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16-Yr-Old Jacob Whittle Lowers 100 Free British Age Record – 48.55

2021 BRITISH SWIMMING GLASGOW MEET

During last night’s prelims session at this British Swimming Glasgow Meet, 16-year-old Jacob Whittle fired off the fastest 100m freestyle time of his career. Hitting the wall in 48.75, Whittle shaved .01 off of his previous PB and British Age Record en route to capturing the top seed in the process.

It turns out that was just a warm-up swim for the Derventio Excel athlete, as Whittle hacked another .20 off of his time to take gold in this morning’s final. The NY Breaker was once again skilled in his splitting, opening in 23.78 and closing in 24.77.

Below is a comparison of splits among his top 3 swims.

Previous PB of 48.76 – 23.98/24.78

Last night’s new Age Record of 48.75 – 24.05/24.70

New Age Record of 48.55 – 23.78/24.77

For reference to just how impressive a 48.75 is from a 16-year-old, Whittle is faster than the reigning world champion in the event Caeleb Dressel was at age 16. In 2013, Dressel posted a new US 15-16 age group record of 49.28; a mark that still stands today.

With his new 48.55 scorcher, Whittle moves up one spot among the all-time British 100m freestyles, hopping over Lewis Burras.

All-Time 100 Freestyle Ranking – Great Britain

  1. Duncan Scott – 47.87
  2. Simon Burnett – 48.20
  3. Matt Richards – 48.23
  4. Adam Brown – 48.48
  5. Tom Dean – 48.51
  6. Ben Proud – 48.52
  7. Jacob Whittle 48.55
  8. Lewis Edward Burras – 48.58
  9. David Cumberlidge – 48.76

As quick as Whittle is at this young of an age, Romanian David Popovici is still faster by nearly half a second, owning a newly-minted lifetime best of 48.08 en route to placing 6th at the European Championships. Popovici is also just 16 years old as is known to be the fastest 100m freestyle ever worldwide for the age.

Whittle has already been named as the youngest member of the British Swimming Olympic roster for Tokyo, earning his berth as a member of the men’s 400m free relay.

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Luigi
3 years ago

I would have thought Guy was in the top 10, but no.
Whittle is insane, but Popovici is illegal.

maybe?
Reply to  Luigi
3 years ago

Guy doesn’t really swim 100 free unless he is in the 4×100 free relay where he goes a high 47 split from a relay start

Bobo Gigi
3 years ago

The British men’s 4X100 free relay is starting to look crazy promising for 2024.

Bobo Gigi
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
3 years ago

I can’t imagine one second that the British win that relay at olympic games held in France! That’s not even conceivable! 😆

ooo
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
3 years ago

You have 3 years to adjust, doable!

SwimFani
Reply to  Bobo Gigi
3 years ago

Dont get your knickers in a wad Chap. The Brits will not challenge the Americans or Aussies!!!!

Dee
Reply to  SwimFani
3 years ago

Aussies? Russians you mean, surely?

Robbos
Reply to  Dee
3 years ago

Yes unless something out of the blue happens in the Aussie trials, the Brits has the Aussies covered in the 4X100.

whever
3 years ago

Do we have a historical ranking of 16-year-olds in this event?

Mojo
Reply to  whever
3 years ago

As I know is like this:

1. Popovici 48:08
2. Whittle 48:55
3. Chalmers 48:69

PFA
Reply to  Mojo
3 years ago

Wasn’t there a Brazilian swimmer that broke 48 at 16 several years back?

Last edited 3 years ago by PFA
PFA
Reply to  PFA
3 years ago

Never mind I thought Pedro spajari did it in 2013 but he went 47.9 in 2018 so disregard what I said above

PFA
3 years ago

First it was popovici now whittle man these young bucks are getting faster and faster and I’m 18 and a good 8 seconds back.

GATOR CHOMP 🐊
Reply to  PFA
3 years ago

Same here, albeit I’m a distance swimmer.

There's no doubt that he's tightening up
3 years ago

FINA A time is 48.57, so he dips under that.

GB can use him for the individual 100 if Scott decides to drop it.

GrameziPT
3 years ago

These 16 yrs old are so fast…what has changed so much since 2008? In 2008 with suits you had Izotov swimming 48.6 as a junior 17 or 18, and it was out of this world

Eric the eel > Phelps
Reply to  GrameziPT
3 years ago

when he was 17 yo, Izotov threw down a massive 1.43.9 on the 200 free in 2009. The only junior faster than Thorpe (with a supersuit)

Last edited 3 years ago by Eric the eel > Phelps
nuotofan
3 years ago

As easily predicted already two years ago, when Richards won EuroJuniors in 48.88 and Whittle swam 49.97 at 14, Great Britain 4×100 free looked extremely promising towards Paris 2024. Now Richards’ PB is 48.23 (Richards is just 18 year-old), Whittle’s PB is 48.55 (Whittle is just 16) and there’s also Tom Dean (21) in the mix, already at 48.30 and with so much room for improvement in the 100 free, a relatively new distance for him.
How fast will swim these three plus Duncan Scott, one of the best relay swimmer ever (and James Guy will also be very, very competitive) in the 2024?

Troll Longhorn
Reply to  nuotofan
3 years ago

I guess predicting how fast the potential relay will be isn’t as easy as predicting the progress of the Richards and Whittle. 😂

Boknows34
3 years ago

Could you update Tom Dean to 48.30 from last month’s Euro Chanpionship final.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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