Thomas Heilman Becomes Fastest 13-Year-Old Ever in 50y Free and 100y Fly

CAVALIER AQUATICS INTRASQUAD

• Saturday, August 29, 2020
• Charlottesville, VA
• Short course yards (SCY)
• Meet Mobile results: ‘Cavalier Aquatics Intra Squad Meet’

Today at the Cavalier Aquatics intrasquad meet, Thomas Heilman became the fastest 13-year-old boy in American history in both the 50 free and 100 fly.

In the 50 free, Heilman dropped a 20.54, a new lifetime best by nearly a full second, and only his second time under 22 seconds.

According to the USA Swimming database, the next-fastest 50 free performance in history for 13-year-old boys belongs to Michael Andrew at 20.87. Andrew ended up getting down to 19.76 before he turned 15, which stands as the 13-14 NAG record. Heilman is also the second 13-year-old to ever break 21 seconds in the 50 free after Andrew.

Heilman, who turned 13 in late winter, came into the meet with a lifetime best of 21.50, a time achieved in December at the YMCA of Triangle Area (YOTA) Arena Capital Classic. Heilman was just 12 when he went that 21.50, and he set the 11-12 NAG record with that performance. He also holds 11-12 NAG records in the 100 free (47.15), 200 free (1:44.28), 50 fly (22.87), 100 fly (50.82) and 200 fly (1:53.66).

Heilman is now the #6 50 freestyle performer in 13-14 history, a remarkable feat for a sprinter at the younger end of the age group.

13-14 50 FREE TOP PERFORMERS, ALL-TIME

1. Michael Andrew – 19.76 (2014)
2. Ryan Hoffer – 20.02 (2013)
3. Daniel Krueger – 20.28 (2014)
4. David Curtiss – 20.29 (2017)
5. Will Rose – 20.52 (2017)
6. Thomas Heilman – 20.54 (2020)
7. Aiden Hayes – 20.56 (2017)

Minutes later, in the 100 fly, Heilman dropped a 48.81, surpassing Andrew again (49.07) for the title of fastest 13-year-old in history. He had come into the meet with a best of 50.82, done in January when he was 12 to set the 11-12 NAG record, making this a two-second drop.

100 FLY RACE VIDEO

Unsurprisingly, that swim shoots Heilman right up towards the top of the 13-14 all-time rankings. He is now tied for fourth all-time.

13-14 100 fly TOP PERFORMERS, ALL-TIME

1. Michael Andrew – 46.95 (2014)
2. Andrei Minakov* – 47.78 (2016)
3. Aiden Hayes – 48.33 (2017)
4. Thomas Heilman – 48.81 (2020) / Will Hayon – 48.81 (2019) / Ronald Dalmacio – 48.81 (2019)

As a quick reminder, Cavalier Aquatics recently merged with Charlottesville’s Piedmont YMCA team, keeping the name Cavalier Aquatics and operating as both a YMCA and USA Swimming team. Stay tuned later this afternoon for a full recap of today’s intrasquad.