SwimSwam Eddie Reese Showdown Delivers Blistering Swims; Urlando Resets NCAA Record In 200 Fly

Walsh Sisters Light Up Eddie Reese Showdown: Four of the top programs in the NCAA converged in Austin over the weekend for the three-session Eddie Reese Showdown, and the meet lived up to the hype with several standout performances.

Also: Luca Urlando swims the fastest 200 fly in history during Georgia's dual with Tennessee, Adam Peaty finds a new training home and USA Swimming releases its selection criteria for the 2025 World Championships.

Virginia Women Take Over At Eddie Reese Showdown

Amidst a bevy of star power, the University of Virginia women stole the show at the Eddie Reese Showdown.

With the reigning men's NCAA champions in ASU, the men's NCAA favorites this year in Texas, and the perennial contender NC State Wolfpack all on deck in Austin, it was the Cavalier women who were the top performers in front of an electric crowd at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The biggest swim of the meet arguably came in the women's 400 medley relay, where UVA's Claire Curzan (50.05), Alex Walsh (56.67), Gretchen Walsh (47.15) and Anna Moesch (47.61) combined for a time of 3:21.48, breaking the American Record of 3:22.34 set by Virginia in 2022, with Walsh's fly split the fastest in history.

The time was within a half-second of the U.S. Open and NCAA Record, which the Walsh sisters (with Gretchen on back and Alex on fly), Jasmine Nocentini and Maxine Parker set at the 2024 NCAA Championships in 3:21.01.

In the first race of the meet, the same quartet of swimmers fell just one-tenth shy of the all-time record in the 200 medley relay, with Curzan (23.11), A. Walsh (25.89), G. Walsh (21.07) and Moesch (21.54) clocking 1:31.61, just short of the 1:31.51 record set by the UVA squad at the 2023 NCAAs (G. Walsh, A. Walsh, Lexie Cuomo, Kate Douglass).

The Virginia women also posted the fastest time in the nation this season in the 200 free relay, with Curzan leading off in 21.32, the #2 time in the country this season in the 50 free, and then she was followed by G. Walsh (20.09), A. Walsh (21.49) and Moesch (21.39). That swim overtakes their 1:24.68 clocking from the Tennessee Invite for the spot in the 2024-25 rankings.

Individually, G. Walsh was on fire, swimming the fastest time ever in-season (and #6 of all-time) in the 100 free, clocking 45.68 to rank 1st in the NCAA by almost a full second.

She also produced the third-fastest swim ever in the 100 fly, 47.48, which makes her the fastest swimmer this season by 1.76 seconds, with Olympic champion Torri Huske (49.24) a distant #2.

Walsh's third individual win of the meet came in the 50 free, where her 20.74 clocking fell two-tenths shy of her season-best and nation-leading 20.54 from November.

A. Walsh had one of the top swims of the meet in the women's 100 breast, putting up a time of 56.98 which marks the fastest ever at an in-season meet and ranks her #9 all-time.

The fifth-year senior added a win and nation-leading time in the 200 IM (1:51.80), and was the runner-up to Emma Sticklen (1:49.87) in the 200 fly (1:52.11) to rank #2 in the nation.

Sticklen was slightly quicker, 1:49.54, at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite.

Other Top-Five Times In The NCAA Produced (Women):

• Trailing A. Walsh in the 100 breast, Texas freshman Piper Enge swam a lifetime best of 57.69 to rank #3 in the country, while Virginia's Emma Weber went a PB of her own in 58.18 to rank 6th.
• Weber also set a new best time in winning the 200 breast, touching in 2:06.97 to rank 4th in the NCAA.
• Trailing G. Walsh in the 100 fly, Sticklen clocked 49.55 to rank 4th in the country, while Texas' Abby Arens (from the 'B' final) went a season-best of 51.01 to rank 6th.
• In the second college meet of her career, Virginia freshman Katie Grimes won the 400 IM in 3:59.02, taking over the top spot in the country and hitting an NCAA 'A' cut. Grimes was also the runner-up in the 500 free in an 'A' cut of 4:33.05, trailing Texas' Jillian Cox (4:31.97), who leads the NCAA this season with her 4:30.68 from November.

The men's meet was highlighted by the 400 medley relay, where Arizona State (3:01.18) edged out Texas (3:01.62) to post the fastest time in the country this season, while the Longhorns' time ties Tennessee for 2nd.

The ASU relay featured Ilya Kharun crushing a 42.80 butterfly split—which is the current flat start NCAA Record held by Caeleb Dressel—and was anchored by Jonny Kulow in a sizzling 40.42 on free.

Other Top-Five Times In The NCAA Produced (Men):

• Kharun led off ASU's 400 free relay in 41.03, a personal best time in the 100 free that ranks him 4th in the country this season. ASU's time of 2:45.13, which also included a 40.55 anchor from Kulow, ranks 2nd in the NCAA to Tennessee (2:44.13).
• Texas' Luke Hobson set a 200 free season-best of 1:31.20, ranking him 3rd in the NCAA. Hobson had previously been 1:31.86, done against Indiana on Nov. 1, and notably broke the world record in SCM at the Short Course World Championships in December in between these two swims (also why he wasn't fully tapered for the Texas Invite in late November).
• Longhorn Hubert Kos set a season-best en route to winning the 100 back (44.60) and was the runner-up in the 100 fly (44.05) in a new personal best, with both times ranking him 4th in the NCAA this season. Kharun won the 100 fly in 43.90, just shy of his 43.85 clocking from the Wolfpack Elite Invite.
• A noteworthy swim that came from the Texas pros racing in time trials was Shaine Casas in the men's 400 IM, as he posted a personal best of 3:34.09 that ranks him #5 all-time.

Full Session Recaps:

• Session 1 (Friday morning)
• Session 2 (Friday night)
• Session 3 (Saturday morning)

Beyond the blistering swims, the meet was well-attended with an electric atmosphere (and long beer lines).

Luca Urlando Breaks NCAA Record With 1:37.17 200 Fly

Georgia redshirt senior Luca Urlando reset the NCAA, U.S. Open and American Records in the men's 200 fly on Saturday during the Bulldogs' dual with Tennessee, clocking a blistering time of 1:37.17.

Urlando's time took down Jack Conger's previous mark of 1:37.35, set at the 2017 NCAA Championships. That was the oldest men's NCAA record on the books in a championship event—Clark Smith still owns the oldest record in the 1000 free, set in 2015.

Urlando had previously been as fast as 1:38.82, set at the 2022 NCAA Championships—his last collegiate championship meet as injury cut his 2022-23 campaign short and then he redshirted the 23-24 season.

We've now seen five swimmers in history dip under the 1:38 barrier, including ASU sophomore Ilya Kharun, who went 1:37.93 last season before winning the 2024 NCAA title in 1:38.26.

All-Time Top Performers, Men's 200 Butterfly (SCY)

1. Luca Urlando (Georgia), 1:37.17 – 2025
2. Jack Conger (Texas), 1:37.35 – 2017
3. Nick Albiero (Lousivlle),1:37.92 – 2022
4. Ilya Kharun (Arizona State), 1:37.93 – 2024
5. Joe Schooling (Texas), 1:37.97 – 2016

Urlando also won the 100 fly in a personal best and nation-leading time of 43.62, which ranks him #4 all-time, and he added a third win in the 200 IM (1:41.86).

Another monstrous performance at the meet was produced by Tennessee's Jordan Crooks, who dropped a 17.66 anchor leg in the 200 medley relay, the fourth-fastest relay split ever.

The Georgia men ended up prevailing over Tennessee, 155-144, while the Lady Vols topped the Bulldogs by a final score of 209-91.

Tennessee freshman McKenzie Siroky set a pair of best times en route to sweeping the women's 100 breast (57.80) and 200 breast (2:07.12), ranking her 4th and 5th, respectively, in the NCAA this season.

Adam Peaty Makes Move To Repton Swimming Under Jamie Main

Three-time Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty has made a decision on his new training base heading into 2028, announcing last week he's heading to Repton Swimming to train with coach Jamie Main.

Repton Swimming, located in Derby, England, was where Peaty trained under former coach Mel Marshall in the lead-up to his triumph at the 2016 Olympics. In 2019, Repton created its own performance training group which was subsequently granted affiliation club status with Swim England.

Peaty, 30, has been coached by Marshall throughout his elite career but made this change after Marshall recently departed for Australia where she now serves as head coach of Griffith University.

Main has been the Director of Swimming at Repton School since last fall when he left his role as Aquatics GB National Coach at the Bath Performance Centre.

“It’s a place that I’ve spent many years already and I couldn’t think of anywhere else to continue my career (it was my training base for the Rio 2016)," Peaty said on Instagram. "It’s also a place where we have ran lots of @apraceofficial clinics and we’re always so impressed, especially, with their investment in sporting excellence."

Read more here.

USA Swimming Releases 2025 World Championship Selection Process

USA Swimming has outlined its selection procedure for the pool swimming roster at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

The roster will be selected at the 2025 U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, which will run June 3-7 at the Indiana University Natatorium.

The selection procedure is similar to past selection meets, with winners in each Olympic event, and the top-two finishers in the 100 and 200 free, receiving top priority for roster spots, followed by the runner-ups in Olympic events outside of the 100 and 200 free.

The maximum roster size is 26 women and 26 men, and once that's filled, teams for the World Junior Championships and World University Games will also be determined in Indianapolis.

2025 Worlds Team Selection Priority Order:

• Priority 1: The four best finishing available swimmers based on finish order in the 100 and 200 freestyle and the best finishing available swimmer based on finish order from the finals in each individual Olympic event other than the 100 and 200 freestyle.
• Priority 2: The second-best finishing available swimmer based on finish order in the finals of each individual Olympic event other than the 100 and 200 freestyle
• Priority 3: The best finishing available swimmer based on finish order from the finals in each individual non-Olympic event.
• Priority 4: The fifth-best finishing available swimmer based on finish order from the finals in the 100 and 200 freestyle.
• Priority 5: The sixth-best finishing available swimmer based on finish order from the finals in the 100 and 200 freestyle.

Read more here.

Quick Hits

• Former U.S. Olympic swimmer Klete Keller was among the more than 1,500 people pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump for his actions on January 6, 2021, when protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
• Fifteen-year-old Rylee Erisman set a trio of best times, highlighted by a noteworthy 1:44.64 200 free, earlier this month at the GOAT Team Challenge in Orlando.
• Swimming Australia will host its 2025 World Championship Trials from June 9-14 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide.
• U.S. Olympian Keaton Jones set five ice swimming world records at the Ice Swimming Worlds in Molveno, Italy in mid-January.
• Misplaced flags caused several swimmers to mistime their turns in the 400 IM on the opening day of the Kosuke Kitajima Cup in Tokyo, a meet that also saw a world-leading time produced by Mizuki Hirai in the women's 100 fly (56.99).
• Notre Dame freshman Carli Cronk broke the oldest school record on the books during the Tim Welsh Classic, clocking 4:07.63 in the women's 400 IM.
• The Virginia women have landed another marquee recruit, with Lithuanian Record holder and European Junior champion Smilte Plytnykaite announcing her commitment to UVA for the fall of 2026.
• Nothing has been finalized, but USA Swimming and Swimming Canada have both confirmed they're in talks with World Aquatics about announcing hosting World Cup events in 2025.
• The NC State Wolfpack has made a significant second semester addition in the form of Ukrainian Oleksandr Zheltiakov, the country's National Record holder in the 50, 100 and 200 back in LCM and SCM.

Urlando Breaks NCAA Record; Crooks Splits 17.66 in the 50 Free In Front of 1,215 Fans

Virginia Breaks American Record In 400 Medley Relay With 3:21.48, G. Walsh Splits 47.15 On Fly

Alex Walsh Rips Fastest Ever Dual Meet 100 Breast with 56.98 in Austin

Adam Peaty Chooses Repton, Jamie Main For New Training Home

USA Swimming Releases 2025 Worlds Selection Procedures

Shaine Casas Posts PB 3:34.09 In 400 IM, #5 Performer All-Time