Luca Urlando ‘On the Right Path for Short Course Worlds’ After Record-Setting Trials
Since narrowly missing out on the Olympic semifinals in the event two years ago, Luca Urlando has been on a roll in the 200 butterfly. In 2025, he lowered the fastest time ever in the 200-yard fly on three occasions, and in between, he captured a world title in the long course version of the event. Urlando’s time of 1:51.87 made him the fourth-fastest performer ever behind a trio of Olympic champions, Kristof Milak, Leon Marchand and Michael Phelps.
Short course meters, though, has been a mostly new experience for Urlando. “That was my third ever 200 fly SCM. It is one extra stroke,” Urlando said after racing the event at the U.S. Short Course Trials in Westmont, Ill., last week. “That held true until the last 25 because I did nine kicks and six strokes.”
Urlando overcame any unfamiliarity and booked his ticket to the Short Course World Championships by swimming the second-fastest time in history in his main event. Leading wire-to-wire, he touched in 1:47.65 to knock a second off the American record set by Tom Shields in November 2020. Urlando will head to Beijing with a chance to continue his strong run in the 200 fly. Urlando missed much of the year with an injury, but he was back to form in time to win gold at the Pan Pacific Championships this August.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The Westmont meet brought Urlando into direct competition with Ilya Kharun for the first time since Kharun became eligible to represent the country internationally. Indeed, Urlando had to turn on the jets down the stretch to hold off Kharun and Tyler Ray, both of whom ended up splitting a second quicker than Urlando on the way home before also swimming underneath the previous domestic mark.
“I will probably feel a lot more satisfied after the meet, but this is where I want to be. It shows I am on the right path for Short Course Worlds,” Urlando said. Discussing Kharun, he added, “He is a hell of a competitor. He pushes me every single day in practice even though we don’t train together. I am thinking about how I can execute the race as best as I can.”
In addition to his 200 fly, Urlando also ended up third in a pair of events. In the 100 fly, he touched in 48.57, only 0.12 off Kharun’s winning pace, a hundredth behind second-place Ray and tied with long course world-record holder Caeleb Dressel. Urlando showed off his underwater kicking in the 100 backstroke on the meet’s final day, his time of 50.04 leaving him just a tenth away from adding another event to his slate for Beijing.
When he arrived at the global meet next month, Urlando will face one of the toughest challenges of his career in Marchand, with the French superstar set to make his Short Course Worlds debut. Marchand, an even stronger dolphin kicker, might be capable of reaching the world record, the 1:46.85 set by Tomoru Honda four years ago. Urlando would need to reach another gear to keep pace, but on numerous occasions within the past two years, the 24-year-old has shown the ability to step up.
