Yaseen El Demerdash, a member of the U.S. Paralympics National “C” Team, broke the American Record in the 50 yard butterfly last weekend.
Swimming at the Missouri Valley Districts West Championships meet in Topeka, Kansas, El Demerdash swam 25.17.
The previous record was a 26.63 set in 2020 by Noah Jaffe; prior to that, the record had stood since 2009.
El Demerdash actually broke the record twice on the day, both times as an official observed split en route to a full 100 fly time.
He broke the record first in prelims, with a 25.22 on his way to a 55.54. Then in finals, he split 25.17 on his way to 55.39. Prior to the meet, he had never before broken a minute.
In his faster 100, he was a few hundredths slower in the 50 at 25.22.
El Demerdash is an 18-year old who trains with the Lawrence Aquahawks Swim Team in Lawrence, Kansas under head coach Paul Murphy. He now holds three American Records, and is also the owner of the SB9 100 breaststroker record in long course (1:12.23) and SB9 50 breaststroke record in short course (29.70).
Demerdash finished high school last year, but qualified for the Kansas High School State Championship meet as a sophomore, junior, and senior. That included a best finish of 2nd in the 100 breaststroke as a sophomore at the 1A-5A (small schools) meet.