arena Swim of the Week: Van Mathias Rips 56.72 100 Breast To Rank #4 All-Time In U.S.

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

The Indiana men made their presence known during the prelims of the men’s 100 breaststroke on the opening day of the 2025 World Cup in Carmel, as five former Hoosiers made the final, with Dutchman Caspar Corbeau leading the way and Van Mathias heading up a group of four American IU grads.

Mathias, who took two years away from competition after wrapping up his collegiate career in 2023, resurfaced this summer and ended up booking his ticket to the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships after a phenomenal swim in the 50 breast at the U.S. Summer Championships in August.

On Friday, racing in short course meters for the first time since he was 10 years old back in 2011, Mathias fired off a blistering time of 56.72 in the heats of the men’s 100 breast, qualifying him 2nd for the final behind Corbeau (56.26).

The swim moves Mathias into 4th on the all-time performers’ list among Americans, becoming just the sixth U.S. native to break 57 seconds in the event.

All-Time U.S. Performers, Men’s 100 Breaststroke (SCM)

1. Nic Fink, 55.88 – 2022
2. Ian Finnerty, 56.29 – 2019
3. Cody Miller, 56.43 – 2015
4. Van Mathias, 56.72 – 2025
5. Kevin Cordes, 56.86 – 2020
6. Andrew Wilson, 56.92 – 2018
7. Reece Whitley, 57.06 – 2022
8. Will Licon, 57.07 – 2020
9. Mike Alexandrov, 57.16 – 2010
10. Michael Andrew, 57.24 – 2018

Narrowly missing out on cracking the all-time U.S. top 10 in the prelims were Mathias’ Indiana training mates Finn Brooks (57.34), Josh Matheny (57.71) and Brian Benzing (57.90), who all set personal best times and cracked tonight’s final.

Split Comparison – Indiana ‘A’ Finalists

Benzing notably beat long course world record holder and former Olympic champion Adam Peaty head-to-head in Heat 4, and ended up being the only swimmer from the heat to crack the top eight, with Peaty ultimately placing 10th overall (58.27).

As for Mathias, despite having no experience racing in SCM in more than a decade, his success comes as no surprise after what he did in yards during his college career, having finished as the runner-up at the 2023 NCAA Championships in the 100 breast in a time of 50.60 after clocking a PB of 50.57 in the prelims–a time that currently ranks him 10th all-time among Americans.

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