Can American Men’s Backstroke Make Jump in 2026? First Test This Week
Traditionally dominant in the men’s backstroke events, the United States had a dreadful performance at last year’s World Championships. Ryan Murphy was on hiatus from racing and absent from the team for the first time in a decade, and many of the swimmers who qualified became ill. The results included a fifth-place finish in the 50-meter race from Quintin McCarty, 12th in the 200 back for Keaton Jones and four swims that did not advance out of prelims.
On the meet’s final day, Tommy Janton put together a solid leadoff split of 53.37 on the American men’s 400 medley relay, but that was only good enough for sixth place. It was only thanks to a heroic anchor split from Jack Alexy that the group squeezed out a bronze medal.
Improvement this year is a must, particularly in the 100 because of the relay implications. The U.S. men are building a potentially elite group, with Van Mathias emerging in sprint breaststroke, Ilya Kharun getting ready to compete for the country in 2027 and Alexy already in place for freestyle duties. But backstroke remains as a significant stumbling block.
Many of the top contenders in the stroke will be in Fort Lauderdale this week to race against an elite field. Who better to provide a challenge than Hubert Kos? The Hungarian has gone undefeated in the 200 back for three years running, and his sprinting has become elite as well, as evidenced by his results at the recent NCAA Championships. The Americans in the mix this week include two with 52-second 100 backstroke swims in their history.
Daniel Diehl — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
First is Jack Aikins, who qualified for both the 100 and 200-meter races at Worlds before he was among the American team members most affected by illness at Worlds. Aikins owns a 100-meter best time of 52.74, set on his way to third place at the 2024 Olympic Trials. The other is Daniel Diehl, who went 52.94 on the way to bronze at last year’s World University Games. That performance qualified Diehl for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships, his first appearance on a senior-level U.S. roster.
The group contesting the 100 back includes four other Americans with seed times under 54: Gavin Keough and Hudson Williams, teammates of McCarty and Diehl at NC State, plus Florida’s Aiden Norman and Virginia’s David King.
Last year’s top 50 backstrokers were McCarty and Shaine Casas, and that is the event where an American has the best chance of taking down Kos this week. As for the 200, there are two Virginia-trained swimmers showing serious potential. First is Aikins, whose 2025 best time of 1:54.25 surpassed the eventual bronze-medal-winning time from Worlds. King, meanwhile, recently swam a 200-yard time of 1:37.43 to take third in the event at the NCAA Championships, making himself the 14th-fastest swimmer in history. Additionally, Diehl has been as fast as 1:55.08, and he won bronze in the event at WUGs.
The backstroking players not attending the Fort Lauderdale meet include Jones, who narrowly missed an Olympic medal in the 200 back in Paris, and Will Modglin. During his junior season at Texas, Modglin set an American record in the 100-yard back after a breakout summer in which he went 52.54 for silver in the 100-meter back at the World University Games. Modglin is another swimmer who parlayed his WUGs success into a berth at Pan Pacs.