Ilya Kharun Ready to Seize Opportunity in First U.S. Selection Meet
Four years ago, Ilya Kharun was slated to represent the United States at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, only to lose his spot on the team because he was not an American citizen. Kharun had grown up in Las Vegas but was born in Montreal, Canada. He quickly pivoted and latched onto the Canadian national team, putting together an impressive run of results, including bronze medals at the Olympics and World Championships plus a short course world title in December 2024.
But early this year, Kharun announced his plans to shift his sporting nationality to the United States. He has not represented his former country in more than a year, making him eligible for selection onto the Short Course World Championships team for USA Swimming. This week, Kharun will race in four events at the U.S. selection meet in Westmont, Ill., and he enters as the favorite in all three butterfly disciplines.
Kharun already showed the country what he is capable of with his long course performances at U.S. Nationals in early August. After finishing second behind world champion Luca Urlando in the 200 fly with a time of 1:54.59, Kharun threw down lifetime bests of 22.59 in the 50 fly and 50.05 in the 100-meter race, edging Caeleb Dressel on both occasions. Kharun’s times made him the fourth-fastest swimmer in the world this year in both sprint events while moving him to seventh all-time in the 50 fly and eighth in the 100. Among Americans, the only swimmers to ever swim quicker times are Dressel and, in the 100, Michael Phelps.
Ilya Kharun — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Now, Kharun turns his attention to short course meters, a format in which he proved very adept as recently as last fall, when he won seven victories on the Word Cup circuit. Kharun swept the 50 and 200 fly at all three meets while grabbing second in the 100 on each occasion and picking up one win in the 50 free — coincidentally, in the same Westmont pool in which these trials will take place.
For the 50 fly, Kharun owns a best time of 21.67, a time which ranks fourth in history and sits well under the American record of 21.99, which was set by Tom Shields in 2021. Kharun sits sixth all-time in the 100 with his 48.35, and he could come within range of record territory either in Westmont or at the Short Course World Championships in Beijing. Josh Liendo, Kharun’s former Canadian teammate, owns the global mark at 47.68, with Dressel’s American record sitting at 47.78.
Further, Kharun ranks tied for second all-time in the 200-meter race at 1:48.24, behind only Tomoru Honda’s world record. The psych sheet has Kharun entered more than 2.5 seconds clear of the field, but he will have to fend off Urlando; like many American standouts, Urlando has not raced short course meters in several years, forcing him to use a long course entry time for this meet.
Kharun’s fourth event will be the 50 free, an event in which he has exceled in during short course meters and short course yards competition (including 17-second relay splits), largely thanks to his powerful underwater dolphin kickouts. In potentially one of the meet’s top contests, Kharun will contest with Dressel, Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano for spots on the American team, with only two available.
Assuming all goes well at the selection meet, Kharun will set himself up for a big program in Beijing; in addition to his individual events, he could factor into American plans in five different relays: the men’s 400 medley and 400 free relays plus the mixed-gender 400 medley, 200 medley and 200 free. A strong medal run there would only be a preview for what Kharun can do when he arrives at the even-higher-stakes long course competitions to come within the next two years.