2025 World Championships Previews: Marchand Looking to Hold Off Urlando and Kharun in 200 Fly

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
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Men’s 200 Fly– By the Numbers

• World Record: 1:50.34- Kristof Milak, Hungary (2022)
• World Junior Record:1:53.79- Kristof Milak, Hungary (2017)
• World Championships Record: 1:50.34- Kristof Milak, Hungary (2022)
• 2023 World Champion: Leon Marchand (FRA)- 1:52.43
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Leon Marchand (FRA)- 1:51.21

Returning Olympic Finalists

• Gold Medal- Leon Marchand (FRA), Bronze Medal- Ilya Kharun (CAN), 4th- Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL), 6th- Martin Espernberger (AUT), 8th- Alberto Razzetti (ITA)

The men’s 200 butterfly field is loaded with stars, though the World Record holder is noticeably absent. Kristof Milak’s coach revealed in June that he would not be competing due to his lack of training and motivation during the beginning of the season.

There are still a host of athletes who are challenging for the title, and it seems like it will be an exciting race, even with Milak’s absence.

March{and} Madness

Leon Marchand is one of the best male swimmers in the world right now, leaving Paris last summer with four gold medals in four individual events. One of those events was the 200 fly, where he swam 1:51.21 to break the Olympic record and beat World Record holder Kristof Milak.

He hasn’t swam the event since the Olympics, but he is still coming in with a best time that is more than a second faster than anyone else in the field. He also hasn’t swam an exceptional number of meets since the Olympic Games, competing in the SC World Cup in the later half of 2024, and three meets in the United States so far this year (TYR Pro Series Fort Lauderdale, Longhorn Elite Invite, and the Indy Summer Cup).

Leon Marchand (photo: Jack Spitser)

The other factor that could affect his performance in the event is the 200 IM semifinal coming in the same session as the 200 fly final. The 200 butterfly is an event final, which is more important than a semifinal when it comes to allocating energy, but it could impact his performance.

The 200 fly will be his first final of the meet, but if he is wanting to repeat his four gold medal performance from Paris, he needs to be locked in because this will likely be his hardest event to win.

The NCAA Rematch

There are a lot of familiar names from the 2025 NCAA Championships in this 200 butterfly field, and four 200 fly finalists are in contention for the Worlds final/podium: Luca Urlando, Ilya Kharun, Martin Espernberger, and Krzysztof Chmielewski. In that race Urlando came out on top, Kharun finished 3rd, Espernberger was 5th, and Chmielewski was 6th.

Luca Urlando (photo: Jack Spitser)

Urlando, from the United States, has been having an astonishing season so far, swimming 1:52.37 at the Sacramento Pro Swim Series to go his first best time in the event in almost six years. His swim was also good enough to earn him the 4th fastest performer of all-time spot and place him as the 2nd seed in the event coming into Worlds. Any finals swim will be a huge improvement from his 17th place finish in Paris, but he will likely end up on the podium, and he could end up at the top.

Canada’s Kharun is the reigning Olympic bronze medalist, and he has also had some strong showings this season. At Canadian Trials in June, he won the 200 fly in 1:53.41. This is exactly a second faster than the 1:54.41 he swam at the 2024 Trials before swimming 1:52.80 in Paris. He will be the 3rd overall seed, and will be one of the title contenders.

Austria’s Espernberger was 6th in Paris, touching in 1:54.17 which is his best time. He has not been as fast this season, coming in at 21st in the world with the 1:55.71 he swam in May. He is seeded 7th, and he will need to be close to that Paris swim if he wants to qualify for the final.

Chmielewski, from Poland, also swam in the Olympic final, finishing just out of medal position in 4th overall, and he is coming into the meet as the 5th seed with the 1:53.90 he swam in Paris. He has been about three tenths faster than that, holding a personal best of 1:53.62 from the World Championships in 2023, and while that probably won’t be enough to end up on the podium, it is comfortably in the final.

Nation Doubles

There are a few countries that put two men in the top of the 200 butterfly rankings, and could realistically end up with two athletes in the final.

We already talked about Luca Urlando, and fellow American Carson Foster is seeded 4th in the event with the 1:53.70 he swam at Nationals last month. He has been a smidge faster, coming in at 1:53.67 at a Sectionals meet in 2022, but this is the closest he has been to that time since. Just like Marchand, Foster is entered in the 200 IM, where he is also the 4th seed. He will have the semifinal in the same session, which could affect his performance in the final, but it likely won’t affect his ability to get there.

Alberto Razzetti credit Giorgio Scala e Federica Muccichini / DBM

The 200 IM also affects one of the two Italian swimmers in the top-10, Alberto Razzetti. Razzetti is one of five Olympic finalists returning in the event, coming in as the 8th seed with the 1:54.51 he swam in the Olympic semifinal. He is seeded a little lower, at 12th, in the 200 IM, which makes the semifinal incredibly important for him if he is wanting to make the final.

He hasn’t been as fast this season as he was last year, coming in at 1:55.06 at the Italian Swimming Championships. This seems to be on par for him, though. Last June, he swam 1:56.60 in the finals at the Sette Colli Trophy before dropping to 1:54.51 a month later.

Razzetti is not Italy’s only chance in the event, however. They also have Federico Burdisso coming in as the 10th seed in 1:54.76. He swam that time at the Sette Colli Trophy at the end of June, but his best time comes in at 1:54.28 from the 2021 European Championships. He wasn’t too far off that time last month, and if he drops back into that 1:54-low range, he could end up in the final.

Poland takes the “nation double” idea to a new height with their butterfly twins Krzysztof and Michal Chmielewski. Michal Chmielewski will be looking for redemption in Singapore, after he finished 9th in the semifinals in Paris by two-hundredths. He will be the 9th seed with the 1:54.64 he swam in that semifinal but he is just over a tenth behind Razzetti, and he will not want to end up in that 9th spot for the 2nd year in a row.

Japan will have two athletes entered in the event, but for the first time since 2019, the event will not feature Olympian Tomoru Honda after he finished 7th in the 200 fly at Japanese Trials. Genki Terakado is their top seed in the event, coming in at 6th overall in 1:54.07 which he swam at last summer’s Japanese Olympic Trials. He has been 1:54.73 this year, which is also 6th in the world, and he will definitely be challenging for one of those finals swims. He will be joined by countryman So Ogata, who is seeded 15th with the 1:55.34 he swam at the Japan Open at the end of March. He will need to drop into the 1:54 range if he is going to qualify for the final.

Terakado was just 15th at last summer’s Olympic Games, adding more than two seconds from his Olympic Trials time, but the 22-year-old is on the upswing and has been more consistent in his results this year.

The Picks

Marchand has been more than a second faster than anyone in the field, and while he hasn’t swam the event yet this season, that doesn’t take away the speed he has shown time and time again.

Urlando and Kharun will be an exciting race, no matter what is happening around them, and no reasoning that we give for who we place in what position will make everyone happy. Urlando gets the edge for silver due to his best time this season coming in more than a second ahead of Kharun’s best this season, and his half-second edge over Kharun’s lifetime best.

Dark Horse: Harrison Turner (Australia)– Turner is coming into the meet as the 11th seed with the 10th fastest time in the world this year of 1:54.90. When he swam this time at Australian Trials in June, it was a lifetime best by more than two seconds from the 1:57.07 he swam at the 2024 Trials. This was a huge drop, and he would need to find a little more speed if he is wanting to make the final. If he is able to find it, he could end up in his first international final.