![\"Winner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2227017070-GI.JPG\" "\\"U.S.")
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U.S. swimmer Luca Urlando reacts after winning the final of the men’s 200-meter butterfly swimming event during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 30.<\/p>\n
OLI SCARFF<\/p>\n
AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The journey has been anything but linear for Luca Urlando, even as he dedicates his life to the swim lane.<\/p>\n
After drawing comparisons to Michael Phelps as a teenager, the now-24-year-old Sacramento native has dealt with multiple injuries that have threatened his swimming career. Urlando missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by a fraction of a second<\/a>, placing third among Americans, and missed the 2024 Paris Olympics semifinals by one spot<\/a>, placing 17th.<\/p>\n But now, he might be peaking at just the right time.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery setback has made me better in some way or form,\u201d Urlando said in an interview Thursday at the North Natomas Aquatics Complex. \u201cIf I execute my race strategy and really hone in on some other details outside the pool, I\u2019ll get those results that I have really dreamed about.\u201d<\/p>\n Those results, he hopes, will come at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where he is expected to at least be in contention for one of the top spots. Urlando holds the American record in the 200-yard butterfly with a 1:36.41 he swam in November 2025. The Olympic 200 is in meters (about 219 yards).<\/p>\n Training begins for 2028<\/p>\n With 2028 already in his mind, Urlando had initially been scheduled to kick off his competitive prep this week at a TYR Pro Series meet<\/a> in Sacramento at the North Natomas Aquatics Complex.<\/p>\n However, his appearance was scratched due to the lingering effects of a \u201cminor injury\u201d that kept him out of March\u2019s NCAA Championship while with the University of Georgia, though he still attended and signed autographs Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had about a month back into full training, so my coach and I decided that it wouldn\u2019t be best to compete right now, as I\u2019m still kind of getting back in shape,\u201d Urlando said. \u201cI\u2019m confident with the program that we have and looking forward to competing later this summer.\u201d<\/p>\n The TYR Pro Series is USA Swimming\u2019s traveling professional competition series and the Natomas event was hosted by DART Swimming, which Urlando was a part of before going to college, including during his time as a student at McClatchy High School<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since coming home from Georgia after his final season with the Bulldogs swim team, Urlando said he has been training with DART coach Billy Doughty, who he worked with for years before college.<\/p>\n Though he\u2019s been at Georgia for the bulk of the last six years, Urlando said he\u2019s excited to be back in Sacramento for his training and still remembers everything he loves about the city.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really cool,\u201d Urlando said of being home. \u201cSpringtime is always my favorite time in Sacramento. Before it gets too hot, everything\u2019s blooming. Allergies are not great right now, but no, it\u2019s great to be back. My tan is back again, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Time at Georgia had ups and downs<\/p>\n At Georgia, Urlando made a lot of history in the pool, but also had his fair share of low points, including when he had to sit out of the NCAA Championships in March, which he said he is \u201cstill processing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt hurt a lot to watch,\u201d Urlando said. \u201cOverall, I\u2019ve had an extremely positive experience at Georgia. If you\u2019re there for six years, I think it was pretty solid.\u201d<\/p>\n Urlando held the American record in the 100-yard backstroke for three years, and he holds Georgia records in a variety of events including the 200-yard individual medley, freestyle relays and others, showing his diversity of strengths.<\/p>\n However, his big event has always been the 200-yard butterfly, even back to his days at DART Swimming.<\/p>\n \u201cFly chose me,\u201d Urlando said.<\/p>\n As a freshman prodigy at Georgia, Urlando placed fourth at the NCAA Championships in the 200 butterfly during the 2020-21 season, before finishing second the next year.<\/p>\n A shoulder injury just after he missed out on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics took Urlando out of competition for most of the season and led to him redshirting the year after in preparation for the 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n With the top 16 swimmers advancing to the semifinals in Paris, Urlando placed 17th on July 30, 2024, with a 1:56.18 after getting caught at the last minute, another setback in a career that had once looked like it would produce a sure-thing Olympic champion.<\/p>\n But that was only the beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say just really trying to learn as much as possible from either mistakes or in possible improvements,\u201d Urlando said of his takeaways from the 2024 Olympics. \u201cI\u2019m taking this sport with grace, and really appreciating the high moments, and working through the low ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Will injury be a setback for 2028?<\/p>\n Before his injury earlier this year, Urlando appeared to hit his stride after the Paris Olympics, swimming a 1:51.87 in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2025 World Championships, the second-fastest American time in history, behind Phelps (1:51.51).<\/p>\n \u201cIt has felt like a six-year process to get back to this moment,\u201d Urlando said in an interview on Peacock<\/a> after the race. \u201cA lot of doubt, a lot of really hard times, a lot of things that people don\u2019t see on an everyday basis. \u2026 Obviously, doing it on a world stage like this is just absolutely amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether his current injury will impact his 200 butterfly time significantly is still unclear, though this wouldn\u2019t be the first time Urlando bounced back from an injury.<\/p>\n One thing Urlando said he has learned by dealing with multiple injuries is to be patient with himself during the recovery process.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m understanding that it\u2019s going to be a journey to get to the next meet and really just trying to listen as much as possible to what my body and my mind need at the moment and then just taking it one day at a time and progressing from there,\u201d Urlando said.<\/p>\n In 2019, Phelps told the New York Times<\/a> that Urlando, then 17, \u201chas talent,\u201d as the Sacramento youngster looked to take the 28-time-medalist\u2019s helm at the forefront of the 200-meter butterfly, in which Phelps held the world record from 2001 until July 2019, when Phelps\u2019 mark was overtaken by Krist\u00f3f Mil\u00e1k of Hungary.<\/p>\n Urlando said he will always look up to Phelps and said he is excited to have another American competing at the highest level in the 200 butterfly.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of me is still in that mindset that I\u2019m 12-years-old and all these are still dreams of mine to do,\u201d Urlando said. \u201cDoing them is like a whole \u2018nother feeling and it\u2019s really out-of-body.\u201d<\/p>\n Urlando said he will be back in the pool by the U.S. National Championships beginning July 28 in Irvine, as the road to L.A. begins for the Sacramento native.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n![\"US'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2227016893-GI.JPG\" "\\"2227016893-GI.JPG\\"")
U.S. swimmer Luca Urlando celebrates with the United States flag after winning the final of the men’s 200-meter butterfly swimming event during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on July 30, 2025. MANAN VATSYAYANA AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"SINGAPORE,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2227691633-GI.JPG\" "\\"2227691633-GI.JPG\\"")
Luca Urlando of Team United States competes in the men\u2019s 200-meter butterfly final during the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 30 in Singapore. Adam Pretty Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"STANFORD,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1165429640-GI.JPG\" "\\"1165429640-GI.JPG\\"")
Luca Urlando warms up before the men’s 200-meter butterfly final during Day 1 of the Phillips 66 National Championships on July 31, 2019 in Stanford. Lachlan Cunningham Getty Images <\/p>\n
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