2026 U.S. Short Course World Championship Trials
MEN’S 50M BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS
- World Record: 24.95, Emre Sakci (TUR) – 2021
American Record: 25.38, Nic Fink – 2022U.S. Open Record: 25.52, Caspar Corbeau (NED) – 2025- Beijing ‘A’ Qualification Time: 26.25
Finalists:
- Van Mathias (ISC), 25.24 *American, U.S. Open Record*
- Finn Brooks (ISC), 25.96
- Brian Benzing (TUS) / Mitch Mason (TFA), 26.22
- –
- Andy Dobrzanski (SUN), 26.69
- Jake Wang (UN), 27.21
- Kyle Falkstrom (UN), 27.41
- Brandon Fischer (TRIV), 27.69
Another day, another record for Van Mathias. The 26-year-old Indiana University pro set his third straight American Record in a breaststroke event at these Trials, blitzing the prelims of the men’s 50 breaststroke in a time of 25.24.
Mathias is now the second-fastest man in event history, and his swim is the second-fastest performance ever, behind only Emre Sakci’s mind-bending 24.95 World Record from late 2021. Mathias also took down Nic Fink’s American Record of 25.38 by 0.14 and Caspar Corbeau’s U.S. Open Record of 25.52 by 0.28, and he sits just 0.29 off Sakci’s global mark.
Coming into the day, Mathias’ official personal best was 26.02, set during the World Cup last year in Carmel. He was notably out in a rapid 25.76 in last night’s 100 breast final, where he broke the World Record (55.14).
Mathias now turns his attention to tonight’s final, where he’ll be the heavy favorite. His 25.24 is 0.72 clear of second-ranked Finn Brooks (25.96) and nearly a full second ahead of Brian Benzing and Mitch Mason, who tied for third in 26.22.
Assuming he goes on to compete at his first-ever Short Course World Championships, Mathias will likely start as the gold-medal favorite in both the 50 and 100 breast, as he currently leads the world rankings in the 50 by nearly two tenths and is one of just two swimmers to have cracked 25.6 this season:
| 2 | Taku Taniguchi |
JPN | 25.43 | 10/11 |
| 3 | Haiyang QIN |
CHN | 25.67 | 10/02 |
| 3 | Michael HOULIE |
RSA | 25.67 | 10/09 |
| 5 | Kirill PRIGODA |
RUS | 25.77 | 10/15 |
The rankings list may take a few minutes to update.
Race Video
Courtesy: USA Swimming
Mathias is still slated to take on the 50 fly tomorrow, where he’s seeded fourth. Ilya Kharun is the clear favorite to win the event, but the battle for the second roster spot is expected to be tight between Mathias, Caeleb Dressel, Tyler Ray, and Brooks.
After primarily being a mid-distance butterfly specialist his whole career, Mathias switched up his training during his fifth year at Indiana and became an NCAA All-American in sprint free and breaststroke. He earned his best-ever NCAA finish with a runner-up performance in the 100 breast, along with a 22.53 50 breast split that ranks among the fastest in history. Following those 2023 NCAAs, Mathias stepped away from competing and went on to become IU Swimming’s Director of Operations.
In June 2025, when Mathias and the IU coaching staff saw the results from the U.S. Trials (LCM), they all thought that Mathias could be up there with the best. Eight weeks of training later and Mathias competed at U.S. Nationals in Irvine, qualifying for the Pan Pacific Championship team with a 26.76 win in the 50 breast. Since then, Mathias has dropped his 50 breast from 26.76 to 26.57, then 26.39 and finally an American Record 26.30. In the 100 breast, he went from 1:03.90 to 1:01.43, then 59.74, 59.45 and 58.19 before breaking Michael Andrew’s American Record with a 58.01.
At the Pan Pacific Championships (LCM) over the summer, Mathias proved he could excel when medals were on the line. He won gold in the 100 breast in 58.02, took silver in the 50 breast in 26.42 and silver in the 50 butterfly in a personal-best 22.84. He also earned gold as part of both U.S. medley relays, including the world-record-setting mixed 4×100 medley.
Mathias continues to be the Director of Ops for IU swimming.
