the Olympic Trials last summer, but he hasn’t formally announced his retirement either. If he swims in Indy, he’ll be in the mix in the 100 back, as he holds a career best of 53.45.

Fresh Faces

A benefit that comes along with Murphy and Armstrong sitting this meet out is that it clears the way for some new faces to represent the U.S. in the men’s backstroke events. One such up-and-comer is the University of Michigan’s Jack Wilkening. A finalist in the 100 back at last summer’s Olympic Trials, Wilkening has built some momentum heading into this meet, as he clocked a 54.30 at the CW May Showers Invite on May 17th. That performance makes Wilkening the 5th fastest American in the event this year.

Wilkening set his career best of 53.37 last May at the Indy Spring Cup. He went on to finish 7th in the 100 back at the Olympic Trials last summer. Wilkening followed his successful summer up by having a strong college swimming. He set the Michigan program record in the SCY 100 back with a 44.90 and clocked a new career best of 1:40.34 in the 200 back.

Will Modglin (photo: Jack Spitser)

Texas’ Will Modglin is another rising star in the backstroke events. Modglin just clocked a season best of 54.18 at the ST TXLA Longhorns Aquatics meet in mid-May, which makes him the 3rd-fastest American in the event this year. Modglin already has some good national-level experience under his belt, as he made the final of the 100 back at last year’s Trials. He came in 6th, swimming a 53.69, which came after he swam his career best of 53.59 in prelims.

Modglin is coming off a successful NCAA season with the Longhorns, wherein he clocked new yards career bests in the 100 back (43.91) and 200 back (1:37.84).

Tommy Janton was also a finalist in the 100 back at last year’s Trials, where he finished 8th (53.87). That swim came after Janton swam his career best of 53.61 to qualify for the final. He’s had a bit of a trying year, as his team, Notre Dame, was suspended for the season due to a gambling scandal. While he wasn’t able to compete in the NCAA this season, Janton has been swimming quite well in 2025. At the Westmont Pro Swim Series, he clocked a season best of 53.81, which is the 2nd-fastest time by an American this year, behind only Casas.

17-year-old Gavin Keogh out of Flatiron Athletic Club is another name to keep your eye on. Keogh was a member of the US Junior Pan Pacs team last summer, where he earned the silver medal in the 200 back. While Keogh may be slightly better in the 200 back than the 100 back, he just clocked his personal best of 54.72 in the 100 back at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim Series at the beginning of May. While he’ll have to drop more time to make some waves at this meet, it’s worth noting that Keogh is the #6 American in the event so far this year.

Wisconsin’s Michael Long just swam his career best of 54.77 at the ST TXLA Longhorn Aquatics meet in mid-May. While he’ll need to drop some more time from that mark to really make some noise in Indy, but he’s the 7th-fastest American so far this year going into the meet.

Other Names To Watch

Sun Devils pro swimmer Jack Dolan could make some noise in the 100 back as well. Dolan was a semifinalist at Trials last summer, and he holds a career best of 54.04 from 2023. He’s been strong in the event so far this year, having clocked a season best of 54.73 at the Westmont Pro Swim Series back in March.

Cal’s Keaton Jones is one of the more interesting names to watch here. Jones only holds a career best of 54.31, but he’s much better in the 200 back, where he was an Olympian last summer.

Keaton Jones (photo: Jack Spitser)

Jones wound up as a DFS (declared false start) in the 100 back at Trials last summer, but he went on to finish 2nd in the 200 back with a 1:54.61. He went on to finish 5th in the 200 back in Paris.

While Jones’ career best in the 100 back isn’t fast enough to threaten a spot on the World Champs roster, his speed in the 200 back is enough to hold space for the possibility he has a breakthrough in the 100 at some point. Jones hasn’t competed since the Men’s NCAA Championships in March, but he had a successful college season, swimming a PB in the yards 200 back (1:38.29).

Daniel Diehl, who just concluded his freshman season at NC State, is the 4th fastest American in the 100 back so far in 2025, having clocked a season best of 54.25 at the Charlotte Open in mid-May. He wound up as a DFS in the 100 back at Trials last summer, much like Jones, however, Diehl has the speed to really make some noise in the event. He holds a career best of 53.07, which he swam at the U.S. Open back in December of 2022.

Mizzou’s Grant Bochenski was a semifinalist in the 100 back at Trials last summer. Bochenski wound up 12th in semis with a 54.23, which also marks his career best in the event. He competed at the Fort Lauderdale PSS, where he put up a 55.34.

We should also quickly mention the NCAA finalists in the 100 back this year. Indiana’s Owen McDonald was 6th in the yards 100 back at NCAAs in March, swimming a 44.16. He holds a career best of 54.51 in the LCM 100 back. Army’s Johnny Crush is another NCAA finalist who could take the leap LCM here. Crush went 44.52 in the yards 100 back this season, and he holds a career best of 54.95 in the LCM 100 back.

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