Ilya Kharun Is the Only Swimmer in History to Go Sub-15 in the Mile, Sub-19 in the 50 Free

2024 MEN’S PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, March 6 – Saturday, March 9
• Location: Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, WA
• Defending champions: Arizona State (1x)
• Live Results
• Live Video (Pac-12 Network)
• Championship Central
• Fan Guide Preview
• Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap

The 2024 Arizona State Sun Devils are a special team. They have maybe the deepest sprint group in the country (h/t Tennessee, Florida, and Cal), they have one of the best IM groups that has ever existed (after Thursday, they have the #1, #6, and #9 performers in history in the 200 IM), and they have one of the deepest distance groups in the country as well (h/t NC State and Florida).

It’s rare for a team to be as other-worldly deep in both the sprints and, at the other end of the spectrum, the IM/distance races. The Stanford women at a point had Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky, two of the best ever, but they didn’t have this depth. Florida has alternated between crazy sprint groups and crazy distance groups, but they’ve never really overlapped quite right.

But even among those almosts, Arizona State has something truly unique in swimming history: they have one guy who can do both at an elite level.

Ilya Kharun finished 2nd on Thursday at the Pac-12 Championships in the 50 free in 18.84, just-off his 18.82 from prelims.

He also has a best time of 14:56.56 in the mile from last February when he was still in high school.

He is the only swimmer in history who has been sub-15 in the mile and sub-19 in the 50 free – and he’s only a freshman and 19-years old.

Kharun came from the Sandpipers of Nevada program in Las Vegas, a program that breeds versatility, especially in races 200 yards-and-longer. But as we’ve seen from swimmers like Bella Sims, they aren’t just distance swimmers.

When we think about other rangy freestylers, a few names come to mind. Matias Koski, a former Georgia Bulldog and Finnish Olympian, is one we often call on. He was 14:32.38 in the mile, but only 19.62 in the 50 free (his 42.56 in the 100 free was pretty impressive). Former USC Trojan Cristian Quintero was 14:58.50 in the mile and 19.65 in the 50 free. Jake Magahey has been 14:24 in the mile and 19.95 in the 50 free.

Beyond that, it’s hard to find many sub-15 milers who have been under 20 seconds in the 50 free, let alone 19.

The limiting factor here by far is the 50 free. Luka Mijatovic, afterall, went 14:45 in the mile earlier this year and he’s only 14. Casey Converse was the first sub-15 minute miler all the way back in 1977, while it took until Fred Bousquet in 2005 to break 19 seconds in the 50 free.

But the two body-types, the two techniques, the two approaches to racing and training just don’t feel compatible in modern racing.

Of course there are no awards given for this kind of range, at least not after swimmers age out of USA Swimming’s IMX program, but there’s a unique level of talent there – not to mention that neither specialty is even his best (he’s 44.33 in the 100 fly and 1:37.93 in the 200 fly).

While we’re all busy watching Kharun’s teammate Leon Marchand, another rare talent, another unfathomably versatile swimmer (he broke the NCAA Record in the 500 free on Thursday while declining to swim the 200 IM – where he also has the NCAA Record), Kharun is doing something really special in his own right.

They’ve got their head coach Bob Bowman who has had more success in the IM races than any coach to ever exist. They have Herbie Behm, who I think at this point is pretty-accepted as the country’s best young sprint coach.

This Arizona State team is starting to feel a bit like the Virginia women. A program that seems to be able to get their stars to do just about anything, and can build around them with a big cast of supporting sprinters and specialists. It’s a roster where you start looking through the NCAA rankings and find yourself saying “oh yeah, they’ve got that guy too, and that guy, and that guy. I forgot about that Owen McDonald. Oh and what about David Schlicht? Alex Colson is evolving before our eyes.” The list gets deep real quick.

It feels like an NCAA Championship team.

While we still don’t really know where Cal is at this season, and the two-time defending champions certainly aren’t going away, after two days of racing at the Pac-12 Championships, this Sun Devil team is starting to feel like a team of destiny.