PHILADELPHIA – Rising junior Watson Nguyen of the University of Pennsylvania swimming and diving team won the national title in the 50-meter breaststroke at the USA Swimming National Championships on Thursday night at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, Calif.

The Dallas, Texas native swam a blistering personal-best mark of 26.65 that took the top spot by nearly three-tenths of a second while competing for his club, Metroplex Aquatics. His previous personal best in the long-course format was 27.49, set at the NT DM Texas Senior Circuit #2 in 2025. Nguyen's winning mark was just over one-tenth of a second shy of tying the long-course nationals record set by Michael Andrew in 2022, whom Nguyen defeated Thursday night. He shaved more than eight-tenths off his personal best time to move up to fourth all-time among Americans in the 50 breast.

Nguyen becomes just the second Quaker in program history to capture a long-course national title, joining Matt Fallon '25, who won the 200-meter breaststroke (2:07.71) back in 2023.

The rising junior's success on the national stage comes following a standout sophomore campaign in University City. Nguyen earned first-team All-Ivy honors after taking home gold in the 100 and 200 breaststroke at the Ivy League Championships in February. He went on to make his first career NCAA Championships appearance, finishing 26th in the 200 breast and 28th in the 100 breast.

Watch:



All-Time U.S. Performers, Men's 50 Breastroke LCM

1. Van Mathias, 26.30 – 2026
2. Nic Fink, 26.45 – 2022
3. Michael Andrew, 26.52 – 2022
4. Watson Nguyen, 26.65 – 2026
5. Kevin Cordes, 26.76 – 2016

For the latest on Penn swimming & diving, follow @PennSwimDive on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.