80-Year-Old Richard Burns Lowers 3 of His Own Masters World Records at Summer Nationals

2023 USMS Summer National Championships

• Aug. 1-6, 2023
• Selby Aquatic Center
  • Sarasota, Florida
• Results
• Results on MeetMobile: “2023 USMS Summer Nationals”

After a handful of records trickled in on the first two days of the U.S. Masters Swimming (USMS) Summer National Championships, the floodgates opened with six new individual world records and several more national standards on Friday.

That included three masters world records from 80-year-old Richard Burns, who lowered his own men’s 80-84 marks in the 50 butterfly (34.39), 50 backstroke (36.83), and 100 backstroke (1:22.06). He set the former records at last month’s Pacific Masters Championships, where he clocked a 34.74 50 fly, 37.76 50 back, 1:25.11 100 back. Prior to this summer, the previous 50 fly record was 34.75 by Japan’s Hiroshi Matsumoto, the former 50 back mark was 38.16 by Japan’s Shigehisa Sekikawa, and the old 100 back record was 1:26.31 by Hungary’s Jozsef Csikany.

Burns is the reigning Pacific Masters Swimming “Swimmer of the Year” and an International Swimming Hall of Fame inductee in 2010. He was also involved in five masters relay records last month along with Tamalpais Aquatic Masters teammates Pete Andersen, Tony Ralphs, and Ed Reed. They posted a 2:37.46 in the 200 medley relay on Friday, just off their 2:37.00 from last month’s Pacific Masters Championships.

Burns’ Tamalpais teammate, Laura Val, took down a masters world record in the women’s 70-74 with a winning time of 1:16.27 in the 100 backstroke. That mark lowered her own global masters standard of 1:17.26 from last summer.

Chuck Barnes of the New England Masters Swim Club joined in on the record-breaking action with a world standard in the men’s 45-49 100 backstroke, bringing it under a minute for the first time with a 59.47. The former record stood at 1:00.13 by America’s Steve Wood from back in 2008. Barnes swam at Brown in the late 1990s, with his 18th-place finish at the 1999 NCAA Championships representing the best by a male swimmer at Brown since 1984.

Holly Green of Swamp Water Aquatics Gainesville also broke an individual world record in the women’s 60-64 50 fly (29.90), demolishing the previous standard of 31.11 set by America’s Traci Granger in 2019.

Check out the full list of records from the third day of action in Sarasota, Florida:

• Richard Burns, Tamalpais Aquatic Masters: men’s 80-84 50 butterfly (34.39, World Aquatics world Masters record and USMS record)
• Holly Green, Swamp Water Aquatics Gainesville: women’s 60-64 50 butterfly (29.90, World Aquatics world Masters record and USMS record)
• Jane Oberg, Colorado Masters Swimming: women’s 85-89 50 butterfly (58.45, USMS record)
• Karen Mareb, New England Masters Swim Club: women’s 65-69 200 breaststroke (3:19.03, USMS record)
• Chuck Barnes, New England Masters Swim Club: men’s 45-49 100 backstroke (59.57, World Aquatics world Masters record and USMS record)
• Richard Burns, Tamalpais Aquatic Masters: men’s 80-84 100 backstroke (1:22.06, World Aquatics world Masters record and US MS record)
• Jennifer Mihalik, North Carolina Masters Swimming: women’s 45-49 100 backstroke (1:08.10, USMS record)
• Laura Val, Tamalpais Aquatic Masters: women’s 70-74 100 backstroke (1:16.27, World Aquatics world Masters record and USMS record)
• Richard Burns, Tamalpais Aquatic Masters: men’s 80-84 50 backstroke (36.83, World Aquatics world Masters record and US MS record)
• Swim Fort Lauderdale: men’s 280-319 200 medley relay (2:07.03, World Aquatics world Masters record and USMS record)
• Chuck Barnes, New England Masters Swim Club: men’s 45-49 50 backstroke (27.73, USMS record)
• North Carolina Masters Swimming: women’s 160-199 200 medley relay (2:02.92, World Aquatics world Masters record and US MS record)

There are at least 15 Olympians as well as one Paralympian competing in Sarasota this weekend:

1. Melissa Belote Ripley, USA (1972 and 1976; three golds)
2. Glen Christiansen, Sweden (1980)
3. Valerii Dymo, Ukraine (2004, 2008, 2012)
4. Jeff Farrell, USA (1960; two golds)
5. Sergii Fesenko, USSR (1980; one gold, one silver)
6. Eduardo Gonzalez Lopez, Puerto Rico (1996)
7. Maria Hung, Venezuela (1976)
8. Tony Jarvis, Great Britain (1968)
9. Benjamin Lo-Pinto, Seychelles (2000)
10. Djan Madruga, Brazil (1976, 1980, 1984; one bronze)
11. Nicholas Schwab, Dominican Republic (2012)
12. Vesna Shelnutt, North Macedonia (2000 and 2004)
13. Ami Trauber, Israel (1960)
14. David Wharton, USA (1988 and 1992; one silver)
15. Charlotte Petersen, Denmark (1980)
16. Abbas Karimi, Refugee Paralympic Team (2020) – now USA