Ilya Kharun can’t represent the U.S. internationally until later this year, but he’s already a national champion.
Kharun won the 50m butterfly at the Toyota USA Swimming National Championships in 22.59 seconds, the fastest time ever in a U.S. pool.
Kharun won by 27 hundredths over nine-time Olympic gold medalist Caeleb Dressel, who is the second-fastest man in history in the event that makes its Olympic debut in 2028. Dressel swam his fastest 50m fly since winning the 2022 World title.
Kharun, the 2024 Olympic bronze medalist in the 100m and 200m flies for Canada, was born in Montreal while his parents worked as traveling acrobats for Cirque du Soleil. He grew up in Las Vegas.
SWIMMING NATIONALS: Results | Broadcast Schedule
“I’m a part of the team now,” Kharun said on the NBC Sports broadcast. “I’m just very happy to be with the big dogs, I guess.”
Kharun announced in January that he was switching his national representation to the U.S. He has to sit out international meets for a year before he can start competing for the U.S. later in 2026.
“I’ve lived in America my whole life,” Kharun posted in January. “I’ve never represented a club team outside of USA Swimming. I’ve got a long career left as a swimmer and I’d like to be based at home. And that home is in the USA.”
Nationals continue Thursday with finals live at 9 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
Also Wednesday, Anna Moesch won the women’s 200m freestyle in a personal best 1:55.05, one day after breaking her own American record in the 100m free.
Moesch is now the fifth-fastest American in history in the 200m free behind Allison Schmitt, Katie Ledecky, Claire Weinstein and Missy Franklin.
Ryan Erisman, 19, took the men’s 200m free in a personal best 1:45.23, right after his younger sister, 17-year-old Rylee, was runner-up in the women’s 200m free in a personal best 1:55.86.
Luka Mijatovic, 17, won the men’s 18-and-under final in the 200m free in 1:46.04, just five hundredths off Michael Phelps’ national age group record for 17- and 18-year-olds. Mijatovic’s national age group record for 15- and 16-year-olds -- 1:45.92 from last year -- is actually faster than Phelps’ 17-18 record.
Last summer, Mijatovic became the youngest U.S. male swimmer at a World Championships since Phelps’ first worlds in 2001.
Josh Bey, a rising sophomore at Indiana, won the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:07.58, chopping 2.48 seconds off his personal best going into the meet. He now ranks second in the world this year behind Shin Ohashi of Japan (world junior record 2:06.59).
Isabelle Stadden ran away with the women’s 200m backstroke in 2:04.76, winning by 2.32 seconds.
Back in May, Stadden swam 2:04.37 to become the fourth-fastest woman in history behind Australian Kaylee McKeown and Americans Regan Smith and Missy Franklin.
