17-Year-Old Jonathan Tan Takes Over Schooling’s 50 Free Singaporean Record

7TH FINA WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019

• 50-Meter Course
• Duna Arena, Budapest (Hungary)
• Pool swimming: Tuesday, August 20 – Sunday, August 25, 2019
• Heats 9:30am GMT+2 (3:30 am EDT / 12:30 am PDT)/ Semifinals and Finals 5:30pm GMT+2 (11:30am EDT / 8:30am PDT)
• Meet site
• Entries book
• FinaTV Live Stream (subscription required)
• Live results

While competing on day 3 of the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary, 17-year-old Jonathan Tan fired off a new Singaporean National Record in the men’s 50m freestyle.

This morning in the heats, Tan produced a time of 22.46 to claim the 3rd seed. That mark shaved .01 off of the previous NR of 22.47 set by 100m fly Olympic champion Joseph Schooling at the 2015 SEA Games. Prior to Schooling, the 50m free record for Singapore stood at 22.69 for an incredible 33 years. It was notched by Ang Peng Siong way back at the 1982 U.S. Nationals.

Tonight Tan was nearly identical to his morning performance, producing a time of 22.47 to maintain his 3rd position heading into tomorrow night’s final. He’s chasing leader David Curtiss of America, who clocked the only sub-22 second time of the field in 21.95 to nab lane 4. Behind him for the 2nd seed was Ukrainian Vladislav Bukhov, who hit a semi swim of 22.09.

Tan’s time of 22.46 falls under the FINA B standard for the 2020 Olympic Games, but he would feel much more comfortable clearing the A standard of 22.01 to earn an automatic berth on the Singaporean Olympic team.