Can Tess Howley Build on 2025 Breakout in 200 Butterfly?
The opening final of last year’s U.S. Nationals brought an upset as Caroline Bricker stormed past Regan Smith to steal the title in the 200 butterfly. On that same lap, the swimmer on the other side of Smith was also making a surge: Tess Howley, who had been in fifth place through the halfway point and fourth with 50 meters remaining, pushed past an accomplished field to finish third in 2:06.79. That marked a two-second time drop in one day and a huge jump from her seventh place finish at Olympic Trials one year earlier.
Howley was only getting started. The performance earned her a spot on the U.S. team at the World University Games in Germany, where the University of Virginia product shined. In the semifinal round, Howley axed a further 1.5 seconds from her lifetime best with a mark of 2:05.20, putting her into a tie for 14th all-time (now 15th) and making her the third-quickest American ever behind Smith and Mary Descenza. She backed that time up the next night with a 2:05.69, giving her gold by more than two seconds.
Those performances allowed Howley to finish the season as the third-fastest performer in the world, and her WUGs time would have been good enough to win bronze in the event at the World Championships behind Summer McIntosh and Smith. Howley qualified for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships as the second-swiftest American woman in the 200 fly. The most significant competition of her career awaits in August, with most of the top-ranked 200 fly specialists expected to race in Irvine, Calif.
Tess Howley — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Based on her performances in the 11 months since WUGs, Howley appears ready to meet the moment. During the most recent college season, Howley played a significant role in Virginia winning its consecutive national title. In the 200-yard fly, her year-to-year improvements were minimal (three tenths) as she ended up fourth in a strong field, but she took on an expanded role in other events, her 10th-place finishes in both the 100 and 200 backstroke marking Howley’s first point-scoring contributions on the national level outside of her main event.
The 21-year-old originally from Long Island showed improvement in long course when she raced at the Fort Lauderdale Open this spring. She finished third in the 200 fly behind Smith and Lindsay Looney in 2:08.26, almost two seconds ahead of the 2:10.05 she topped out at during the same meet in 2025. Her recent pattern of dropping significant swaths of time from in-season meets to championship events bodes well for this year.
Howley will race again this week at the Indianapolis Pro Series meet, which could be her last racing stop before Pan Pacs. The field in Indy will provide tough challenges with Bricker, Olympian Alex Shackell and world junior champion Audrey Derivaux all owning times in the 2:06-range or better. If Howley can drop into 2:07 territory in Indy, she will continue pointing in the right direction.
She might need that form before Pan Pacs, with a field featuring McIntosh, Smith, Bricker and Australia’s Elizabeth Dekkers, the bronze medalist from last year’s Worlds who swam her first sub-2:05 performance at last week’s Australian Championships. Lu Zidi, the 13-year-old standout from China, could also make an appearance. Navigate that field and secure a podium appearance — or even coming close — would be a great sign for the Howley becoming a consistent standout for the U.S. in the 200 fly.