LIAC’s Got Another 200 Butterflier: 13-Year Old Ryan Baldwin Swims 1:55.82 (SCY)

2022 LIAC Chappy’s Big Race Invitational

• October 22-23, 2022
• East Meadow, New York
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2022 MR LIAC Chappy’s Big Race Invitational”

The Long Island Aquatic Club is developing a knack for the 200 butterfly. The USA Swimming team, home to US National Team member in that event Tess Howley, had another new 200 fly phenom emerge last weekend in a hosted meet.

13-year old Ryan Baldwin swam 1:55.82 in the 200-yard butterfly. That ranks him as the fastest 13-14 in the country so far this season, even at the younger end of the age group.

That time is a new personal best for Baldwin, knocking almost four seconds off his previous best of 1:59.49 from March – his last swim in the event at the NCSA Age Group Championships.

Baldwin also swam 7 best times at the meet, including notably a 53.29 in the 100 yard fly at the meet.

• 50 free – 23.21
• 200 free – 1:48.48
• 50 back – 26.49
• 50 breast – 31.79
• 200 IM – 2:03.24
• 100 fly – 53.29
• 200 fly – 1:55.82

The last few years have seen some outliers among 14-year old boys in this race, so he has a ways to go to catch Thomas Heilman’s 13-14 national age group record of 1:42.77. It takes a 1:48-high crack the top-10 all-time in the age group, and a 1:52-low to crack the all-time top 100.

Howley, a Virginia commit, also swam at the meet, clocking a 1:56.42 in the 200 fly. This was her first official racing since the Junior Pan Pac Championships in August. She finished 5th, one spot behind Baldwin, in the mixed-gender field.

Other Noteworthy Results:

• LIAC 12-year old Patty Tang swam best times in the three shortest freestyle events. She clocked 24.62 in the 50 free, 53.57 in the 100 free, and 1:57.58 in the 200 free. Those times all rank her among the top three this season for 11-12s among USA Swimming members (though USA Swimming lists her as an international athlete).
• US National Junior Team member Cavan Gormsen, another Virginia commit, swam the 100 free (50.30), 200 fly (2:01.99), and 200 IM (2:04.75), none of which are among her primary events. The 200 IM was a new best time for her.
• Cavan’s younger sister Lily Gormsen swam four personal best times: 1:49.80 in the 200 free, 9:50.22 in the 1000 free, 2:11.29 in the 200 fly, and 2:16.48 in the 200 IM. Lily, who is just a sophomore in high school, is a distance swimmer like her sister.
• 24-year old Dominican international Krystal Lara, who trains with the Badger Swim Club, swam times of 23.90 in the 50 free, 1:49.35 in the 200 free, and 55.66 in the 100 fly.
• LIAC’s Reid O’Connell, another 13-year old, matched Baldwin’s effort with 7 best times of his own. Most notably, that included a 1:45.63 in the 200 free and a 1:57.46 in the 200 back. Both times are among the top in the country this season for his age.