Preview of the 2025 World Championships: Hubert Kos Maintains Lead Against American Duo in Men’s 200 Backstroke

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entry Book
• Live Results
• SwimSwam Preview Index

Men’s 200 Backstroke: By the Numbers

• World Record: 1:51.92– Aaron Peirsol, United States (2009)
• World Junior Record: 1:55.14– Kliment Kolesnikov, Russia (2017
• World Championships Record: 1:51.92– Aaron Peirsol, United States (2009)
• 2023 World Champion: Hubert Kos (HUN)- 1:54.14
• 2024 Olympic Champion: Hubert Kos (HUN)- 1:54.26

Returning Olympic Finalists: Gold- Hubert Kos (Hungary), Bronze- Roman Mityukov (SUI), 4th- Keaton Jones (USA), 7th- Pieter Coetze (RSA), 8th- Lukas Märtens (GER)

The men’s 200 backstroke is one of the closest 200 races, based purely on times, at these World Championships. The top five seeds in the event fall within six tenths of one another from 1:54.25 to 1:54.85.

The same is true for the collection of athletes from 6th-11th with seed times from 1:55.39-1:55.97. We could be looking at not only an exciting race for the podium, but also for finals places.

The Champion

Hubert Kos from Hungary is coming into the meet as the reigning Olympic Champion and the 2023 World Champion, but he is the 2nd seed in the event behind American Jack Aikins.

Kos swam 1:54.26 in Paris to win the gold by just over half-a-second. This time was just over a tenth off his lifetime best of 1:54.14 that he swam to win the event at the 2023 Worlds.

Hubert Kos (photo: Jack Spitser)

His fastest time this season comes from the 1:55.50 he set at the Longhorn Elite Invite in May which has him sitting in 5th in the World this year, but, as mentioned above, he is the 2nd seed with the time he swam in Paris, just one-hundredth behind the time that the American Aikins swam at US Nationals.

Kos has had an excellent year, winning the 200 backstroke at the 2024 SC World Championships in 1:45.65, just two-hundredths off the World Record of 1:45.63. He then won the 200 back at the 2025 men’s NCAA Championships in 1:34.21, dropping more than a second from his preseason best time of 1:35.69. He has already been about half-a-second faster this year than he was at this point last year, when he went into the Olympics with a season best 1:55.95.

I don’t think it would be out of the question for Kos to drop into the 1:53 range for the first time this week, especially with everyone chasing him for the gold.

‘54 Club

After Kos, there are a few athletes who will not only be battling for spots on the podium, but also looking to upset the favorite for the gold.

Leading that charge is the American Aikins, who is coming in seeded ahead of Kos with his U.S. Nationals time of 1:54.25.

This was a massive breakout swim for him, dropping more than half-a-second from the 1:54.78 he swam to finish 3rd at last summer’s Olympic Trials. It also marked only the 2nd time he has ever been 1:54 in the event, and if he can replicate that swim he would be a strong contender for the podium.

Jack Aikins (photo: Jack Spitser)

There are a few factors impacting his potential in the event, one of which is the fact that we have not seen him execute the double taper yet. He has swum at two World Championships, the 2024 long course meet in Doha and the 2024 SC Worlds in Budapest, but neither of these meets required a qualifying meet in the month before. He does have experience swimming in the NCAA and competing at conference and then the NCAA Championships, but that is a slightly different situation.

This question is even more impacted by the reports about the American swimmers with food poisoning. If he is one of the affected athletes, it could make this schedule even harder, but the 200 backstroke is later in the meet, so he will have more time to recover if he needs it.

After Aikins and Kos, we have another American as the 4th seed, Keaton Jones. Jones was one of the two United States athletes in the 200 backstroke in Paris, and he was the only one to final, ultimately finishing just outside of medal position in 4th. He is seeded with the 1:54.61 he swam at the U.S. Olympic Trials last summer, but he hasn’t been too far off that this year, swimming 1:54.85 at Nationals to be 3rd in the world.

Jones, who could also be impacted by the American food poisoning issues, was off his times at the Olympics last summer, ultimately swimming 1:55.39 in the final. One of the things that is going for him, though, is that he did not seem to be affected by the semifinals schedule, getting faster by about a second in each iteration from the prelims to finals. He is a solid finals contender, and could end up on the podium with the right swim.

The 4th seed sits just behind Jones with a seed time of 1:54.66. Greek swimmer Apostolos Siskos has taken the place of his fellow Greek athlete and Olympic silver medalist, with whom he shares a first name, Apostolos Christou who is only swimming the 50 and 100 backstroke events next week. Siskos has slotted into the event nicely, however, coming in with the 2nd fastest time in the world this year from Greek Nationals.

Siskos was 14th in the semifinals last summer, but he will be looking to move up those rankings significantly, and he is poised to do so, having already dropped almost eight tenths from his previous best time of 1:55.42 from the 2024 Euros.

The final member of our 54 club is Olympic bronze medalist from Switzerland Roman Mityukov who is seeded with the 1:54.85 he swam in Paris to set the Swiss National Record.

World Aquatics Championships – Doha 2024
02 – 18 Feb 2024
Credit Fabio Cetti

Mityukov, who also won the silver medal at the 2024 World Championships has a season best time of 1:55.64, which he swam at the Swiss Swimming Championships in April. This is just four-hundredths off the 1:55.60 he swam at the 2024 Swiss Nationals, which is a good sign for another 1:54 swim to potentially end up on the podium.

The Chase Pack

Behind the top five seeds, there are six athletes who are seeded with 1:55s, and there are some big names among them.

Jumping around a little bit, at 11th seed, we have 400 freestyle World Record holder Lukas Märtens from Germany. Märtens was 8th at the Olympics in 1:55.97, which is his lifetime best and the time he is seeded with in Singapore. The biggest factor going for him in this race is the fact that he scratched out of the 200 freestyle in order to focus on his other events, including the 200 backstroke.

Märtens has some work to do if he wants to qualify for the final, however, as 1:55.9 is probably not going to do it. His season best time is just off, though, at 1:56.00 which he swam at the German Swimming Championships in May. If he is able to drop half-a-second, he could find his way into the final.

There is a 2nd World Record holder in the event, this time in the 100 backstroke, in Italy’s Thomas Ceccon who is the 9th seed. Ceccon did not qualify for the final in Paris, finishing 9th in 1:56.59. He has been significantly faster than that mark this season, coming in at 1:55.71 from the Australian Open in April. This was a new lifetime best for him, but he has changed up his training this year, swimming with Dean Boxall in Australia, and we know he has the speed thanks to his World Record. This makes him an interesting bet for the final.

Pieter Coetze (photo: Jack Spitser)

Jumping up one spot from Ceccon, we have South African swimmer Pieter Coetze, who just made headlines for his incredible 100 backstroke at the World University Games where he set a new world leading time. He did not swim the 200 backstroke at that meet, but he finished 7th at the Olympics last summer in 1:55.60, his seed time. If his 100 backstroke is any indication about what we can expect to see, he could drop a monster swim here. He is coming off the WUGs, though, and with how late in the meet the 200 backstroke is, we have no idea if he will still be in top form by the time the final happens.

Oleksandr Zheltiakov from Ukraine, Ollie Morgan from Great Britain, and Dmitry Savenko from Russia/NAB make up the other three athletes seeded in the 1:55 range. Zheltiakov is seeded in 1:55.39 which he swam last June, and he is the top seeded 1:55 swimmer. He had a disappointing Olympics, touching in 1:58.41 to finish 20th, missing the final entirely, but if he repeats the 1:55.39 performance, he could easily make the final. His season best stands at 1:57.34 from June.

Morgan sits in 6th in the world this year in 1:55.55, which he swam at the British Swimming Championships in April, and he is the 7th seed in Singapore. Morgan finished 12th in the semifinal in Paris, touching in 1:57.28.

Dmitry Savenko is seeded with 1:55.91, just six-hundredths ahead of Märtens . He swam this time at the Russian Championships in April, but has been as fast as 1:55.60, which he swam at last year’s Russian Championships. He has not competed at any recent international long course meets due to the sanctions placed on Russia, but at the SC Worlds, he finished 7th in the 200 backstroke.

Japan’s Hidekazu Takehara is not technically seeded under 1:56, but he has been 1:55 this year, swimming 1:55.79 at the Tokyo Championships in June. He is seeded with the 1:56.11 he swam in March, and he finished 16th at the Games last summer, but if he stays in that 1:55 range or drops even more, he will be in contention for the final.

The Picks

Hubert Kos has been incredibly strong in this event over the last few years, and we aren’t betting against him this year either. He is the favorite to win, but there are a number of athletes waiting in the wings for a mistake.

The Americans are solid contenders for medals, but with unclear information about which athletes have been impacted by food poisoning, it is difficult to accurately predict who will be where.

At the bottom of the final, we have any number of athletes that could make it, but Märtens and Coetze are having exceptional years, and that gives them the edge in a field that is incredibly close.

Dark Horse: Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (France)– Ndoye-Brouard is the 16th seed with the 1:56.38 he went towards the end of June this year, but he has a lifetime best of 1:55.62 from August of 2022. His time in June was faster than he has been since 2023, and he has had strong swims in the 50 and 100 backstrokes this year which is a good sign for his potential to drop back into the 1:55 range and earn his way into the final.

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