Luca Urlando is now the second-fastest American in history behind Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly after crushing his personal best on Friday.
Urlando, 17th in his Olympic debut in Paris, won the 200m fly in 1:52.37 at a Tyr Pro Series stop in Sacramento.
Urlando's previous best time was 1:53.84 from 2019, when he broke Phelps’ national 17-18 age group record.
Now, Urlando is the fourth-fastest man in history globally across all ages behind the last three Olympic gold medalists: Hungary's Kristof Milak (1:50.34 world record), France's Leon Marchand (1:51.21 Olympic record) and Phelps (1:51.51 American record).
Urlando dislocated his left shoulder three times from 2020 to 2022, undergoing surgery after the third dislocation, before coming back to make the Paris Olympic team.
Last Saturday, Urlando, a redshirt senior at Georgia, won his first NCAA title in the 200-yard butterlfy.
"It (the NCAA title) proved that everything I've been doing the past few years is for a reason," Urlando said on Peacock on Friday. "Just got to keep building off each performance."
The Tyr Pro Series Sacramento stop concludes with finals Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, live on the USA Swimming Network.
CNBC airs Sacramento highlights Saturday at noon ET.
American swimmers are preparing for the national championships from June 3-7 in Indianapolis, where the team will be determined for the World Championships in July and August in Singapore.
