U.S. Nationals, Day Four Men’s Finals: Alexei Avakov Pulls Away in 100 Breaststroke, Joins Sub-59 Club
This year’s U.S. Nationals has produced a new series of standout American breaststrokers, with Josh Bey and Gabe Nunziata going 2:07s in the 200-meter race before Watson Nguyen pulled off a shock win in the 50. Now, Alexei Avakov has joined that group with his big win in the 100 breast final. Avakov, heading into his junior season with the Indiana Hoosiers, became the latest swimmer to go sub-59 in the 100 breast Friday evening.
Earlier in the session, Luka Mijatovic had surpassed Ryan Erisman in a brilliant 400 freestyle performance, crushing his own National Age Group record in the process. The session finished with the 100 backstroke, where Owen McDonald entered as the top seed.
Men’s 400 Freestyle
Ryan Erisman had already won two national titles this week in the 200 free and 400 IM, and he led almost the entire way in this 400 free, but Luka Mijatovic had one final surge left. Having not let Erisman get too far ahead, Mijatovic surged into the lead with a 27.53 split on the final length.
That brought Mijatovic to the wall in 3:43.45, making him the fifth-fastest swimmer in the world this year and fifth-fastest American in history. Mijatovic crushed his own National Age Group record in the 17-18 age group, having previously topped out at 3:45.20. Erisman grabbed second in 3:44.39, just off his best time of 3:44.03 from May but still a strong swim as he beat his 2025 best time by two seconds. Will Mulgrew, the winner in the 1500 free three days earlier, finished third (3:47.88).
Men’s 100 Breaststroke
At last year’s U.S. Nationals, Alexei Avakov finished 10th in the 100 breaststroke, his time of 1:00.85 already marking a lifetime best by more than a second. Since then, Avakov has exploded into one of the country’s best in the event. Avakov first broke the 1:00 barrier in August before getting down to 59.45 in December. After another best time of 59.29 in prelims at Nationals, Avakov has taken another step forward with his first sub-59 performance.
In the final, Avakov had to fend off an early challenge from Watson Nguyen, the winner already at this meet in the 50 breast. But on the second length, Avakov’s split of 31.42 was vastly superior to anyone else in the field as he jumped out to a bodylength advantage. The 20-year-old came into the wall in 58.87, making Avakov the sixth-fastest swimmer in the world this year. He now sits in a tie as the seventh-quickest American in history.
Nate Germonprez also swam a best time here, clocking 59.51 for second place, while Nguyen swam under 1:00 for the first time in his career, holding on for third in 59.79. Nguyen had originally missed out on the championship final before Josh Matheny scratched to maintain his focus on the upcoming Pan Pacific Championships.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
In the last championship heat of the night, Jack Wilkening held the lead through the first half of the 100 back, but that changed as Owen McDonald battled back. A powerful underwater dolphin kickout completely changed the race as McDonald pulled into the lead and maintained the tempo down the stretch. A final split of 27.47 helped McDonald to a time of 53.43, five hundredths better than his lifetime best from prelims. For the entire day, McDonald dropped almost seven tenths from his previous best of 54.12.
Ulises Saravia almost matched McDonald on the back half, and he finished second in 53.70. Wilkening, slowed when he ran into the lane line in the final 25 meters, ended up third in 53.78. The rest of the heat all swam times between 54.0 and 54.5.
