By Yanyan Li on SwimSwam
See all of our 2025 Swammy Awards here.
2025 U.S. Male Swimmer of the Year, Luca Urlando
As the only U.S. male swimmer to win individual gold at the year’s most important swim meet, the 2025 World Championships, giving Urlando the American Male Swimmer of the Year award was a no-brainer. But beyond that, his success this year is a watershed moment in his career, one that proved he was capable of doing the things he was anointed to do before all the setbacks arrived.
The first major inflection point in Urlando’s backstory was a rite-of-passage for American male prodigies: breaking a Michael Phelps National Age Group Record. His moment came in June 2019, when he clocked a 1:53.84 200 butterfly that broke Phelps’ 17-18 NAG from 2003. As the third-fastest American of all-time, some thought he could eventually be up there with Hungary’s Kristof Milak, who was not far from shattering Phelps’ world record himself.
Eventually, Urlando would get there. It just took a bit more patience than expected.
Urlando dislocated his shoulder in January 2020, a few months before the original U.S. Olympic trials were set to take place. He eventually recovered from the injury but disappointed at the rescheduled 2021 trials, finishing third in both the 100 and 200 fly.
2022 started off as Urlando’s bounce-back year — he made his first senior international team and finaled at Worlds in the 200 fly. But disaster struck that fall at the Indianapolis World Cup stop, where he dislocated his shoulder swimming backstroke during a 100 IM. He had to get helped out of the pool, and was out of the water for the next seven months to get surgery. All the progress he made would take a hit.
Eventually, Urlando returned to elite-level form, and he qualified for his first Olympics. The comeback was impressive in itself, and made for an amazing story. But he clocked a time of 1:56.18 in Paris and just missed the semi-finals, still far from what he showed as a teenager.
But next came the 2024-25 NCAA season, Urlando’s first time putting on the Georgia cap since 2022. It was the first sign that Urlando was not only back in full form, but starting to become the type of swimmer he was promised to be. He was utterly dominant in the 200 fly final, winning by a second and a half to capture his first-ever individual NCAA title. His time of 1:36.43 made him the first person to go under 1:37 in the 200-yard fly.
That dominance would then translate into long course. Racing his first and only meet in the big pool before Nationals at April’s Sacramento Pro Swim Series, Urlando dropped a 1:52.37 200 fly, finally torching his 2019 time and rising to become the fourth-fastest performer ever.
All the trials and tribulations in Urlando’s carrier culminated at the 2025 World Championships. The favorite to win in a field without world record holder Milak and Olympic champion Leon Marchand, Urlando took full advantage, following up his Pro Series swim with an even better performance. His final time of 1:51.87 beat the field by over a second, made him the first American since Phelps to break 1:52 and it remains the fastest mark of 2025. But most importantly, it was his first-ever World Championship, a moment that was a long time coming.
The swim was a much-needed one for the American men, who would have left Singapore without a single gold medal had it not been for Urlando. It was also a sign of never-ending perseverance for the Georgia swimmer, who could have ended his career after countless setbacks but instead came back to reach the highest stage of the sport.
Urlando added one final gem to his 2025 by re-breaking his 200 fly record at the UGA Fall Invitational in November. He also was named the Male Swimmer of the Year at the Golden Goggle Awards for the first time in his career, a prelude to the Swammy honor he’d also earn.
The rest of the Los Angeles Olympic cycle will be a three-way fight between Marchand, Milak and Urlando in the 200 fly, surely making it one of the most competitive events on the docket. But the fact that Urlando is even in this conversation after all he’s been through should be celebrated.
Honorable Mentions
Jack Alexy: Alexy continues to shine as America’s best male sprint freestyler, moving himself into uncharted territory for his nation. At U.S. Nationals, he began the second American in history to go under 47 seconds in the 100 free, joining Caeleb Dressel. He then beat Dressel’s mark at Worlds, clocking an American record time of 46.81 in prelims. During finals, he placed second behind Romania’s David Popovici, earning his second Worlds silver in the event. He also placed third in the 50 free and set a best time of 21.32 in prelims, making him the only American male to win two individual medals in Singapore. In addition, he helped Team USA win gold in the mixed freestyle relay and dropped a 45.95 anchor leg to help the Americans take bronze in the men’s medley relay. That anchor leg is just the second-ever 45-point relay split. Luke Hobson: While Alexy shined in the sprints, Hobson made noise as a mid-distance freestyler. After medalling in the 200 free at the Paris Olympics, he continued his success into 2025, becoming the first American since Michael Phelps to break 1:44 in the event. At Nationals, he swam a time of 1:43.73, which ranks him as the fifth-fastest performer of all-time. He then followed up that performance with a 1:43-point swim in Singapore, which was good enough to earn him silver behind Popovici. The Americans just missed the podium in the men’s 4×200 free relay, but he still made a valiant effort for his nation, throwing down a 1:43.45 split that was the fastest in the entire field. Shaine Casas: For the past few years, Casas has shown the potential to excel across several events, but he never did it at the right moment. That wasn’t the case this season, as he captured his best finish ever at an international long course meet. Casas’ time of 1:54.30 in the 200 IM got him silver behind Marchand at Worlds, and also ranks him fourth all-time behind Marchand, Phelps and Lochte. But rankings doesn’t go the full length of showing how impressive Casas’ time was — had Marchand not shattered the mark, Casas’ would have been just 0.3 seconds off Lochte’s former world record that lasted 14 years. Additionally, Casas was a national champion in the 100 fly while also qualifying to swim the 50 back and 4×100 free relay at Singapore.Past Winners
2024 — Bobby Finke 2023 – Bobby Finke 2022 – Nic Fink 2021 – Caeleb Dressel 2020 – Caeleb Dressel 2019 – Caeleb Dressel 2018 – Ryan Murphy 2017 – Caeleb Dressel 2016 – Michael Phelps 2015 – Michael Phelps 2014 – Connor Jaeger 2013 – Ryan LochteRead the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 Swammy Awards: U.S. Male Swimmer Of The Year, Luca Urlando
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