By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Watson Nguyen was the upset winner of the men’s 50 breaststroke during last night’s finals session at the U.S. National Championships in Irvine, unleashing a massive drop in time to become on the of the fastest Americans ever.
The 20-year-old is coming off a strong sophomore year at Penn, including winning Ivy League titles in the 100 and 200 breast, but no one could’ve predicted what he managed to pull off on Thursday.
A member of Metroplex Aquatics, Nguyen clocked 26.96 in the prelims of the 50 breast to qualify 2nd for the final behind Michael Andrew (26.74), knocking more than a half-second off his previous best of 27.49.
Then, in the final, it looked like Andrew was on his way to victory halfway down by the pool, but Nguyen exploded over the final 15 meters, increasing his stroke rate while not slipping under the water to pull away and claim victory in a time of 26.65.
RACE VIDEO
Courtesy: USA Swimming on YouTube
The swim marked a drop of 84 one-hundredths off his personal best over the course of the day, vaulting Nguyen up into #4 all-time among American performers all-time. His previous PB ranked him well outside of the top 25.
All-Time U.S. Performers, Men’s 50 Breaststroke (LCM)
Van Mathias, 26.30 – 2026 Nic Fink, 26.45 – 2022 Michael Andrew, 26.52 – 2022 Watson Nguyen, 26.65 – 2026 Kevin Cordes, 26.76 – 2016At the 2025 U.S. National Championships, Nguyen placed 12th in the 50 breast (27.96) and 22nd in the 100 breast (1:02.23).
When asked what the first thing he thought of after victory was, Nguyen spoke about the work he’s been putting in this summer, specifically focusing on power, which clearly paid off.
“Just the work I’ve done with my coaches this whole summer. My club coaches, college coaches, just training power, lot of volume too, and a little bit of technique,” Nguyen said post-race.
After coming in as the #8 seed in the 50 breast and winning, Nguyen will now be one to watch in the 100 breast, which runs on Friday in Irvine.
Nguyen comes in as the 32nd seed with his season-best time of 1:01.87 set in May, while his lifetime best stands at 1:01.23, set back at the 2023 World Junior Championships where he was the bronze medalist.
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