Georgia’s Luca Urlando Opts for 100 Fly, 200 Fly, 100 Back Lineup for NCAA Championships

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Texas (1x)
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• Pre-Cut Psych Sheets
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Reigning 200 butterfly NCAA Champion Luca Urlando has opted for an NCAA Championships event lineup of the 100 fly, 200 fly, and 100 backstroke. This decision differs slightly from what he swam at the SEC Championships in February, when he opted to race the 200 IM rather than the 100 back.

Urlando’s Individual Entries:

• 100 Butterfly: #4 Seed, 43.87
• 100 Backstroke: tied #20 seed, 44.79
• 200 Butterfly: #1 Seed, 1:36.41

Urlando choosing the 200 fly does not come as any sort of surprise, as he holds the top five fastest performances ever in the event (tied with Jack Conger in 5th at 1:37.35), notably winning this event last season in 1:36.43, which at the time was the fastest time ever, later besting that in November at the Georgia Fall Invitational where he lowered that time by two hundredths to 1:36.41. He sits well in front of the field, holding more than a second advantage over Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun (1:37.56).

The 100 fly is also an event that felt like a shoo-in for Urlando. After finishing 3rd at SECs (44.16), he enters these championships as the #4 seed behind Josh Liendo (43.06), Kharun (43.38), and Michigan’s Tyler Ray (43.83). This season, Urlando has been as fast as 43,87 from the Georgia Fall Invitational, but also holds a lifetime best of 43.49 from last season’s NCAA Championships, where he finished 3rd, just six hundredths back of Kharun.

Urlando has opted to swim the 200 IM at previous NCAA Championships; last season, he finished 9th in the 200 IM in 1:40.53, nearly a second slower than his 2022 NCAA Championships performance of 1:39.22. He did not race either the 100 back nor the 200 IM in 2021, choosing to only race the two butterfly races.

None of this is to say that the 100 back is not an event he can’t be a threat in. Urlando has been the opening leg on a pair NCAA 400 medley relays for the Bulldogs, including a 2021 leg of 44.99 and a 43.35 2022 leg that, at the time, was an NCAA and American Record, and still ranks him as the 4th fastest performer in history.

This season, Urlando has only raced the 100 back individually at two different meets, dipping under 45 in each performance.

He enters these championships in a three-way tie for the #20 seed in the 100 back at 44.79, while his 200 IM season best of 1:42.29 from the SEC Championships slots him in as the 23rd fastest in the NCAA this season, and #21 on the psych sheet.