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Maximus Williamson Swims 1:57.29 200 IM To Become Fastest 17-Year-Old Ever

2023 WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

17-year-old Maximus Williamson picked up his second World Junior Championships gold medal on Tuesday, dominating the 200 IM final and winning in a time of 1:57.29. That time is significant for several reasons. First, it crushed Japanese swimmer Tomoyuki Matsushita‘s old championship record time of 1:58.42 which was set earlier in prelims. Second, it makes Williamson the fastest 17-year-old in the history of the event, surpassing Kosuke Hagino‘s previous “17-year-old record” time of 1:57.35 from the 20212 Olympics. Third, it moves Williamson up to #2 all-time in the U.S. 17-18 age group, only behind Michael Phelps.

Had Williamson clocked this 1:57.29 at U.S. Nationals earlier this summer, he would have surpassed Shaine Casas’ second-place time of 1:57.47 and qualified for the 2023 World Championships.

Daniel Diehl, who was rewarded silver after Matsushita’s disqualification, is now #4 in the U.S. 17-18 age group behind Phelps, Williamson and Carson Foster. He swam a time of 1:58.62, dropping over a second off his pre-meet personal best of 1:59.89.

All-Time U.S. Boys 17-18 Age Group Rankings, 200-Meter IM:

  1. Michael Phelps — 1:55.94 (2003)
  2. Maximus Williamson — 1:57.29 (2023)
  3. Carson Foster — 1:57.59 (2019)
  4. Daniel Diehl — 1:58.62 (2023)
  5. Michael Andrew — 1:59.12 (2017)

All-Time Fastest 17-Year-Olds In The Men’s 200 IM:

  1. Maximus Williamson, United States — 1:57.29 (2023)
  2. Kosuke Hagino, Japan — 1:57.35 (2012)
  3. Qin Haiyang, China — 1:57.54 (2017)
  4. Hubert Kos, Hungary — 1:57.58 (2021)
  5. Matt Sates, South Africa — 1:57.60 (2021)

Notably, Williamson became the fastest 17-year-old ever a day after his 17th birthday. Meanwhile, Hagino was 17 years and 353 days old when he went 1:57.35.

Williamson improved over a second from his previous best time of 1:58.65, which was set when he finished 6th in the final at U.S. Nationals this June. He made the majority of his improvement from Nationals on breaststroke, dropping 1.38 seconds from his third 50 alone.

Splits Comparison:

Maximus Williamson, 2023 World Junior Championships Maximus Williamson, 2023 U.S. Nationals
Fly 25.29 25.20
Back 29.72 29.65
Breast 35.02 36.40
Free 27.26 27.40
Total 1:57.29 1:58.64

Following the 200 IM, Williamson anchored Team USA’s mixed medley relay with a 47.74 and helped them to gold.

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Owlmando
1 year ago

A new multi-event threat for Paris emerges??

mds
1 year ago

Great swimmer. Great name. Love it.

chinnychenchen
1 year ago

27.26 coming home is absurd

Beginner Swimmer at 25
1 year ago

Welcome to Texas kid

Fukuoka Gold
Reply to  Beginner Swimmer at 25
1 year ago

Should go to ASU

Boxall's Railing
1 year ago

That 27.2 free split is so nasty, beyond elite.

Robert
Reply to  Boxall's Railing
1 year ago

On par with Phelps/Lochte 2011. Much faster than Marchand.

ArtVanDeLegh10
Reply to  Robert
1 year ago

He’s faster than Marchard because Marchard give more effort on the first 150. Marchard is faster in the 200 free individually. Marchard’s last 50 in his 200 IM at NCAAs was ‘slow’ for him, but his backstroker split was 22.9. Depends on where you push the race.

KimJongSpoon
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 year ago

And let a Michael Andrew fan mention the same counterpoint and he’ll be clowned for it lmao

oxyswim
Reply to  KimJongSpoon
1 year ago

There’s other issues with MA. His free mechanics are awful and watching him go full T-Rex arms the last 50 of his IM when he’s under WR place leasing up to that leaves a worse taste in your mouth than Marchand not closing in a Lochte-esque split

Robert
Reply to  ArtVanDeLegh10
1 year ago

Not reading all that. Happy for you though, or sorry that happened.

dani
Reply to  Robert
1 year ago

You can find tons of swimmers whose freestyle split is faster than Marchand.

Michael Andrew will win the 200 IM in Paris
1 year ago

Qin haiyang with that 200 im lol

Tyson Huynh
1 year ago

He is not real☠️

PFA
1 year ago

Amazing swims for him to go 1:57.2 then 25 minutes later go 47.7 again and was faster tonight than yesterday makes me think if he’s on the guys medley relay he’s going to do something bonkers. Is he doing the individual 100 here?

bubbles
Reply to  PFA
1 year ago

if you mean individual 100 free, then yes

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