NCAA Men’s Championships: Luke Hobson Crushes 200 Free Record With 1:28.33, Guiliano Secures Texas 1-2
No mystery remains as to the identity of the top 200 freestyler in the United States. Over the past three seasons, Luke Hobson has become a dominant force in the prototypical middle distance event in both short course and long course. A remarkable finish in the 200-meter free at the Paris Olympics put Hobson on the podium with a bronze medal, with the 21-year-old falling just seven hundredths short of gold, and in December, he claimed a short course world title in world-record time.
As for the yards version of the event, Hobson has now won three consecutive NCAA titles for the University of Texas. His first such win in the event was not so decisive as Hobson did not get below the 1:30 barrier, but the last two years have seen him take the 200 free to new levels. He took the American and NCAA records down to 1:28.81 in 2024, only to go a half-second quicker in winning the event by more than a second this year.
“The 200 was a great swim for me – 28-low is where I thought I could be and to see that happen was really good,” Hobson said. “I think a big thing is I am a lot more used to going fast. We are going faster (in practice) and I have been hitting a good pace the entire season and I know what that feels like. It is just practicing that racing speed that that has really helped me improved.”
Hobson was considered the heavy favorite entering the meet even before clocked 1:28.90 leading off the Longhorns’ 800 free relay on night one to swim the second-fastest mark ever, and he was the only swimmer to crack 1:30 in prelims. At night, fellow Texas senior Chris Guiliano took the early lead before Hobson took over with a 22.50 split on the third 50 and then a 22.82 coming home, both much quicker than anyone else in the field.
Hobson finished in 1:28.33, taking almost a half-second off the American, NCAA and U.S. Open records he set in last year’s final. He now sits more than six tenths clear of anyone else on the all-time list, with Leon Marchand (1:28.97) the only other swimmer ever under 1:30.
Second went to Guiliano in 1:29.42, who became the fourth-fastest swimmer in history behind Hobson, Marchand and Dean Farris. Guiliano, the runner-up behind Hobson in the 200-meter free at the 2024 Olympic Trials, has dropped almost a second from his best time in the past year as he broke 1:30 for the first time in this final.
While Texas claimed 17 points with a 1-2 finish, Cal acquitted itself nicely with a 3-5 result to stay within 36.5 points of the Longhorns. Gabriel Jett came in at 1:30.08 while Jack Alexy came in fifth at 1:30.28, with Alabama’s Charlie Hawke splitting the difference at 1:30.14. Jordan Crooks, the Tennessee senior who topped the 50 free Thursday evening, clocked 1:31.36 to tie for sixth with Georgia’s Tomas Koski.
During Hobson’s reign atop the event, the 200 free has become a totally different race. When Hobson raced in the consolation final as a freshman, a time of 1:32.00 was required to reach the championship final and only three men broke 1:31 in the individual event. Three years later, 1:32.00 was merely good enough for 18th nationally while Koski had to swim 1:31.06 just to finish eighth in prelims, where the other seven qualifiers for the championship heat went under 1:31.
Only two men broke 1:30 in the final, but Jett and Alexy both clocked sub-1:30 splits in Cal’s winning 800 free relay while a pair of winners of other individual events Friday evening, Texas’ Rex Maurer and Florida’s Julian Smith, each had 1:29s for their respective teams.
Event 10 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
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NCAA: N 1:28.81 3/29/2024 Luke Hobson, Texas
Meet: M 1:28.81 3/29/2024 Luke Hobson, Texas
American: A 1:28.81 3/29/2024 Luke Hobson, Texas
U. S. Open: O 1:28.81 3/29/2024 Luke Hobson, Texas
Name Year School Prelims Finals Points
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=== Championship Final ===
1 Hobson, Luke SR Texas 1:29.60 1:28.33N 20
r:+0.74 20.68 43.01 (22.33)
1:05.51 (22.50) 1:28.33 (22.82)
2 Guiliano, Chris SR Texas 1:30.62 1:29.42 17
r:+0.60 20.29 42.92 (22.63)
1:05.98 (23.06) 1:29.42 (23.44)
3 Jett, Gabriel SR California 1:30.17 1:30.08 16
r:+0.67 20.95 43.76 (22.81)
1:06.91 (23.15) 1:30.08 (23.17)
4 Hawke, Charlie SR Alabama 1:30.24 1:30.14 15
r:+0.70 20.90 43.67 (22.77)
1:06.87 (23.20) 1:30.14 (23.27)
5 Alexy, Jack SR California 1:30.07 1:30.28 14
r:+0.70 20.39 43.11 (22.72)
1:06.07 (22.96) 1:30.28 (24.21)
6 Crooks, Jordan SR Tennessee 1:30.38 1:31.36 12.5
r:+0.63 20.80 44.26 (23.46)
1:07.76 (23.50) 1:31.36 (23.60)
6 Koski, Tomas SO Georgia 1:31.06 1:31.36 12.5
r:+0.64 20.95 43.73 (22.78)
1:07.19 (23.46) 1:31.36 (24.17)
8 McFadden, Henry SO Stanford 1:30.83 1:31.45 11
r:+0.65 21.00 44.07 (23.07)
1:07.80 (23.73) 1:31.45 (23.65)
