Just 15, Thomas Heilman Shatters 15-16 NAG in Boys 100 Free with 49.06 in Prelims

2022 JUNIOR PAN PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 24-27, 2022
• Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center
• Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
• Prelims 9:00 AM / Finals 5:00 PM (GMT-10)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Streaming

BOYS 100 METER FREESTYLE – HEATS

• Jr World: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROM (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 48.91 – Jack Cartwright, AUS (2016)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Thomas Heilman, USA – 49.06
2. Flynn Southam, Australia – 49.12
3. Henry McFadden, USA – 49.23
4. Jamie Mooney, Australia – 50.14
5. Tatsumi Edward Scott, Japan – 50.78
6. Yuta Watanabe, Japan – 50.95
7. Filip Senc-Samardzic, Canada – 51.23
8. Paul Dardis, Canada – 51.34

American 15-year-old Thomas Heilman is building on his great performances in the 200 fly yesterday, throwing down a lifetime best to post the top time of the morning in the boys 100 free. Heilman made waves last night when he won silver in the boys 200 fly, swimming a huge new personal best of 1:56.52.

This morning, Heilman tore to a 49.06 in the 100 free prelims, taking 0.61 seconds off his personal best. With the swim, the 15-year-old crushed the U.S. 15-15 National Age Group Record in the event, which stood at 49.28. It was none other than sprint superstar Caeleb Dressel who held the previous record, which was set back at the 2013 U.S. Summer Nationals.

Heilman now stands on the precipice of becoming the youngest American ever to break 49 seconds in the LCM 100 free. It would be one heck of an accomplishment as no 16-and-under in American history has done so, and Heilman is still only 15 for 5 more months.

Here are the all-time top 5 performers among U.S. 15-16 boys in the LCM 100 free:

16-year-old Kaii Winkler also swam a personal best in prelims this morning, popping off a 49.47 to take 0.21 seconds off his previous best from the International Team Trials in April. With that performance, Winkler moved up a spot to #4 all-time in the 15-16 age group.

Here is a split comparison between Heilman’s swim this morning and his previous best from the U.S. Junior Nationals just a few weeks ago, plus Winkler’s swim this morning and his previous best from April:

Notably, both Heilman and Winkler were faster on both 50s of their swims this morning versus their previous best time performances. Both also improved more on the 1st 50 of the race than the 2nd. That’s the case especially with Heilman, who was 24.00 at Junior Nationals a few weeks ago and was able to bring that split well under 24 today.

That wasn’t it for great performances, however, as American 17-year-old Henry McFadden posted a new lifetime best this morning as well, taking 3rd overall with a 49.23. McFadden’s previous best was set just 3 weeks ago at the U.S. Junior Nationals, when he was still 16. Having just turned 17 years old, McFadden is now already the #7 performer all-time in the 17-18 age group among Americans. Also, just days into being 17, McFadden is now rapidly closing in on the NAG, which is held by Jack Alexy at 48.69.

The Jr Pan Pacs Record sits at 48.91, a time which looks poised to fall tonight, perhaps at the hands of multiple swimmers. In addition to Heilman and Winkler in particular, Australian Flynn Southam has a personal best of 48.54, a time which he swam at the Commonwealth Games last month. Whatever happens tonight, we are certainly in for a thrilling race between these young rising sprint stars.