By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
See all of our 2025 Swammy Awards here
Happy New Year! For the second year, we have decided to split up the top 10 races of 2025 into yards races and meters races to ensure that swims in both courses get the recognition they deserve.
This is the yards edition of our top 10 swims of 2025, and we are looking at some of the best swims in SCY through both the NCAA season and the USA Swimming meets. It is important to note that this is not an American/NCAA record ranking list, and that we did our best to consider a variety of factors in these rankings.
There were a lot of fast swims this year, and it was difficult to narrow down a top-10 and honorable mentions. This list is entirely subjective, which means you might disagree with our decisions. Feel free to share your top 10 races in the comments below.
First, we will start with some Honorable Mentions that fell just off the list:
Maximus Williamson 200 Freestyle — 2025 UIL Texas 6A State Championships: In February, Maximus Williamson swam his final Texas High School State meet. After swimming the 100 back and 200 IM all three years he was in high school, he decided to swim the 100 and 200 free his senior year and it worked out extremely well for him. In the prelims of the 200 free, he set a new National High School record time of 1:32.63. In the final, he swam a monster 1:30.46, shattering his previous record and becoming the 16th fastest performer in history at the time. This swim would have won the ACC Championships, finished 4th at the NCAA Championships, and was more than a second faster than UVA’s team record in the event. UVA Women 800 Freestyle Relay/Gretchen Walsh 200 Freestyle Leadoff — 2025 ACC Championships: At the ACC Championships in February, the Virginia women broke the NCAA record in the 800 free relay. They touched in 6:44.13 to take nearly two seconds off Stanford’s former record of 6:45.91. Gretchen Walsh led the team off in the 2nd fastest 200 freestyle in history, touching in 1:39.34 to come in behind only Missy Franklin‘s 1:39.10 NCAA record. Alex Walsh split 1:41.87 in 2nd, Aimee Canny was 1:42.03 in 3rd, and Claire Curzan anchored in 1:40.89. The four Cavalier women had the four fastest splits in the field, winning the event by more than seven seconds. Luke Hobson 200 Freestyle — 2025 NCAA Championships: Texas senior Luke Hobson won his 3rd straight NCAA title in the men’s 200 freestyle at the 2025 NCAA Championships. After not going under 1:30 a single time during the season — though he set the World Record in the SCM event in December — Hobson swam 1:29.60 to earn the top spot out of prelims in the men’s 200 freestyle. In the final, he set a new NCAA record time of 1:28.33, taking five tenths off his 2024 record time of 1:28.81. With that swim, Hobson now owns four of the top five swims in history and is the only person to swim 1:28 on two separate occasions, and he’s done it three times. Gretchen Walsh 100 Freestyle — 2025 NCAA Championships: This is not Gretchen Walsh‘s only swim on the list this year, but her 100 freestyle deserved its own spot. At the 2025 NCAA Championships, she swam 44.71 in the 100 free final to take just over a tenth off her own NCAA record time of 44.83 from 2024. Walsh is responsible for eight of the fastest swims in history and is the only woman to ever be under 45 seconds in the event. Simone Manuel comes in ranked 2nd with the 45.56 she swam in 2017, a mark Walsh has bested six different times. Caroline Bricker 400 IM — 2025 NCAA Championships: Stanford’s Caroline Bricker was not on most people’s radars as NCAA champion 400 IM when she entered college in the fall of 2023. Her best time entering her freshman year was 4:09.53, which would have earned an NCAA qualification, but was not an ‘A’ final threat. During her freshman year, she dropped to 4:02.14, which ultimately finished 4th in the race. In November of last year, she dropped to 3:59.88 at Stanford’s midseason meet, but with international team IMers Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant, she was still not the favorite to win. She didn’t let that shake her, however, and in the event final, she swam 3:57.36 to take home her first individual NCAA title, and score points crucial to Stanford’s 2nd place finish at the meet.Now it’s time to look at our top-10 starting at the #10 swim and working our way up to #1.
10. Will Modglin 100 Backstroke — 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
Texas junior Will Modglin made a statement at the 2025 Texas Hall of Fame Invite, positioning himself as the top American backstroker, at a time when the United States is desperate for one.
On the 3rd day of the meet, Modglin set a new American Record in the prelims of the men’s 100 backstroke, touching in 43.26 to drop nearly seven tenths from his previous best 43.91 and break Luca Urlando‘s American Record time of 43.35 from 2022. He also moves up to the 3rd fastest performer in history in the event with only Hubert Kos and Jonny Marshall ahead of him.
This swim signals the continued breakthrough for Modglin, who missed the United States World team this summer, and then popped a huge 52.54 at the World University Games for silver, which was the top time in the country last season.
via Wisconsin Swim & Dive YouTube
9. Rylee Erisman 200 Free — 2025 Winter Juniors East Championships
At the 2025 Winter Juniors East Championships, 16-year-old Rylee Erisman blasted a few new National Age Group records and absolutely mind boggling swims. The most impressive of them was her 200 freestyle on day three of the meet.
After splitting 1:41.86 on the 800 freestyle relay to open the meet and swimming 4:34 in the 500 on day two, all eyes were on her for the girls’ 200 free final, and she delivered. Touching in 1:40.93, Erisman shattered Katie Ledecky‘s 2013 NAG record of 1:42.03 to become the 16th fastest performer in history in the event. She is now the 2nd fastest 15-16 girl in history, only three tenths slower than Summer McIntosh‘s 1:40.63 that she set in 2022.
Erisman recently reclassified to join the high school class of 2026, and she will be swimming at Cal in the fall.
*There is no race video available
8. Men’s 100 Free Final — 2025 SEC Championships
One of the top conversations surrounding the 2025 SEC Championships and NCAA Championships was the upcoming race between Tennessee senior Jordan Crooks and Florida junior Josh Liendo.
In prelims at the SEC Championships, Crooks set a new SEC Championship record time of 40.58 to take more than two tenths off Liendo’s 40.82 from the 2024 meet. This put more emphasis on the finals showdown between the two swimmers.
In the final, Crooks and Liendo were in lanes directly next to each other. Liendo surprisingly got out first, turning in 18.98 to take over the lead by nearly three tenths ahead of Crooks, who split 19.25. Crooks, who normally gets out fast, came back hard, splitting 21.20 on the final 50 to catch Liendo’s 21.20. The two swimmers ultimately touched in an exact tie of 40.45, breaking the SEC meet record in the event and building more tension for their ultimate showdown at the NCAA Championships the next month.
via Eamon Monaghan on YouTube
7. Luke Mijatovic 1000 Freestyle — 2025 Pleasanton Seahawks SC Senior 2
Luka Mijatovic has been making his mark on the National Age Group Record books for a few years now, and 2025 has been no different. In November, he swam the 1000 freestyle at a club meet in California, touching in 8:37.01 to shatter his own 15-16 NAG record with a more than five second drop.
His previous best time, and NAG record stood at 8:42.45 from February, which was three seconds faster than the pre-Mijatovic NAG from 2015. This swim was also faster than Ethan Ekk‘s 17-18 NAG of 8:42.25 and it was the 5th fastest 1000 freestyle performance in history, not counting opening splits of miles.
He has since dropped a bit from that time, swimming 8:36.71 at the CA/NV December Sectionals at the end of December, but his November swim earned the spot on this ranking due to the massive drop.
Watch Mijatovic’s 8:36.71 here.
6. Hubert Kos 200 Backstroke — 2025 NCAA Championships
Hungarian backstroker Hubert Kos had an excellent year that culminated with SCM World Records in the 100 and 200 backstroke at the 2025 World Cup in Toronto. His year started off strong as well, and at the 2025 NCAA Championships in March, Kos set new NCAA records in both the 100 and 200 backstroke, but his 200 backstroke is what earned a spot on this list.
Despite winning the Olympic title in 2024, Kos, who was a junior last year, had never won an NCAA Championship in the event. In 2024, Kos broke the NCAA record at the PAC-12 Championships in 1:35.69 but a month later, Destin Lasco swam 1:35.37 to win the NCAA title and take the record.
This year, Kos was the top seed going in to the finals, swimming 1:36.08 in the prelims to lock up the top spot. In the final, he obliterated the former record time, swimming 1:34.21 to take more than a second off Lasco’s record and win the event by more than two seconds over Lasco.
via NCAA Championships on YouTube
5. Luca Urlando 200 Fly — 2025 NCAA Championships
Luca Urlando has gotten a lot of attention in our end of year awards due to his huge comeback this year that ultimately led to a World Championship gold medal after more than half-a-decade of struggling with injury.
His comeback year started with a new NCAA record in the men’s 200 fly in January, when he touched in 1:37.17 to take two tenths off Jack Conger‘s 2017 record time of 1:37.35.
At the 2025 NCAA Championships, Urlando took the top spot in prelims, tying Conger’s former record of 1:37.35. In the final, he blasted a 1:36.43, taking more than half-a-second off his own NCAA Record in the event to pick up his first ever NCAA title and become the first person in history under 1:37.
via NCAA Championships YouTube
4. Jordan Crooks 100 Freestyle — 2025 NCAA Championships
Jordan Crooks is the only swimmer to earn two spots on the top-10 list, and his 100 freestyle at the 2025 NCAA Championships was easily one of the top swims of 2025.
Coming into the meet, Crooks and Josh Liendo were locked in a fierce competition for the top spot as both hunted Caeleb Dressel‘s seemingly impossible NCAA record of 39.90. Their best times were separated by only six hundredths with Liendo’s coming in at 40.20 and Crooks sitting at 40.26.
In the prelims, Jordan Crooks came out hot, swimming 39.83 to drop four tenths and take seven hundredths off Dressel’s record. He became just the 2nd man in history to break 40 seconds in the event and locked up the middle lane for finals.
In the final, Josh Liendo actually took home the title, becoming the 3rd person to break 40 seconds with his 39.99.
via Aqua Knuckles on YouTube
3. Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay — 2025 NCAA Championships
Our pick for the top male SCY race of 2025 goes to the men’s 800 freestyle relay at the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Texas seemed to be the clear favorites coming into the meet with the group of Luke Hobson, Rex Maurer, Chris Guiliano, and Coby Carrozza seeming untouchable. Cal was the reigning NCAA champion and the NCAA record holders, though, and they did not falter.
Cal was out behind Texas during the first 400 yards of the race with Jack Alexy splitting 1:30.02 and Gabriel Jett splitting 1:29.16. Jett made up a lot of ground for the Bears, touching just over a tenth behind the Longhorn team.
The 3rd leg saw Destin Lasco split 1:29.10 to take over the lead for the Bears. On the 4th leg, Lucas Henveaux had a difficult relay start, heading straight to the bottom of the pool which he said in the post-race interview was a result of his streamline splitting. Texas briefly took back over the lead at the 650as a result, but Henveaux was able to take it back, splitting 1:31.47 to bring the Cal men home in 5:59.75, officially making them the first team under 6:00 in history.
via NCAA Championships on YouTube
2. Gretchen Walsh 100 Butterfly — 2025 NCAA Championships
The top two swims on this list could easily flip places, and it was incredibly difficult to determine which swim belonged where. Ultimately, I went with Gretchen Walsh‘s 100 fly from NCAAs in the 2nd position.
In 2021, Maggie MacNeil became the first woman to break 49 seconds in the 100 fly, swimming 48.89. Since then, only three other women have swum under that barrier, including Walsh. In 2024, Walsh became the first woman to break 48 seconds, swimming 47.42 at NCAAs to break the NCAA record and win the event. She lowered that record further to 47.35 at the 2024 Tennessee Invite.
Walsh entered the NCAA Championships as the top seed, and in the prelims, she lowered her own NCAA record to swim 47.21 and lock up the middle lane for the evening’s final.
In the event final, she got out fast, turning in 21.61 before coming home in 25.36 to touch in 46.97. She again broke the NCAA record as she became the first woman in history under 47 seconds in the event. No other woman has been under 48 seconds, and Kate Douglass — the 2nd fastest performer in history — sits almost exactly a second-and-a-half back at 48.46 from the 2023 NCAA Championships.
via NCAA Championships on YouTube
1. Katie Ledecky 1650 — 2025 Katie Ledecky Invitational
The top SCY race of 2025 goes to Katie Ledecky‘s mile at the newly minted Katie Ledecky Invitational.
She swam just one race at the meet, the mile, but she made it count. In Katie Ledecky fashion, she set the fastest time in history, becoming the first woman to break 15 minutes as she touched in 14:59.62.
She came in about two seconds under her former U.S. Open and American Record time of 15:01.41 that she swam in March 2023. She wasn’t under former record pace until the 1300 mark, but she maintained her 27-mid to high splits through the last 200 yards.
She now sits 24.19 seconds ahead of the 2nd fastest performer in history in the event, Erica Sullivan, who swam 15:23.81 in 2019. With her final 50 split sitting at 26.12, this means that she would nearly lap the 2nd fastest performer.
This swim wraps up an exceptional year for the 28-year-old who is proving that age is truly just a number when you are the GOAT.
Watch the final 50 of Ledecky’s race.
Courtesy of Henry Williams
Here is to 2026 and even more fast swimming over the next 365 days.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 Swammy Awards: Top 10 Races of 2025 (Yards Edition)
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