Urlando started strong with a 21.38 to take the early lead. That lead continued to grow. He was at 45.21 at the 100 and was faster than his meet-tying record pace from prelims.
At the 150 it was 1:09.75, going 24.5 on the third 50 and the race was over.
Urlando kept going strong and got to the wall in 1:36.43 to break the NCAA record that he shared with former Texas champion Jack Conger.
He was second in 2022 and fourth in 2021 then was injured and missed 2023 and 2024.
“It means everything. It means all the hard work I have put in the past 2-3 years, coming back from injury, has paid off. I told myself every day that I would be rewarded for going through the process,” Urlando said. “I just let it go. I let go of years of pent-up wanting to have a moment like this. It was having the confidence to hold on. It has felt like years of setbacks to get to a moment like this. To be rewarded like this makes everything worth it.”
Urlando was a junior world champion, then broke the NCAA record in the 100 backstroke leading off the 400 medley relay as an underclassman at Georgia, showing the ultimate potential.
Now, he has made an Olympic team and broken another NCAA record with a healthy year under his belt. Now he has two more years at Georgia to build on that.
“I want to keep building momentum with every step of my career and learn from every experience,” he said. “I was out of the water 2-3 months post-surgery. I really learned to swim the strokes again. It was a huge learning experience. Then going back to Georgia puts you back at something bigger than yourself, which is a really fulfilling experience.”
Rose surged to second in 1:38.04, ahead of defending champion Kharun (1:38.74). Minakov took fourth in 1:39.18.
Tennessee’ Bjoern Kammann led the consolation final from start to finish and got to the wall in 1:39.69.
========================================================================
NCAA: N 1:37.17 1/25/2025 Luca Urlando, Georgia
Meet: M 1:37.35 3/25/2017 J Conger / L Urlando (2025), Texas / Georgia
American: A 1:37.17 1/25/2025 Luca Urlando, Georgia
U. S. Open: O 1:37.17 1/25/2025 Luca Urlando, Georgia
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
=========================================================================
=== Championship Final ===
1 Urlando, Gianluca 5Y Georgia 1:37.35 1:36.43N 20
r:+0.66 21.38 45.21 (23.83)
1:09.74 (24.53) 1:36.43 (26.69)
2 Rose, Dare 5Y California 1:39.78 1:38.04 17
r:+0.67 21.82 46.73 (24.91)
1:11.89 (25.16) 1:38.04 (26.15)
3 Kharun, Ilya SO ASU 1:38.81 1:38.74 16
r:+0.63 21.94 46.60 (24.66)
1:12.39 (25.79) 1:38.74 (26.35)
4 Minakov, Andrei SR Stanford 1:39.93 1:39.18 15
r:+0.67 22.61 48.57 (25.96)
1:14.02 (25.45) 1:39.18 (25.16)
5 Espernberger, Martin JR Tennessee 1:39.61 1:39.49 14
r:+0.62 22.15 47.55 (25.40)
1:13.26 (25.71) 1:39.49 (26.23)
6 Chmielewski, Krzyszto SO USC 1:39.09 1:39.66 13
r:+0.61 22.30 47.70 (25.40)
1:13.71 (26.01) 1:39.66 (25.95)
7 Magahey, Jake 5Y Georgia 1:39.90 1:39.67 12
r:+0.71 22.23 47.70 (25.47)
1:13.25 (25.55) 1:39.67 (26.42)
8 Geer, Colin SO Michigan 1:39.65 1:39.83 11
r:+0.63 22.43 47.63 (25.20)
1:13.61 (25.98) 1:39.83 (26.22)
=== Consolation Final ===
9 Kammann, Bjoern SR Tennessee 1:39.95 1:39.69 9
r:+0.69 21.59 46.81 (25.22)
1:12.77 (25.96) 1:39.69 (26.92)
10 Johnson, Jacob FR Minnesota 1:40.86 1:39.96 7
r:+0.62 22.58 48.32 (25.74)
1:13.91 (25.59) 1:39.96 (26.05)
11 Robinson, Logan FR FSU 1:40.51 1:40.23 6
r:+0.60 22.15 47.87 (25.72)
1:14.06 (26.19) 1:40.23 (26.17)
12 Naughton, Haakon JR Arizona 1:40.24 1:40.37 4.5
r:+0.60 22.07 47.41 (25.34)
1:13.50 (26.09) 1:40.37 (26.87)
12 Groumi, Gal SR Michigan 1:40.72 1:40.37 4.5
r:+0.60 22.07 47.82 (25.75)
1:13.79 (25.97) 1:40.37 (26.58)
14 Holmes, Gibson SO Stanford 1:40.89 1:40.67 3
r:+0.70 22.65 47.84 (25.19)
1:13.89 (26.05) 1:40.67 (26.78)
15 Applebaum, Frank 5Y California 1:40.61 1:40.82 2
r:+0.64 22.69 48.37 (25.68)
1:14.41 (26.04) 1:40.82 (26.41)
16 Lucas, Cooper FR Texas 1:40.86 1:41.16 1
r:+0.71 22.51 48.01 (25.50)
1:14.26 (26.25) 1:41.16 (26.90)
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 19
1. Texas 461 2. California 441
3. Indiana 392 4. Florida 283
5. Tennessee 226.5 5. Georgia 226.5
7. Arizona St 214 8. Stanford 191
9. NC State 152 10. Michigan 98.5
11. Virginia Tech 85.5 12. Louisville 80
13. Southern Cal 74 14. Alabama 73
15. Ohio St 70 16. Texas A&M 57.5
17. Florida St 54 18. Lsu 38
19. Purdue 33 20. Kentucky 30
20. Yale 30 22. Wisconsin 28
23. UNC 25 24. Georgia Tech 24
25. Brown 22 26. Penn 17
27. Army 15 27. University of Utah 15
29. Auburn 14 30. Minnesota 13
30. Pittsburgh 13 32. Virginia 12
32. Smu 12 34. Miami (Fl) 11
35. Cornell 6 35. Missouri 6
37. Arizona 5.5 38. Cal Baptist 4
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