U.S. Nationals, Day 3 Men’s Prelims: Thomas Heilman Clips Own 100 Fly NAG Record to Top Qualifying
Opening night at U.S. Nationals saw veterans Carson Foster and Bobby Finke claim their spots at the Singapore World Championships. Foster finished close behind Luca Urlando in the 200 butterfly while Finke never had any true competition in the 1500 freestyle. Those two swimmers raced in the final heat of the men’s 400 IM prelims and swam the top-two qualifying marks.
One of the big misses thus far has been Thomas Heilman, who came in third in the 200 fly final. Heilman rebounded in prelims to secure the top qualifying mark in the 100-meter event, his time of 50.78 knocking two hundredths off his own 17-18 National Age Group record. Thursday morning’s session also included men’s qualifying races in the 50 breaststroke and 50 backstroke.
Men’s 400 IM
His tenure as the top 400 IMer in the United States dates back to 2022, one year after he faded to third in the Olympic Trials final of the event. During that time, Foster has been consistently among the world’s top swimmers in the event, winning a pair of World Championship silvers behind Leon Marchand as well as Olympic bronze. His best time of 4:06.56 ranks him eighth all-time in the event and fourth among Americans. He is currently the third-fastest swimmer in the world for 2025 at 4:09.51.
Foster is set to return to global contention after cruising to the top prelims time in the event at Nationals. He raced against distance freestyle star Bobby Finke in the final heat, opening up an advantage on breaststroke before shutting it down on the freestyle leg. Foster came into the wall at 4:12.19, a half-second clear of Finke’s 4:12.76.
For the past three years, Foster’s fellow American representative in this event has been Chase Kalisz, but the Tokyo Olympic champion is absent from this year’s Nationals, opening up a spot for Finke or another swimmer.
Rex Maurer was back in the pool after securing his World Championships spot with his third-place finish in the 200 free. Maurer was the NCAA champion in the 400-yard IM this year, and he led throughout the first circle-seeded heat. As expected, he struggled on the breaststroke leg as Tommy Bried clawed back into contention, but he pulled away again to finish in 4:13.47, just off the best time of 4:13.17 he posted last month.
Mason Laur placed fourth in prelims in 4:15.03, followed by Baylor Nelson (4:15.70), Tommy Bried (4:15.72), Mitchell Schott (4:15.80) and Luka Mijatovic (4:16.18). Mijatovic was back in the pool after a two-second drop in the 200 free Wednesday, which shattered the National Age Group record and thrust him into an unexpected A-final. As for the medley, Mijatovic is now the fourth-fastest 15-16 swimmer ever.
David Johnston, already on the Worlds team by virtue of his runnerup finish in the 400 IM, would have qualified for the final as the fourth seed with his time of 4:15.02, but he was disqualified.
Men’s 100 Butterfly
This year’s Nationals did not get off to the start Thomas Heilman hoped for when he ended up third in the 200 fly despite swimming the second-best time of his career. Now, Heilman will try to reach the global level in the 100 fly for the third consecutive year. He will be in pole position to do so after leading the way in prelims at 50.78. Heilman clipped his previous best time and 17-18 National Age Group record by two hundredths, and he moved to fifth in the world rankings.
Dare Rose has his breakout performance in this pool two years ago, winning the U.S. national title in the 100 fly. He went on to capture World Championship bronze in the event and help the U.S. men to gold in the 400 medley relay. Rose was off his best times in 2024, missing the Olympic team by two hundredths, but he has already clinched his spot at the Singapore World Championships by winning the 50 fly Friday. He has been as fast as 50.93 this year, and he clocked 51.15 in prelims for the second-best qualifying mark.
Shaine Casas, the top-ranked American in this event in 2025 entering the meet at 50.82, took care of business in his heat with a winning mark of 51.46. Casas is yet to secure his spot at Worlds after finishing sixth in the 100 free, which could be enough to earn a relay spot, and third in the 50 fly. Jusr behind Casas was Luca Urlando, with the 200 fly winner coming in at 51.51.
Also under 52 were Trenton Julian (51.60) and Kamal Muhammad (51.92), with Matthew Klinge (52.11) and Jack Dahlgren (52.15) filling out the championship heat. Further down in the rankings, a tie for 16th between PJ Foy and Jacob Johnson in 52.81 set up a potential swim-off to determine lane eight in the B-final.
Two swimmers who have already clinched World Championship spots opted to scratch this event: 200 free second-place finisher Gabriel Jett and 50 fly runnerup Michael Andrew. Additionally, 100 free fifth-place finisher Jonny Kulow did not compete as he waits to see if his swim will be enough to secure qualification.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
Michael Andrew has plenty of experience as a teenager trying to break through onto top-level national teams. That is the position in which Campbell McKean now finds himself, and the two swimmers were side-by-side in the 50 breast prelims. A similar setup is expected for the final after the two breaststrokers tied for the No. 1 qualifying mark in prelims.
Both touched in 27.14, putting them almost four tenths clear of the field heading into the final. Andrew has previously represented the U.S. in this event at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships, earning global bronze in 2022, while McKean has quickly become a contender in the breaststroke events within the past year. A huge drop in Wednesday’s 200 breast put him into his first national final.
The field will consist of numerous lesser-known swimmers, not an unexpected outcome given most of the top American achievers in men’s breaststroke from recent years are absent this week. Nate Germonprez claimed third in 27.53, followed by Jake Wang (27.64), Brian Benzing (27.65), Travis Gulledge (27.72), Ben Cono (27.79) and Alexei Avakov (27.87).
During the event, the meet was paused on numerous occasions for replay reviews for potential rule violations. Those reviews resulted in six disqualifications. Two of those came in the final heat, including would-be finalist Andy Dobrzanski.
Men’s 50 Backstroke
