The 200 IM played its way into a showdown after prelims at the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
Texas junior Hubert Kos and Cal’s Destin Lasco took the top two seeds, but it wasn’t that they were the top two that was somewhat surprising, but how they did it.
Kos dominated his heat with a strong performance start-to-finish. Meanwhile Lasco, the American record-holder went from fourth in his heat to first on the freestyle leg as he passed the trio ahead of him to get to the wall.
There were plenty of contenders about a half second behind.
In the final, Kos took the lead at the butterfly at 20.52. He continued to lead in the backstroke as Owen McDonald was second and Lasco was looming.
Lasco made a huge move in the freestyle once again but ended up just seven hundredths of a second behind Kos who got to the wall in 1:37.91, which ironically tied him with Lasco as second-fastest performers ever after Leon Marchand.
“It was really good. It was the second best, though we have Leon who is a second-and-a-half faster than that,” Kos said. “I tried to focus on myself like with every race, but when you see Destin on the last 25 and you know he is coming, you get a little extra to race him and I love to race. I live for moments like those. Last year he got me – he got me by a lot – but I was able to get the win this time.”
Part of that is his growth in the race itself.
“I think back to right before I started training with Bob (Bowman). It was the World Championships in Budapest. I put my life on the first 100 and hoped for the best. I almost drowned that last 50 freestyle. I have come a long way since then.”
That includes Olympic gold in the 200 backstroke.
“That calms you down, in a good way. Three years ago, I was really nervous when I swam. After Paris, it feels like there is no reason to be scared anymore because I have done it on the biggest stage,” Kos said. “That was my goal since I was a kid and I feel like everything after that is sort of a gift, and that is how I view these NCAAs.”
McDonald hung on for third at 1:39.52, ahead of Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti (1:39.52), Stanford’s Ron Polonsky (1:39.84), Florida’s Julian Smith (1:39.85) and Michigan’s Gal Groumi (1:40.17).
Texas’ Will Modglin was disqualified for not finishing the backstroke leg fully on his back.
In the consolation heat, Georgia’s Luca Urlando took a lead early and built it to a body length at the halfway point. He hung on to win the heat in 1:50.43.
Event 4 Men 200 Yard IM
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NCAA: N 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Meet: M 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
American: A 1:37.91 3/28/2024 Destin Lasco, California
U. S. Open: O 1:36.34 3/23/2023 Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Kos, Hubert JR Texas 1:38.89 1:37.91 20
r:+0.62 20.52 44.79 (24.27)
1:13.74 (28.95) 1:37.91 (24.17)
2 Lasco, Destin 5Y California 1:39.23 1:37.98 17
r:+0.68 21.35 45.72 (24.37)
1:14.63 (28.91) 1:37.98 (23.35)
3 McDonald, Owen JR Indiana 1:39.81 1:39.42 16
r:+0.59 20.94 45.27 (24.33)
1:14.88 (29.61) 1:39.42 (24.54)
4 Coll Marti, Carles 5Y VT 1:39.82 1:39.52 15
r:+0.60 21.20 46.20 (25.00)
1:14.70 (28.50) 1:39.52 (24.82)
5 Polonsky, Ron SR Stanford 1:40.03 1:39.84 14
r:+0.68 21.86 46.44 (24.58)
1:15.05 (28.61) 1:39.84 (24.79)
6 Smith, Julian SR Florida 1:39.85 1:39.85 13
r:+0.66 21.16 46.46 (25.30)
1:15.37 (28.91) 1:39.85 (24.48)
7 Groumi, Gal SR Michigan 1:40.52 1:40.17 12
r:+0.58 21.51 46.29 (24.78)
1:15.66 (29.37) 1:40.17 (24.51)
-- Modglin, Will SO Texas 1:40.45 DQ
Shoulders past vertical toward breast - back
r:+0.63 21.88 46.98 (25.10)
1:16.61 (29.63) DQ (24.37)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Urlando, Gianluca 5Y Georgia 1:41.61 1:40.53 9
r:+0.65 21.18 45.14 (23.96)
1:15.61 (30.47) 1:40.53 (24.92)
10 Geer, Colin SO Michigan 1:40.77 1:40.55 7
r:+0.62 21.70 46.60 (24.90)
1:15.99 (29.39) 1:40.55 (24.56)
11 Dramm, Louis JR UNC 1:41.73 1:40.92 6
r:+0.67 22.03 47.21 (25.18)
1:16.41 (29.20) 1:40.92 (24.51)
12 Barr, Luke SR Indiana 1:40.93 1:41.18 5
r:+0.62 21.97 47.35 (25.38)
1:16.29 (28.94) 1:41.18 (24.89)
13 Tomac, Mewen 5Y California 1:41.40 1:41.19 4
r:+0.68 21.58 46.65 (25.07)
1:16.39 (29.74) 1:41.19 (24.80)
14 Taylor, Camden SO Texas 1:41.58 1:41.30 2.5
r:+0.66 21.83 47.49 (25.66)
1:17.03 (29.54) 1:41.30 (24.27)
14 Nelson, Baylor JR TAMU 1:41.14 1:41.30 2.5
r:+0.64 21.84 46.97 (25.13)
1:16.58 (29.61) 1:41.30 (24.72)
16 Jankovics, Tristan JR OSU 1:41.73 1:41.38 1
r:+0.67 21.95 47.16 (25.21)
1:16.71 (29.55) 1:41.38 (24.67)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 4
1. Texas 143.5 2. California 110
3. Georgia 92 4. Indiana 87
5. Stanford 60 6. NC State 50
6. Arizona St 50 8. Alabama 43
9. Florida 40 10. Tennessee 34
11. Michigan 31 12. Florida St 24
13. Virginia Tech 21 14. Louisville 18
15. Ohio St 17 16. UNC 16
17. Auburn 14 17. Southern Cal 14
19. Lsu 11 20. Texas A&M 10.5
21. Yale 9 22. Virginia 8
23. Georgia Tech 6 23. Kentucky 6
25. Army 4
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