arena Swim of the Week: Chris Guiliano Lands Worlds Berth After Seismic Drop In 100 Free

Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.

Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

There have been quite a few surprises through the first three nights of competition at the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, but among the new names set to represent the U.S. on the major international stage this summer, no one stands out quite like Chris Guiliano.

Despite coming off a breakout sophomore season at Notre Dame, Guiliano wasn’t really on the radar as a potential member of the U.S. men’s 400 free relay at the World Championships this summer—let alone the 100 free individually.

For what it’s worth, he did go on an absolute tear during the 2023 NCAA postseason, producing three 18-point 50 frees, six sub-42 100 frees, and winning the ACC title in the 200 free to boot.

But still, Guiliano was a relatively unproven swimmer in the big pool entering the 2023 long course season, and it’s clear that the World Championships wasn’t even on his radar as he committed to representing the U.S. at the World University Games in China later this summer, which coincide with Worlds.

But the 20-year-old had started to show signs he could perform in long course, first clocking 49.17 in the 100 free for a new lifetime best at the U.S. Open in December, and followed up with a pair of 49.2 in-season swims in the spring following NCAAs.

During the opening session of Nationals, Guiliano then took off exactly one second in the 100 free in 48.17 to qualify for the ‘A’ final, qualifying seventh as four swimmers cracked 48 seconds.

Although Caeleb Dressel was missing from the big heat, the established names atop the bill such as Ryan Held and Jack Alexy figured to be the big favorites to book individual spots at Worlds, with Guiliano, out in Lane 1, still flying under the radar.

But the rising Notre Dame junior delivered in every way in the final, moving up from sixth at the turn to take second in 47.98, earning an individual berth in the 100 free in Fukuoka in a razor-thin race that saw Alexy (47.93) earn the victory and Matt King (47.99) .01 back of Guiliano in third.

Split Comparison

With the taper for Nationals, Guliano clearly found some extra speed, opening sub-23 in both prelims and finals after he was 23.7 earlier in the season, but relative to the field, the real difference came on the back half.

His closing split of 25.32 in the prelims ranked seventh among the eight ‘A’ finalists, and in the final, his second 50 of 25.04 was the second-fastest.

Guiliano came into Tuesday having never broken 49 seconds in the 100 free, and by the end of the night he became the 17th American under the 48-second barrier.

See arena North America here.

Follow arena USA on Instagram here.

About arena

arena has revolutionized the world of aquatic sport through insightful collaboration with world class athletes and the development of cutting edge competitive swimwear since 1973. Today, this spirit of collaboration and innovation lives on through a continuous evolution of advanced materials and Italian design that improves the performance, style and expression of all those who chose arena. From leading the lanes to living in style, arena is dedicated to providing all swimmers with the tools they need to express themselves, feel confident, win and achieve more. Because in arena, you can.