Hubert Kos and Luca Urlando Lead Men’s Swimmers With New NCAA Schedule Conflict

Yesterday we looked at women’s swimmers who were impacted by the new NCAA Championship order. Today we are talking about the men’s swimmers with event conflicts, and there are a few big names like Hubert Kos and Luca Urlando.

There were fewer men’s swimmers total who are returning and will see impacts on their lineup, but the same patterns emerged that we saw with the women’s swimmers yesterday.

The biggest conflict is the 200 IM and 200 fly/back change that will force swimmers to decide on the final day of the meet. On the other hand, there are a few swimmers who swam the 100 fly and 100 back double last season who will have an easier time this year.

Order of Events (Finals)

NCAA Champions Hubert Kos and Luca Urlando both run into the popular conflict of the 200 IM.

Kos is the reigning NCAA Champion in both the 200 backstroke and 200 IM events, but he will probably not be defending his title in both events. The new schedule puts both events on the final day of the meet, and, while he could try to do both, he will likely drop one of them and choose a day two event (100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast) instead since he will swim the 100 back on day three.

The 100 fly seems like the most probable event, with his best time of 44.05 qualifying him comfortably for the ‘A’ final at last year’s Championships where he would have finished 7th overall.

Urlando, who is entering his final season with the Bulldogs, was the NCAA Champion in the 200 fly last year, also won the ‘B’ final in the 200 IM on the 2nd day of the meet. He will probably drop the 200 IM and choose one of the day three events (100 back, 200 breast, 500 free, 50 free) to pair with the 100 fly on day two

There are a number of events he can replace the 200 IM with, but the 100 backstroke seems most likely. His best time in the event comes from the 2022 NCAA Championships, where he led off the medley relay in 43.35, which would have been 3rd at last year’s NCAAs. Urlando has not swum a lot of 100 backstroke races since, swimming one in October of 2022 and one last December, but he has the speed to be a potential ‘A’ finalist.

The new NCAA format giveth and taketh away from Florida junior Scotty Buff. Last season, he swam the 100 fly and 100 back double on day three of the meet and the 50 freestyle on day two. The good news for him is that this year the 100 fly and 100 back will be on different days, but he will face a different conflict with the 50 free and 100 back on day three.

He could try to do both since they are on opposite ends of the session, and we have seen that he isn’t afraid to race a double. He could also choose one of the day four events (200 IM, 100 free, 200 fly, 200 back).

There are a few other swimmers who benefit from the 100 fly and 100 back shift including Florida State’s Michel Arkhangelskiy (100 fly- 14th, 100 back- 16th), and Texas’ Kyle Peck (100 fly- 25th, 100 back – 23rd).

Here are all the male athletes who have event conflicts with the new NCAA order:

**Note: This list only includes athletes who were invited in both events and are returning this season.