Georgia’s Luca Urlando Demolishes Own 200 Fly NCAA Record (1:36.43) En Route To 1st NCAA Title

2025 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 26-29, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
• Psych Sheet
• Eligible Relays
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• Live Results
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  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

During the final session of the 2025 Men’s NCAA Championships, Georgia redshirt senior Luca Urlando broke the NCAA record in the 200-yard butterfly in the last individual event of the meet. He touched the wall in 1:36.43, lowering his previous mark of 1:37.17 to claim his first-ever NCAA title.

This is the second time Urlando has broken the record this season, with the first coming during the Georgia vs. Tennessee dual meet in January. There, he claimed the oldest men’s all-time yards record from Texas’ Jack Conger, who put a time of 1:37.35 on the books in 2017.

After tonight’s swim, Urlando now holds four of the five fastest performances of all time in the 200-yard fly. He also further separated himself from the next fastest swimmer ever, increasing his gap from 0.18 to 0.92.

The majority of Urlando’s time drop tonight stemmed from his first 150 yards, as he out-split his record pace by significant margins on all of those 50 splits. He closed 0.63 seconds slower than his previous record on the final 50, but he was 1.37 seconds under pace through the 150, so it ultimately did not matter.

See a full splits comparison below between Urlando’s record swim tonight and his other performances from the top five.

Splits Comparison:

Top 5 All-Time Performers:

1. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 2025 – 1:36.43
2. Jack Conger (Texas), 2017 – 1:37.35
3. Nick Albiero (Louisville), 2022 – 1:37.92
4. Ilya Kharun (Arizona State), 2024 – 1:37.93
5. Joe Schooling (Texas), 2016 – 1:37.97

Top 5 All-Time Performances:

1. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 2025 — 1:36.43
2. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 2025 — 1:37.17
3. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 2025 – 1:37.18
4. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 2025 & Jack Conger (Texas), 2017 — 1:37.35
5. N/A

Prior to tonight’s swim, Urlando’s highest ever finish at the NCAA Championships was 2nd place, and that came in the 100 fly in 2022. Earlier this week, he was 9th in the 200 IM (1:40.53) and 3rd in the 100 fly (43.49). His 100 fly was a lifetime best, while he was a bit off his 1:39.22 personal marker in the 200 IM.

Urlando came into the season with a best of 1:38.82 in the 200 fly, from the 2022 NCAAs. There was a time about five years ago when it seemed like Urlando would become the next big U.S. swimmer in the 200 fly, as he broke several National Age Group records in both the yards and LCM versions of the event between 2018 and 2020.

He’s struggled with serious shoulder issues over the past few years but seems to have regained his form in a big way. He made the U.S. Olympic team in this event last year, finishing 17th in prelims in Paris. He hasn’t set a long course personal best in the event since 2019, but surely that’ll be in his sights this summer.

Urlando is slated to compete at the Pro Swim Series in Sacramento next week, where he is entered in nine events: the 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly, 50 back, and 200 IM.