Brazilian superstar sprinter Bruno Fratus made history last summer, becoming the oldest swimmer in history to win their first career Olympic medal. At 32 years old, Fratus finished 3rd in the final of the men’s 50 free at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, swimming a 21.57 to win the Bronze medal.
Fratus also made history last summer when he swam a 21.67 in prelims of the 50 free in Tokyo, marking his 90th sub-22 LCM 50 free of his career. In terms of the number of times Fratus has been under 22 seconds in his career, he stands in a field of his own. After hitting the 90 mark last summer, Fratus is well on his way to swimming his 100th 21-point 50 free, a feat which it seems very plausible he will achieve this summer.
Since the Tokyo final, Fratus has swum 3 21-point 50 frees, all 3 of which came during this past weekend’s Mare Nostrum Tour stop in Monaco. The Monaco stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour featured 5 flights of the 50s: prelims, 1/8 finals, 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals, and the final, which was a head-to-head race between the top two finishers from the semifinal. After swimming a 22.15 and 22.30 in the first two rounds of the event, Fratus swam a 21.85 in quarterfinals, then a 21.76 in semifinals. In the final, Fratus would swim a 21.49, bettering the time which he swam to win Bronze in Tokyo last summer.
Fratus is on Brazil’s World Championships team in the 50 free, which should provide him (if all goes well) 3 more opportunities to crack 22 seconds. As his results last weekend show us, Fratus is still highly capable of swimming the necessary 21-points to advance through the rounds in elite international competition. With Worlds on the schedule, that means Fratus would just need 2 more opportunities to swim 21s to get to 100. Those could come anywhere, really. Another Mare Nostrum stop, a meet home in Brazil, etc.
Nonetheless, we’re going to be on “100 watch” providing updates until Fratus hits the historic mark.
The table below shows all 95 of Fratus’ 21-point 50 freestyles in his career, listed in chronological order starting with his first sub-22 at the 2009 Brazilian Nationals, all the way up through his 21.49 in finals on Sunday at the Mare Nostrum. A huge thanks to SwimSwam/Swimming Stats’ Daniel Takata and coach Alex Pussieldi for helping to compile and verify this data.
| Year | Time | Date | Event | City | Info |
| 2009 | 21.91 | 5/5/2009 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2009 | 21.87 | 9/2/2009 | BRA Nationals | Palhoca | Prelim |
| 2009 | 21.80 | 9/2/2009 | BRA Nationals | Palhoca | Final |
| 2009 | 21.81 | 12/17/2009 | BRA Nationals | Sao Paulo | Final |
| 2010 | 21.93 | 8/21/2010 | Pan Pacific Championships | Victoria | Final |
| 2011 | 21.76 | 7/29/2011 | World Championships | Shanghai | Semifinal |
| 2011 | 21.96 | 7/30/2011 | World Championships | Shanghai | Final |
| 2012 | 21.99 | 4/14/2012 | Swim Cup | Eindhoven | Prelim |
| 2012 | 21.87 | 4/15/2012 | Swim Cup | Eindhoven | Final |
| 2012 | 21.70 | 4/24/2012 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2012 | 21.76 | 4/24/2012 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2012 | 21.82 | 8/2/2012 | Olympic Games | London | Prelim |
| 2012 | 21.63 | 8/2/2012 | Olympic Games | London | Semifinal |
| 2012 | 21.61 | 8/3/2012 | Olympic Games | London | Final |
| 2013 | 21.92 | 2/16/2013 | FRA Meet | Nancy | Final |
| 2013 | 21.98 | 4/22/2013 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2013 | 21.92 | 4/22/2013 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2013 | 21.80 | 12/18/2013 | BRA Open | Porto Alegre | Final |
| 2013 | 21.82 | 12/18/2013 | BRA Open | Porto Alegre | Final |
| 2014 | 21.45 | 4/21/2014 | BRA Nationals | Sao Paulo | Final |
| 2014 | 21.44 | 8/24/2014 | Pan Pacific Championships | Gold Goast | Final |
| 2014 | 21.45 | 12/16/2014 | BRA Open | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2014 | 21.41 | 12/16/2014 | BRA Open | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2015 | 21.91 | 1/15/2015 | USA Grand Prix | Austin | Final |
| 2015 | 21.91 | 4/6/2015 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2015 | 21.74 | 4/6/2015 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2015 | 21.91 | 7/17/2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto | Final |
| 2015 | 21.60 | 8/7/2015 | World Championships | Kazan | Semifinal |
| 2015 | 21.55 | 8/8/2015 | World Championships | Kazan | Final |
| 2015 | 21.99 | 8/17/2015 | BRA Nationals | Sao Paulo | Prelim |
| 2015 | 21.89 | 8/17/2015 | BRA Nationals | Sao Paulo | Final |
| 2015 | 21.66 | 12/16/2015 | BRA Open | Palhoca | Prelim |
| 2015 | 21.37 | 12/16/2015 | BRA Open | Palhoca | Final |
| 2015 | 21.50 | 12/16/2015 | BRA Open | Palhoca | Final |
| 2016 | 21.74 | 4/15/2016 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2016 | 21.93 | 8/11/2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2016 | 21.71 | 8/11/2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro | Semifinal |
| 2016 | 21.79 | 8/12/2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2017 | 21.83 | 5/2/2017 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2017 | 21.70 | 5/2/2017 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2017 | 21.77 | 6/10/2017 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Semifinal |
| 2017 | 21.78 | 6/10/2017 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Final |
| 2017 | 21.76 | 6/13/2017 | Mare Nostrum | Barcelona | Final |
| 2017 | 21.92 | 6/17/2017 | Mare Nostrum | Canet | Final |
| 2017 | 21.81 | 6/23/2017 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Prelim |
| 2017 | 21.86 | 6/23/2017 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Final |
| 2017 | 21.73 | 7/1/2017 | French Open | Chartres | Prelim |
| 2017 | 21.97 | 7/1/2017 | French Open | Chartres | Final |
| 2017 | 21.51 | 7/28/2017 | World Championships | Budapest | Prelim |
| 2017 | 21.60 | 7/28/2017 | World Championships | Budapest | Semifinal |
| 2017 | 21.27 | 7/29/2017 | World Championships | Budapest | Final |
| 2018 | 21.76 | 4/17/2018 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2018 | 21.35 | 4/17/2018 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2018 | 21.74 | 4/28/2018 | TYR Derby Pro Swim Meet | Louisville | Prelim |
| 2018 | 21.87 | 4/28/2018 | TYR Derby Pro Swim Meet | Louisville | Final |
| 2018 | 21.85 | 6/9/2018 | Mare Nostrum | Canet | Final |
| 2018 | 21.76 | 6/13/2018 | Mare Nostrum | Barcelona | Final |
| 2018 | 21.89 | 6/16/2018 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Quarters |
| 2018 | 21.92 | 6/16/2018 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Semifinal |
| 2018 | 21.64 | 6/16/2018 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Final |
| 2018 | 21.79 | 6/29/2018 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Final |
| 2018 | 21.77 | 6/29/2018 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Final |
| 2018 | 21.90 | 7/7/2018 | Open de France | Chartres | Final |
| 2019 | 21.68 | 4/16/2019 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Prelim |
| 2019 | 21.47 | 4/16/2019 | BRA Nationals | Rio de Janeiro | Final |
| 2019 | 21.67 | 5/11/2019 | FINA Champions Swim Series | Budapest | Final |
| 2019 | 21.81 | 6/8/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Prelim |
| 2019 | 21.89 | 6/8/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Quarters |
| 2019 | 21.56 | 6/8/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Semifinal |
| 2019 | 21.31 | 6/8/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Final |
| 2019 | 21.64 | 6/11/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Canet | Final |
| 2019 | 21.89 | 6/15/2019 | Mare Nostrum | Barcelona | Final |
| 2019 | 21.63 | 6/21/2019 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Prelim |
| 2019 | 21.42 | 6/21/2019 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Final |
| 2019 | 21.71 | 7/26/2019 | World Championships | Gwangju | Prelim |
| 2019 | 21.53 | 7/26/2019 | World Championships | Gwangju | Semifinal |
| 2019 | 21.45 | 7/27/2019 | World Championships | Gwangju | Final |
| 2019 | 21.61 | 8/6/2019 | Pan American Games | Lima | Final |
| 2019 | 21.59 | 12/4/2019 | US Open | Atlanta | Prelim |
| 2019 | 21.72 | 12/4/2019 | US Open | Atlanta | Final |
| 2020 | 21.77 | 1/25/2020 | Euro Meet | Luxembourg | Final |
| 2020 | 21.97 | 3/5/2020 | USA Sectionals | Plantation | Prelim |
| 2021 | 21.73 | 4/9/2021 | TYR Pro Swim Series | Mission Viejo | Prelim |
| 2021 | 21.80 | 4/9/2021 | TYR Pro Swim Series | Mission Viejo | Final |
| 2021 | 21.98 | 5/15/2021 | Atlanta Classic | Atlanta | Final |
| 2021 | 21.91 | 5/29/2021 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Final |
| 2021 | 21.87 | 5/30/2021 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Semifinal |
| 2021 | 21.73 | 6/5/2021 | Mare Nostrum | Barcelona | Final |
| 2021 | 21.71 | 6/25/2021 | Trofeo Sette Colli | Rome | Final |
| 2021 | 21.67 | 7/30/2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo | Prelim |
| 2021 | 21.60 | 7/31/2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo | Semifinal |
| 2021 | 21.57 | 8/1/2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo | Final |
| 2022 | 21.85 | 5/21/2022 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Quarters |
| 2022 | 21.76 | 5/22/2022 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Semifinal |
| 2022 | 21.49 | 5/22/2022 | Mare Nostrum | Monte Carlo | Final |
You should team up with swimmingstats to put together the top 10 swimmers by number of sub-22 swims
The first thought that crossed my mind was that dueling LCM 50 gods Biondi and Jager had, what, 3 between them? And those were in a 1-on-1 format.
I did not realize how many times he has been under 21.5
Dang impressive!
Love his passion and sportsmanship
Shame he’s so sensitive
What did he do?
He beat Jacob Whittle, probably 🙂
Braden suggested he probably wouldn’t hit 21.4 or below at the world champs and when he went 21.49 at Mare Nostrum Fratus posted the video of him saying that
That’s just a bit of banter lol, sounds like you’re the one who’s sensitive.
Sounds like projection to me, you ok bud? Do you want to talk?
Given we know Bruno likes to cruise SwimSwam I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re him, good luck in Barcelona bro, keep shaving and tapering for Mare Nostrum’s
It would be cool if you add a table above his actual performances with a year by year breakdown.
Something like: 2018: Quanitity: 12, Best: 21.35, Best Event: Rio BR Nationals. And anything else that would a make sense.
While not everything you asked for here’s the totals per year:
2009 4
2010 1
2011 2
2012 7
2013 5
2014 4
2015 11
2016 4
2017 13
2018 12
2019 17
2020 2
2021 10
2022 3
17 swims in 2019, with the first one being on 4/16 and the last being on 12/4, which means he is averaging a 21. swim every 13 days, just nuts
Beast