Chris Guiliano is an American sprint freestyler. In college at Notre Dame, he is an ACC champion and NCAA Championship Finalist. In 2023, Guiliano stunned the world as he earned an individual spot on the American World Championship team. He backed that up the next year when he qualified for the 2024 Olympics.
High School/Junior Swimming
In 2020, Guiliano won the 200 free at the 2020 Pennsylvania High School 3A State Championships with a 1:35.81. That was a huge drop for Guiliano, who had never broken 1:39 before. His big improvement in the 200 as well as dropping to 44.29 in the 100 free and 20.27 in the 50 free earned Guiliano the #17 ren in SwimSwams class of 2021 Junior Year Re-rank. He announced his verbal commitment to Notre Dame’s class of 2025 in May 2020.
Guilano put up an impressive 22.93/50.54/1:55.95 50/100/200 LCM free at the Richmond site of the 2020 U.S. Open. He dropped his 50 free down to 20.15 at the 2020 Pennsylvania Winter 18 & Under Championships. At his high school conference championships, Guiliano dipped under 44 seconds in his 100 free for the first time with a 43.91. At the 2021 Pennsylvania 3A Championbsips, he dropped further to a 43.40 50 free and posted a solid 1:36.53 200 free.
At the ISCA International Senior Cup, which had SCY prelims and LCM finals, Guiliano posted solid times. He was 20.20 (SCY)/23.10 (LCM) in the 50 free and 43.72/50.72 in the 100 free.
At the 1st wave of the 2020(1) Olympic Team Trials, Guiliano placed 4th with as 22.65 in the 50 free. He also did a personal best of 50.53 in a 100 free time trial.
College (Notre Dame)
2021-22
Guiliano was pretty quiet for the first bit of his first college season but came alive at the Ohio State Invite. In the 50 free he dropped from 20.17 to 19.62 in his 50 free. He also dropped from 43.40 to 42.99 in the 100 free. In the 200 free he was 1:35.95. Guiliano also created some major value on relays. He led off the 200 free relay in 19.65, led of the 400 free relay in 42.84, anchored the 800 free relay in 1:35.84, anchored the 200 medley relay in 19.04, and anchored the 400 medley relay in 42.50.
At the Tim Welsh Classic, Guiliano broke the Notre Dame pool record with a 19.60 leading off the 200 free relay; it was also a best time.
At ACC Championships, Guiliano just kept dropping. He was 19.28 in the 50 free prelims, 19.35 in the finals, and 19.17 leading off the 200 free relay. He also anchored the 200 medley relay in 18.45. He was 42.82 in 100 free prelims, 42.0 in the finals, and 42.34 in leading off the 400 free relay. He also anchored the 400 medley relay with a 41.55. His individual times netted him 11th in the prelims and finals of both events.
Guiliano wrapped up his 1st season at the NCAA championships as one of three individual qualifiers from ND. While he was off his bests in the 50 and 100 free with times of 19.25 and 42.55 respectively, Guiliano had a big best time in the 200 free with a 1:34.03. He wasn’t able to score in any of his events but he did play a big role on all three of Notre Dame’s relays. He anchored the 18th place 200 medley relay in 18.62, led the 20th place 200 free relay in 19.44, and anchored the 21st place 400 medley relay in 41.61.
2022-23
Guilano kept his head somewhat low until mid-season invites where he scored a 19.30 in the 50 free, a 42.50 in the 100 free, and a 1:35.37 in the 200 free a the Ohio State Invite. At the Tim Welsh Classic, Guiliano only swam relays but still posted a 42.32 in the 100 free: a new best time. He also had great relay splits: 18.68/41.90/1:34.16 in the 50/100/200 free.
Guilano broke through in a big way at the 2023 ACC Championships. On night one, Notre Dame took 5th in 1:24.36, with Guiliano anchoring in 18.41, the fastest in the field. He then turned around and posted a new personal best of 1:33.43 leading NDU’s 4th place 800 free relay. The next morning, he put up a best time of 19.07 in the 50 free. While Guiliano dropped from 2nd in prelims to 3rd in finals with an 18.93, this was only after he broke the crucial 19-second barrier with an 18.95 leadoff on the 6th place 200 free relay.
Guiliano made some more noise in the 200 free. He was 6th with a 1:33.85 in prelims. All the top 8 swimmers were 1:33. In the finals, Guiliano led at the 50 but was overtaken by GT’s Baturalp Unlu by the 100. He was able to hold on a little better than Unlu down the stretch as he held off a charge from Bartosz Piszczorowicz. Despite there being 3 former ACC 200 free Champions in the heat, Guiliano took the win with 1:32.43 the swim was a massive best.
Coming off his 200 free, Guiliano went a best time of 41.94 in the 100 free prelims for lane 5 in the finals. In the finals, he fell to 3rd but dropped .09 seconds to go 41.85. He also led off the 400 free relay in 41.99.
Notre Dame time trialed a 200 free relay and Guiliano led off in 18.88.
With his name made, Guiliano headed to NCAA Championships. Guiliano pulled off a strong double. He anchored the NDU’s 200 medley relay in 18.28, stopping the clock at 1:23.35 to earn 17th. Then, he led off the 800 free relay in 1:32.08. That’s a lifetime best for him. The next day in the 50 free, Guiliano found himself out of the 50 free final by a mere .13 seconds. His 19.17 was good for 23rd. He bounced back that night, leading off the 22nd place NDU 200 free relay with a 19.02.
In the 200 free, was out of the A final by just .08 seconds. His 1:32.36 earned him the 10th seed in the finals. There, he placed 9th with a 1:32.31. In the 100 free, Guiliano was again out of the A final, this time by .14 seconds. The swim of 41.48 was still the best time for him. In the final, he added a hair and placed 10th with a 41.64 behind Gui Caribe’s 41.54.
He wrapped his meet leading of the Fighting Irish’s 18th place 400 free free relay in 41.71. Thanks to Guiliano and his teammates, Notre Dame finished 18th, the highest finish in program history.
2023-24
Guiliano won the 50 (19.64) and 100 freestyle (42.86) to lead the Irish men to a decisive 177-123 victory over Purdue. He also clocked a notable 18.86 50 free split. Guiliano really lit things up against Pitt and Penn State. He swept the 50/100/200 free with season bests of 19.35/42.16/1:33.75. While those were excellent, Giuliano really shined on relays. Anchoring the 200 medley relay, Guliano split an 18.58. He later lead off in the 400 free relay with a sizzling 41.63. He also had a 41.00 100 free split in the 400 medley relay.
After those strong dual meet times, Guiliano popped several major times at the Ohio State Invite, which featured LCM prelims and SCY finals. In his first event, the 50 free, Guiliano moved through prelims as the top seed with a 22.25. He opened the finals session with an 18.59 50 free split before dropping a PB of 18.84 in the individual event. He finished the night off with a 41.43 anchor in the 200 medley relay.
Day 2 saw Guiliano clock a 1:48.97 200 free in prelims, a PB and an Olympic Trials cut. Guiliano started off finals well that night with a super speedy 18.24 50 free split, the 2nd fastest seen to that point in the season. In the 200 free final, Guiliano dropped a 1:32.14. That mark checked in just 0.06 shy of his best time of 1:32.08. Guiliano swam this race much differently than he did at in in his PB, as he showcased much better closing speed. He had another good 200 free (1:32.26) leading off in the 800 free relay at the end of the session.
Guiliano’s last event, the 100 free would prove his best. In prelims, he blasted a 47.98 to win heat 6, matching his personal best time from the World Championship Trials. He followed that up with a SCY PB of 41.30 in the final. He lowered that further to a 41.23 leading off in the 400 free relay.
Guliano kept swimming fast 100 frees throughout the rest of the season. Against Princeton and Navy, Guliano was 41.84 with a 41.95 relay leadoff, and at the Tim Welsh Classic, Guiliano was 41.77.
At ACC Championsips, Guiliano really caught fire, sweeping the 50/100/200 free, all in PBs while clocking excellent relay swims. On night one, Guiliano put Notre Dame in the lead early in the 800 free relay with a 1:31.16 leadoff that tied the ACC 200 free record owned by Luke Miller of NC State. That was a nearly 1 second PB.
The next day, Guiliano set another ACC meet record in prelims. Clocking a 18.57, he lowered the t record of 18.68 set by Ryan Held in 2017 while narrowly missing Held’s conference mark of 18.56 set in the same year at NCAAs. That was also a .23 second drop. While he was not quite as spectacular in finals, Guiliano still had 2 excellent 50s. Leading off in the 200 free relay, Guilano was 18.63. In the individual event, he was 18.70 to capture the Fighting Irish’s first ACC title in the 50 free.
Guilano eased through the 200 free prelims the next day with a 1:32.91 before matching his ACC record of 1:31.16 to win in the finals. However, it wasn’t clear from the get-go that Guiliano would win his second-straight title. Virginia Tech freshman Brendan Whitfield threw down some outside early smoke, hitting the halfway mark at 43.83. He held on to the lead until the final lap, where Guiliano outsplit him 22.98 to 24.58.
Day 4 saw Guiliano just swim the 400 mrelsy relay but he made the most out of his one swim, clocking a sizzling 40.17 anchor, over a second under his flat start PB. He reset that PB the next morning with another prelim ACC meet record. Guiliano also posted a new overall ACC record in the 100 free. He stopped the clock in 40.84 to win the final heat, representing the first swimmer in the ACC to dip under 41 seconds. He opened in a strong 19.51 before closing in 21.33.
Guiliano went on to claim victory in the final, throwing down a 40.62. Though he swim was only 0.22 seconds faster, that 0.22 seconds represented quite a bit. Of course, he reset the ACC record in the event. On top of that, Guiliano’s swim was the 6th-fastest 100 free in history. He’s jumped Bjorn Seeliger, Vlad Morozov, Dean Farris, Bowe Becker, and Brooks Curry on the all-time top performers list to become 3rd all-time, behind only Caeleb Dressel (39.90) and Josh Liendo (40.28).
NCAAs started off well for Guiliano. Leading off in the 800 free relay, he clocked a big new PB of 1:30.36, the 4th fastest leadoff in the field. He continued to roll the next morning with an 18.43 50 free PB that set him up in lane 5 for the final. There, he added .06 seconds and fell to 4th with a 18.49. Guiliano found a little bit of redemption at the end of the night in the 200 free relay. On the second leg for Notre Dame, he crushed a 17.94 split, tying him for the 3rd-fastest ever in a relay split.
Guiliano had a solid morning swim in the 200 free, clocking a 1:30.86 for 5th. Interestingly, every single swimmer in the “A” final that night was a junior. In that final, Guiliano nearly matched his PB, swimming a 1:30.38 for 3rd. Guiliano was 3rd throughout at every split of the race. He was 40.43 anchoring in the 400 medley relay in the same session.
As the top seed in what is probably his best event, Guiliano was a little off in prelims, placing 3rd with a 40.77. He was actually better in the final, swimming a 40.66 but fell all the way to 5th, just .11 seconds back of runner-up Gui Caribe. He was a little off with a 40.93 leading off in the 400 free relay. Overall. Guiliano’s contributions helped Notre Dame to a program-high 10th-place finish.
National/International Competition
2022 Summer National Championships (Irvine, California)
Guiliano improved in all three of his events. He went 22.62 in the 50 free prelims and placed 15th in finals with a 22.70. In the 100 free he went 50.28. He dropped over 3 seconds to go 1:52.46 in the 200 free.
2022 U.S. Open Championships (Greensboro, North Carolina)
Guiliano continued to make strides in the long pool. He dropped nearly 2 seconds in his 200 free with a 1:50.78 for 15th. He fell to a 22.46 in the 50 free, good enough for 9th, but his highlight of the meet came in the 100 free where he swam a 49.17 personal best for 4th.
2023 Indy Spring Cup (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Guiliano returned to the long pool for the first time since his SCY breakout. He put up a new best time of 22.44 in the 50 free as well as a solid 49.25 in the 100 free. Guiliano was announced as part of the U.S. Contingent heading to World University games alongside teammates Jack Hoagland and Tommy Janton.
2023 International Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Heading into trials, Guiliano was a relative unknown in the swimming world. Guiliano dropped a second off his personal best to sneak into the A final of the 100 free with a 48.17. While this raised some eyebrows, what Guiliano did next surprised everyone: Guiliano placed 2nd in the 100 free final. His 47.98 shocked many as not only did he drop from a 49.17 to a sub 48 second 100 free in a day, but he also qualified for both an individual and relay berth at the World Championships from the 22nd seed.
Just as he had in the 100, Guiliano dropped significantly in the 50 free. He was the 22nd seed with a 22.44, shaved off .36 to go 22.08 for 6th in prelims, and dropped a further .12 seconds with a 21.96 for 7th. Guiliano also went 1:49.59 in the 200 free. Guiliano dropped WUGs from his summer schedule after his qualification became apparent.
2024 US Olympic Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Reminiscent of his 2023 International Team Trials, nobody expected Guiliano to qualify for an Olympic team in the 200 free on a relay, let alone Individually. With a PB of 1:48.75 coming in, Guiliano dropped 1.7 seconds in prelims with a 1:47.05. He took the race out quickly, flipping in 51.16 at the 100, the fastest split of prelims. He continued to lean on his front-end speed in semis, clocking a 1:46.83 to just make it back in 7th. In the final, Guiliano went out hard, flipping in 24.10 to lead at the 50. Drew Kibler surged over the 2nd 50 but Guiliano was 2nd with a 50.77. Luke Hobson surged past him and Kibler over the 3rd 50 but after his fast front-half. He surprised down the stretch, refusing to settle for a relay spot, he pulled a 27.15 split to overtake Kibler and touch 2nd in 1:45.38, a 1.45-second drop.
After his amazing 200 free performance, there were few people who did not expect Guiliano to add the 400 free relay to his line-up, the question was whether or not he would make the 100 free individually. Things started off well for Guilano in that regard. In prelims, he hit a new PB of 47.25 to become #3 in American history. He was off that with a 47.65 in semis for the 2nd seed after Jack Alexy reset the US Open record with a 47.08. In the final, It was a showdown between Alexy, Dessel, and Guilano. Alexy and Guilano were tied at the 50, splitting 22.51, with Dressel .19 seconds back. Dressel out split both of them coming home but not by enough to pass them. Alexy came to the wall first (47.38) and Alexy out-touched Dressel by .06 second with a 47.47.
Guilano continued his magical meet in the 50 free. Coming in with a PB of 21.96, he reset that mark in prelims with a 21.83. He destroyed that mark in semis with a 21.59. In the final, he became the first man since Matt Biondi in 1988 to qualify for the 50/100/200 free, taking 2nd behind Dressel with a 21.69, just .01 seconds ahead of Matt King.
–This biography was originally developed by Lucas Caswell
