NCAA Men’s Championships: Hubert Kos Cracks 100 Backstroke Record in Prelims
An unexpected challenge to Josh Liendo in the 100 butterfly showed Hubert Kos was primed for magical performances in the backstroke events at the NCAA Championships. Indeed, the Hungarian’s first backstroke appearance of the meet yielded an immediate record-setting performance.
In the sixth of seven heats of the 100 back Friday morning, Kos took down his own NCAA and U.S. Open records set last March. Kos, a senior at Texas, showed off some newfound speed, going out in 20.71 through the 50-yard mark to easily out-pace the 20.99 he clocked in last year’s record-setting effort. His return trip was a tad slower than in 2025, but it was still enough for Kos to reach the wall in 43.08, 0.12 better than his previous record of 43.20.
Kos only won this title by two hundredths over Florida’s Jonny Marshall last season, and his Texas teammate Will Modglin broke the American record earlier this year to the meet as top seed. Still, this record means Kos will be the huge favorite in the evening final.
Also impressing in the morning was Georgia’s Ruard Van Renen, who was the third-place finisher last year. Van Renen touched in 43.41 to earn the second seed for the evening. In the process, Van Renen blasted his previous best time by four tenths and jumped into the all-time top-five in the event, knocking four-time NCAA champion Ryan Murphy out of that perch.
Also under 43 was Indiana’s Owen McDonald, who went 43.98, while Notre Dame’s Marcus Reyes-Gentry (44.07) and Modglin (44.08) positioned themselves among the contenders. Adam Chaney, who has participated in both of Arizona State’s winning relays this week, was sixth (44.25), with Army’s Johnny Crush and NC State’s Aiden Hayes also advancing to the evening swim. Hayes finished four hundredths ahead of Wolfpack teammate Quintin McCarty.
Surprisingly, Marshall faded badly in the heats and dropped into 17th place, his time of 44.90 well behind his 2025 best of 43.22. That dealt a blow to the Florida Gators, currently in second place in the team competition and desperately seeking any points as they chase Texas in the standings.
Event 10 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
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NCAA: N 43.20 3/28/2025 Hubert Kos, Texas
Meet: M 43.20 3/28/2025 Hubert Kos, Texas
American: A 43.26 11/19/2025Will Modglin, Texas
U. S. Open: O 43.20 3/28/2025 Hubert Kos, Texas
Pool: P 43.35 3/25/2022 Luca Urlando, Georgia
Name Year School Seed Prelims
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=== Preliminaries ===
1 Kos, Hubert SR Texas 43.86 43.08N
r:+0.63 10.03 20.71 (10.68)
31.80 (11.09) 43.08 (11.28)
2 Van Renen, Ruard SR Georgia 43.92 43.41
r:+0.55 10.15 21.12 (10.97)
32.29 (11.17) 43.41 (11.12)
3 McDonald, Owen SR Indiana 44.13 43.98
r:+0.70 10.49 21.41 (10.92)
32.75 (11.34) 43.98 (11.23)
4 Reyes-Gentry, Marcus JR Notre Dame 44.59 44.07
r:+0.58 10.12 21.04 (10.92)
32.33 (11.29) 44.07 (11.74)
5 Modglin, Will JR Texas 43.26 44.08
r:+0.64 9.92 21.01 (11.09)
32.47 (11.46) 44.08 (11.61)
6 Chaney, Adam 5Y ASU 43.93 44.25
r:+0.82 10.24 21.24 (11.00)
32.66 (11.42) 44.25 (11.59)
7 Crush, Johnny SO Army 44.10 44.32
r:+0.74 10.16 21.05 (10.89)
32.62 (11.57) 44.32 (11.70)
8 Hayes, Aiden 5Y NC State 44.93 44.45
r:+0.59 10.45 21.67 (11.22)
33.08 (11.41) 44.45 (11.37)
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