15-Year-Old Maximus Williamson Doubles Down, Lowers 200 FR PB in Finals – 1:48.21

2022 JUNIOR PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 24-27, 2022
• Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center
• Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
• Prelims 9:00 AM / Finals 5:00 PM (GMT-10)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Streaming

BOYS 200 METER FREESTYLE – FINAL

• Jr World: 1:42.97 – David Popovici (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 1:47.65 – Drew Kibler (2018)

Podium:

1. Flynn Southam, Australia – 1:47.11
2. Maximus Williamson, USA – 1:48.21
3. Adam Wu, Canada – 1:48.26

After swimming a massive personal best in prelims to become the fastest American 15-year-old all-time in the boys 200 free, Maximus Williamson doubled down tonight, taking another 0.24 seconds off his prelims time. Williamson entered the meet with a lifetime best of 1:50.56, which he had just set 6 weeks ago at a Speedo Sectionals meet in Austin. He then clocked a 1:48.45 in prelims this morning, not only blowing away his previous best, but rising all the way to #1 all-time among American 15-year-olds.

Tonight, Williamson looked like he may just pull out an upset over Australian rising star Flynn Southam, getting out to a great start in the race. Southam and Williamson were tied at the 50m turn, then Williamson opened up a lead on the 2nd 50, flipping at the 100m mark in the lead by a few tenths of a second. Williamson wasn’t able to hold off Flynn on the back half of the race, but the youngster was able to pick up his first international medal with the performance, winning silver in 1:48.21.

The swim of course marks another personal best for Williamson, who could be one of performers of these Championships. He’s a versatile swimmer who could very well come away from Honolulu with plenty of hardware. Additionally, Williamson moves up to #2 all-time in the 15-16 age group among Americans.

All-Time Top US Performers, 15-16 200 LCM Freestyle:

1. Luca Urlando, 2019 – 1:47.73
2. Maximus Williamson, 2022 – 1:48.21
3. Henry McFadden, 2022 – 1:48.27
4. Carson Foster, 2018 – 1:48.57
5. Caeleb Dressel, 2013 – 1:48.64
6. Jake Magahey, 2018 – 1:48.65
7. Drew Kibler, 2016 – 1:49.04
8. Dare Rose, 2019 – 1:49.26
9. Ian Crocker, 1998 – 1:49.48
10. Maxime Rooney, 2014 – 1:49.54

Here is a split comparison between Williamson’s swim this morning and his finals swim tonight:

WILLIAMSON’S REMAINING SCHEDULE

Although Williamson didn’t quite get down the NAG in the 200 free tonight, he’ll have more opportunities to pick up a record at this meet. He’s only two seconds away from the 15-16 National Age Group Record in the 200 IM (Carson Foster, 1:59.45). If he drops the same amount of time in the 200 IM as he did in the 200 free, that record would belong to Williamson.

He also has remaining entries in the 50 free, 100 free, 400 free, 100 back, 200 back, and 400 IM. The 100 back is later in the session on Thursday.