Luca Urlando Wins First World Title, Joins Sub-1:52 Club With 1:51.87 200 Fly

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• How To Watch
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Luca Urlando came through under pressure to deliver the first world title of his career and the first gold medal for the American men at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore.

Urlando dominated the men’s 200 butterfly final from start to finish, clocking a time of 1:51.87 to become just the fourth swimmer in history to break the 1:52 barrier. His performance brings him closer to Michael Phelps’ American Record of 1:51.51—and notably, he is now faster than Phelps ever was in a textile suit (1:52.09). Urlando is also the first American to win a world title in the 200 fly since Michael Phelps won it in 2011.

Urlando remains the fourth-fastest performer in history, having set his previous best time of 1:52.37 at the Sacramento Pro Swim in April. There, he smashed his personal best, bringing his 2019 PB of 1:53.84.

Top 10 Performers In History:

1. Kristof Milak (HUN), 1:50.34
2. Leon Marchand (FRA), 1:51.21
3. Michael Phelps (USA), 1:51.51
4. Luca Urlando (USA), 1:51.87
5. Daiya Seto (JPN), 1:52.53
6. Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL), 1:52.64
7. Tomoru Honda (JPN) / Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 1:52.70
8. N/A
9. Ilya Kharun (CAN), 1:52.80
10. Chad le Clos (RSA), 1:52.96

When comparing Urlando’s splits to his previous best time, he was out four tenths quicker at the halfway mark before almost matching his final two 50 splits to the hundredth. His penultimate 50 and final 50 were both five hundredths quicker than his previous time, allowing him to chop his previous best by exactly half a second.

Splits Comparison:

Krzysztof Chmielewski re-lowered his Polish Record from the prelims in 1:52.64 to win the silver medal, matching his placement from the 2023 Worlds in Fukuoka. Australian Harrison Turner used an aggressive middle 100 to hold on for the bronze medal in 1:54.17, a new National Record, as he became the country’s first-ever medalist in the event.

On the race, Urlando said, “It was a great race, just embracing the moment, trying to have as much fun as I can with it too.”

Reflecting on winning his first world title, he added, “Oh, it’s huge. Winning a world championship was my goal from the beginning of the season. To be able to actually do it is a whole another thing and doing it in best time fashion… I truly can’t put it into words.”

“I hope to just build off more experiences like this. It’s a huge stepping stone for 2028. I have some new goals going forward, going to work through them with my coach and see how much I can get better at the little things. Just continue with that,” he added.

It was a slow build for the University of Georgia star in his return to top form after three shoulder dislocations led to surgery at the end of 2022, but Urlando is finally firing on all cylinders. After missing the 2022-23 NCAA season with injury and then redshirting the 2023-24 campaign, he qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 fly last summer, a redemption swim of sorts after he placed 3rd at the 2021 Trials and missed a spot at the Tokyo Games by nine one-hundredths of a second. At the 2022 World Championships, he finished 5th in 1:54.92.

On getting here after battling injuries over the years, Urlando reflected, “The belief that I can get back to a moment like this after all that adversity. Just internal belief.”

On the long journey back to the top, Urlando added, “It has felt like a six-year process to get back to this moment, a lot of doubt, a lot of really hard times, a lot of things people don’t see on an everyday basis. I kind of told myself post-surgery if I could get through those next few months then nothing could really stop me. Obviously, getting to do it on a world stage like this is just amazing.”

At the aforementioned 2024 Trials, Urlando clocked 1:54.64 in the semis, his fastest swim in two years, before touching 2nd in 1:55.08 in the final. In Paris, he failed to earn a second swim, finishing 17th in 1:56.18.

Since then, however, he’s been on fire. Returning to Athens for his first full NCAA season since 2021-22, Urlando reeled off the four fastest swims in history in the 200 fly in a two-month span from January to March, culminating with his American Record of 1:36.43 in the NCAA final. He won the U.S. Nationals last month in 1:53.42, building on the momentum from his breakthrough swim in Sacramento.