Texas’ Hubert Kos Rockets To 1:34.21 200 Back, Smashes NCAA Record By More Than Full Second

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)
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  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Another NCAA record has been broken at this year’s Men’s Division I Championships. Texas junior Hubert Kos touched the wall in 1:34.21 to win the men’s 200-yard backstroke, winning the NCAA title and shattering Destin Lasco‘s NCAA record of 1:35.37.

This is the second time that Kos has broken the NCAA record in this event. He snatched the record away from Ryan Murphy at last year’s Pac-12 Championships, clocking 1:35.69 to clip 0.04 from Murphy’s 2016 mark. California’s Lasco then overtook Kos and the record at NCAAs, with Kos settling for silver there in 1:35.90.

Kos’ record swim tonight was largely due to his front half, as he took the race out 1.25 seconds faster than Lasco’s previous record, then broke the mark by 1.16 seconds. This means he finished almost identically to Lasco’s previous record after taking it out significantly faster. Lasco finished a distant 2nd in tonight’s race, notching a respectable time of 1:36.41.

See a full splits comparison between Kos’ new record and Lasco’s old record below.

Splits Comparison:

With Kos’ victory in the 200 back, he has officially gone three for three in individual events at these championships. He won the 200 IM on night two, touching the wall in 1:37.91 to barely hold off defending champion Lasco, who finished with a time of 1:37.98. Then, yesterday, Kos battled SEC Champion Jonny Marshall of Florida in the 100 back, going stroke for stroke into the finish and claiming the win with a new NCAA record of 43.20.

This meet marks the culmination of a very successful year for Kos, who, after some off-swims at last year’s NCAAs, went on to win the Olympic gold medal in the 200 back. Then, this past December, he broke the 200 back championship record at the Short Course World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, previously held by Ryan Lochte. Kos swam a 1:45.65, breaking the old record of 1:46.68 set by Lochte in 2010. He also narrowly missed the world record of 1:45.63, set by Mitch Larkin at the 2015 Australian Championships.