16-year old swimmer Michael Andrew has re-broken his own National Age Group Record in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 2015 Columbia Sectional Championships in Missouri on Friday evening.
Andrew swam 1:01.00, which improved upon his own 1:01.21 done in prelims of the meet on Friday morning. Prior to this meet, Andrew’s 15-16 age group record from earlier in the year was 1:01.67.
All-time top 5 in the age group:
- Michael Andrew 1:01.00
- Reece Whitley 1:01.86
- Carsten Vissering 1:01.94
- Chrstian Higgins 1:02.29
- Kevin Cordes 1:02.45
Andrew’s swim actually ties Vissering as the second-fastest by any American 18 & under, with both sitting behind Kevin Cordes’ 1:00.47 from the 2012 Olympic Trials after his freshman year of college.
Further, Andrew now occupies the four-fastest swims ever done by a 15-16. The next best is 15-year old Reece Whitley, who has been 1:01.86. While Whitley still has over a year to chase Andrew’s records in the age group, the elder is raising that eventual target higher-and-higher.
Last year, it took 1:00.77 to qualify for the U.S. Senior National Team in the 100 meter breaststroke.
Comparative Splits:
| 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | Total Time | |
| Old record | 29.29 | 32.38 | 1:01.67 |
| AM record | 28.89 | 32.32 | 1:01.21 |
| PM record | 28.58 | 32.42 | 1:01.00 |
In the morning, Andrew showed improved front-half speed from the last time he broke the record. In the afternoon, he once again was able to get faster on the opening length to pull the record even lower.
Nice job Michael – look forward to seeing you at Nationals.
Ok to be fair here though, you are using the 100 breast as your basis for comparison which puts Andrew very high on the list. If you were to do the same thing, but say 51.5 in the 100 fly and drop the 100 breast down to a 1:04 then I think you’d only get Lochte and Phelps in there.
Wonder how many Americans go:
:54.0 or better in 100 fly
:56.0 or better in 100 back
1:01.0 or better in 100 breast and
:51.0 or better in 100 free
Phelps
Lochte
Licon
Seliskar
Nolan
Clary
Andrews
Who else?
Pretty Elite group!
Can Clary go 101.0 in the 100 breast?
How many of those guys have actually gone 1:01.00 or better in the 100 breast? I think Michael Andrew might be the only one.
I don’t think Phelps or Lochte has gone under 1:02
Phelps had gone 1:02:57 in February of 2008. He probably wasn’t tapered, but he could have probably only matched 1:01:00 even at his peak if he was fully rested.
An amazing swim by Michael Andrew for sure.
The answer is 0-Seliskar is the closest, with 51.1/56.3/101.1/52.8.
Underrated one-Adam Ritter went 101.3 in the breast and 49.4 in the free. Doesn’t have the other two strokes but never really focused on the IM in LCM to go after them.
You could do this with any breaststroker. Michael Andrew’s 3 other strokes aren’t anywhere near as impressive as his 100 Br. You could say for example, has anyone been as good as…
Adam Peaty:
54 100 fr
1:02 100 back
57 100 fly
57.9 100 br
“OMG no one has been as fast as him in all 4 strokes he must be the most versatile swimmer ever!!”
I’m not hating on MA, he’s pretty incredible, just here to point out a logical fallacy.
Josh: your recent 1:38+ 200y was impressive — working out “only 30 minutes a days” a la Michael Andrew. Long course is a different animal. Do you think you could get close to 1:52 in a lc 200 using the same training methods?
the more elite group is the Sub 1:00 in all 4 100s LC. Not the hypothetical “oh he could have been if he swam it tapered.
Only name that comes to mind is Brendan Hansen.
54.68 free
59.98 back
59.13 breast
55.93 fly
I have been following M.A. for a long time. He is the real deal. He is still a “boy”. When he grows into his full strength I believe we will have an Olympic Champion. Congrats Michael! Many more records to come for you…
Michael IS a beast and has been for a while now. I’ve seen him sprint a 25 free up close underwater and it was scary. Like a freight train bearing down. He’s got a ridiculous amount of raw power that isn’t apparent above the surface. I’ve only seen two other swimmers that ever made that kind of awesome impression underwater….and they own Olympic gold.
Cielo and Manaudou
One of those swimmers that made an indelible impression is Josh Davis, not for his expression of raw power, but for being incredibly fish-like. He flashed by in the crowded elite warmup pool effortlessly underwater, like a dolphin through a school of cod, and disappeared without a splash. It was amazing.
you’ve got to be kidding me…
*has still not reached…
Being a fellow Mid-Atlantic LSC swimmer, I’ve personally seen Whitley race, and he is extremely competitive with big competition. I think he will begin to surge pass Michael Andrew in the coming years, as Whitley has still reached his full potential.
I think it’s safe to say that neither of these guys have reached their potential yet — Trials should be interesting!
Race video?
Bfunk – we’ve gotten some clips on Twitter. Hoping we’ll get sent the full video this evening.