NCAA Men’s Championships:Josh Liendo Repeats in 100 Fly with Best Time 43.06
Josh Liendo faced a field full of champions Friday night. Even against such illustrious opposition, the Florida junior showed himself to be a cut above.
Liendo repeated as the 100 fly champion, setting a best time of 43.06 seconds. It improves his second-fastest time in NCAA history, with only Caeleb Dressel’s 42.80 ahead of him.
That’s .01 quicker than he was last year, and it’s .37 ahead of his Canadian mate, Ilya Kharun of Arizona State, who grabbed silver in 43.43. Luca Urlando finished third in 43.39, and Dare Rose got big points for Cal in fourth in 43.52.
This year’s 100 fly is rare collision of past champions. Liendo won the title in 43.07 in 2024. He was second to Youssef Ramadan’s 43.15 in 2023, the first men’s individual NCAA title in Virginia Tech history. Andrei Minakov used a time of 43.71 to win it in 2022, with Urlando second and Ramadan third. All four of those individuals were in the A final again this time around, plus 2024 A-final holdovers Kharun and Rose for a daunting field.
“I feel like there’s always pressure going into any race,” Liendo said. “I feel like it just the way college swimming is now, and the swims that I’ve had, I feel like there’s always pressure for me I feel going into events. Obviously, being the defending champion, it’s added pressure. But honestly, I was proud with the way – I don’t even think I was really thinking about the pressure. There’s certain things I want to execute, and that’s kind of all that I was thinking about throughout the race.”
The field was effectively even at the midway mark. Kharun was out in 2011, Liendo and Rose in 2013, Minakov in 20.28. Liendo picked up a 10th on his third 25, then another tenths on Urlando on the final length. His 11.61 on the final 25 was quicker than all but Tyler Ray of Michian.
Liendo’s Florida teammate Scotty Buff finished fifth, trying to get the Gators up off the mat after Wednesday’s 200 medley relay DQ. The Gators are fourth in the team competition. Minakov was sixth in 43.97, followed by Ray in 44.01 and Ramadan in 44.15.
Gui Caribe, part of Thursday night’s 200 free relay victory for Tennessee, won the B final in 44.31. NC State’s Luke Miller was second in 44.50 with Yale freshman Nicholas Finch third in 44.57, evening his Ivy League record. Tomer Frankel, second last year for Indiana and third in 2023, finished 13th overall, a spot behind teammate Finn Brooks.
Event 8 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
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NCAA: N 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Meet: M 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
American: A 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
U. S. Open: O 42.80 3/23/2018 Caeleb Dressel, Florida
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Liendo, Josh JR Florida 43.49 43.06 20
r:+0.64 9.04 20.13 (11.09)
31.45 (11.32) 43.06 (11.61)
2 Kharun, Ilya SO ASU 43.81 43.43 17
r:+0.64 9.11 20.11 (11.00)
31.53 (11.42) 43.43 (11.90)
3 Urlando, Gianluca 5Y Georgia 44.01 43.49 16
r:+0.65 9.47 20.36 (10.89)
31.77 (11.41) 43.49 (11.72)
4 Rose, Dare 5Y California 43.74 43.52 15
r:+0.65 9.20 20.13 (10.93)
31.56 (11.43) 43.52 (11.96)
5 Buff, Scott SO Florida 44.52 43.95 14
r:+0.60 9.38 20.52 (11.14)
31.99 (11.47) 43.95 (11.96)
6 Minakov, Andrei SR Stanford 44.05 43.97 13
r:+0.63 9.26 20.28 (11.02)
31.95 (11.67) 43.97 (12.02)
7 Ray, Tyler JR Michigan 44.00 44.01 12
r:+0.65 9.25 20.60 (11.35)
32.55 (11.95) 44.01 (11.46)
8 Ramadan, Youssef 5Y VT 44.44 44.15 11
r:+0.61 9.43 20.70 (11.27)
31.98 (11.28) 44.15 (12.17)
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