One of the most surprising performers at last week’s U.S. Summer Championships in Irvine, Van Mathias came out of nowhere to all but lock in his spot on the American roster for the Pan Pacific Championships next year.
Mathias, 24, took nearly two years away from competing, finishing up his college career at Indiana in March of 2023 and then returning to competition 27 months later at the Indy Cup this past June, qualifying him for the Summer Championships in August.
He then set a personal best time of 27.54 in the 50 breast at the Indiana Senior State Championships in July, and also split 26.79 on a medley relay, making him someone to watch heading into the Summer Championships.
During the first session of the meet in Irvine, Mathias fired off a time of 26.87 in the prelims of the 50 breast to make him the fastest American this year and the fifth-fastest of all-time.
He went even faster in the final, clocking 26.76 to shoot up into a tie for #3 all-time among Americans, matching Olympic gold medalist Kevin Cordes.
All-Time U.S. Performers, Men’s 50 Breaststroke (LCM)
- Nic Fink, 26.45 – 2022
- Michael Andrew, 26.52 – 2022
- Kevin Cordes / Van Mathias, 26.76 – 2015 / 2025
- –
- Mark Gangloff, 26.86 – 2009
Mathias won the event by a massive margin of nearly eight-tenths, with Russian Evgenii Somov the distant runner-up in 27.55.
RACE VIDEO
Courtesy of USA Swimming on YouTube
The swim also ranks Mathias 13th in the world this season, and is just nine one-hundredths slower than what was required to win bronze at the 2025 World Championships (26.67).
2024-2025 LCM Men 50 Breast
VIBERTI
26.27
| 2 | Ilya SHYMANOVICH | BLR | 26.37 | 04/20 |
| 3 | Simone CERASUOLO | ITA | 26.42 | 07/29 |
| 4 | Ivan Kozhakin | RUS | 26.49 | 04/17 |
| 5 | Qin Haiyang | CHN | 26.52 | 07/29 |
| 6 | Kirill PRIGODA | RUS | 26.62 | 07/30 |
| 7 | Taku Taniguchi | JPN | 26.65 | 07/29 |
| 8 | Samuel Williamson | AUS | 26.66 | 02/14 |
| 9 | Koen de Groot | NED | 26.71 | 07/29 |
| 10 | Luka Mladenovic | AUT | 26.72 | 06/26 |
| 11 | Melvin IMOUDU | GER | 26.74 | 07/29 |
| 12 | Chris Smith | RSA | 26.75 | 07/30 |
| 13 | Van Mathias | USA | 26.76 | 08/05 |
By becoming the fastest American in the 50 breast across the qualifying events that have taken place thus far (U.S. Nationals, World University Games, World Championships and U.S. Summer Championships), Mathias is in position to be named to the 2026 U.S. Pan Pacific Championship team. The roster will be officially named after the World Junior Championships next week.
Mathias also set a personal best time of 59.74 in the 100 breast in Irvine, placing 2nd to Indiana teammate Alexei Avakov.
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