TYR Pro Swim Series: Luca Urlando Blasts 1:52.37 200 Fly, No. 4 on All-Time List
Luca Urlando is a man in form in the 200 butterfly, and he nearly took home a U.S. Open record for his troubles Friday.
Urlando absolutely blasted his way through the final at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Sacramento, going 1:52.37. That is a best time, more than a second ahead of the 1:53.84 he posted in the Pro Swim Series in Clovis in 2019.
It’s the meet record, and it nearly displaced Michael Phelps’ time from the 2008 Olympic Trials (1:52.30) as the U.S. Open Record. Urlando slots in behind world record holder Kristof Milak, Phelps and reigning Olympic champion Leon Marchand as the No. 4 performer of all time. Friday’s swim is the 13th-fastest performance of all time and 10th-fastest in a textile suit.
Urlando is coming off an NCAA championship and NCAA record for Georgia in this event last week in Federal Way, Washington. The native of Sacramento is swimming under the club colors of DART Swimming this week.
Urlando went 1:54.64 in semifinals at Olympic Trials last summer, then 1:55.08 to finish second to Thomas Heilman and book an Olympic spot. Urlando struggled in Paris, finishing 17h in prelims in 1:56.18 to not earn a second swim.
Friday, he beat out a pair of Olympians in the Chmielewskis. Krzysztof Chmielewski went 1:54.36 to finished second. His brother Michal Chmielewski was exactly a second back. Only one other swimmer, Michael Hochwalt, broke two minutes. (The Polish record remains Pawel Korzeniowski’s super-suited 1:53.23 from 2009. Krzysztof Chmielewski holds the textile best at 1:53.62 from the 2023 World Championships.)
