Ilya Kharun Already a Difference-Maker for Arizona State, Internationally for Canada
As the Arizona State Sun Devils set out in pursuit of the school’s first-ever national championship in men’s swimming, there are three ace-type swimmers on head coach Bob Bowman’s squad. Leon Marchand, of course, leads the way with his five individual NCAA titles and five individual world titles within the last two years while Hubert Kos has come on strong in his year-plus in Tempe, winning last year’s world title in the 200-meter backstroke.
And there’s freshman Ilya Kharun, already one of the world’s best butterflyers. He came to Arizona State on the heels of his debut at the long course edition of the World Championships, where the 18-year-old nearly snatched away a medal in the 200 butterfly. Swimming in eighth place for the first 150 meters of the race, Kharun closed in 29.15 to pull into a tie for fourth place with American Thomas Heilman, their shared time of 1:53.82 merely 16-hundredths away from a podium finish.
Weeks after his trip to Fukuoka, Japan, Kharun was off to join the Sun Devils, and his impact has been substantial and evident across multiple events.
If ASU had any weaknesses during the 2022-23 season, it was in sprint butterfly, with fifth-year Max McCusker handling those duties on medley relays. But in the 400 medley relay at last year’s national championships, McCusker’s 44.55 split was the slowest of all top-eight teams. With Kharun in the mix, different story. Against Cal last weekend, Kharun split 19.29 on the fly leg of ASU’s 200 medley relay, a split which would have been second-quickest at last year’s NCAAs behind only NC State’s Nyls Korstanje, who has graduated.
Kos on backstroke, Marchand on breaststroke, Kharun on butterfly and likely Jonny Kulow bringing home the ASU medley relays is a dynamite grouping, potentially the national-title favorite. And Kharun has also entrenched himself as a key member of both sprint freestyle relays.
Ilya Kharun — Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
But for the real source of Kharun magic, check out the 200 fly. In the first of ASU’s Bay Area dual meets over the weekend, Kharun had to play catchup against Stanford ‘s Andrei Minakov in the 200 fly. Kharun was almost a half-second down to Minakov with 50 yards remaining, but his trademark finishing speed (a 25.07 closing split) helped him reach the wall in 1:37.93.
Yes, a 1:37, his final time one that only Jack Conger (at the 2017 NCAA Championships) and Nick Albiero (at the 2022 ACC Championships) had ever reached. The winning time at the NCAA Championships has only once (in 2017) been quicker than Kharun’s dual-meet performance. In that same race, Minakov held on to finish second in 1:38.63, still quicker than the national winning time the last three years, but the Russian was thoroughly outgunned when trying to fend off the Kharun burst.
Kharun was born in Montreal, Canada, but he spent his formative years in Las Vegas, where he trained with the Sandpipers of Nevada club. At one point, Kharun was set to compete for the United States at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, but he was ruled ineligible since his only passport was Canadian. So his international debut actually came a few months later, at the Short Course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, and he earned a surprising silver in the 100 butterfly. He has continued to build momentum ever since.
In March, expect to see Kharun as a national A-finalist in three events (the 50 free plus both butterfly events) and a key member of four relays that all finish in the top-four as the Sun Devils have managed to conquer any perceived weaknesses. Shortly after the NCAA Championships, Kharun will attempt to qualify for his first Canadian Olympic team, and he will be strongly favored to represent the Maple Leaf in the 100 and 200 fly at the Paris Games.
This summer, Kharun will have a chance to become the first Canadian male to win an Olympic medal in 12 years, since the likes of Brent Hayden (100 free), Ryan Cochrane (1500 free) and Richard Weinberger (10k open water swim) all reached the podium at the London Olympics. Josh Liendo, another Canadian internationally who has been impactful in the college ranks, will also have medal chances, but Kharun’s 200 fly in Paris would come before any of Liendo’s Olympic finals.
Sure, Kharun might currently lack the international acclaim of Marchand or even Kos, but he will be just as crucial a player in Arizona State’s attempt to dethrone Cal in March, and it would be no surprise if Kharun soon builds out an extensive international medal collection of his own.
Ilya Kharun is an amazing flyer and broke anASU school record in his first meet as a freshman! He has a great swimming future ahead of him!
He is a consistent crusher:
100 SCY Fly ASU Record: entering year :45.01(McCusker)
Kharun: 9/23/23 v Georgia: :44.88; NCState/GAC Inv. 11/23: :44.51P/:44.33Final; (:43.35 MR split)
200 SCY Fly ASU Record entering year: 1:39.55(Colson)
Kharun: PB entering year 1:40.89; his times this year, in order, have been: 1:40.68; 1:40.76; 1:40.07; 1:40.84; 1:39.10 (New ASU 200 School Record #1); 1:39.31(altitude; adjusts by rule to 1:38.11- 200 ASU record #2); 1:37. 93 (ASU 200 record #3); 1:39.92. Has swum race 8 time, all 8 under PB entering year(1:40.89); first 4 over 1:40; last 4 all under 1:40.
Fear the Fork! Go Sun Devils.