In the first session of the 2015 FINA Junior World Championships in Singapore, Team USA’s Michael Taylor rose to the occasion, topping prelims in the men’s in the 100 meter backstroke.
Taylor posted a 54.74 to break 55 for the first time and set a new Junior World Championships Meet Record. Prior to this meet, his best was a 55.15 from the 2015 U.S. National Championships just a few weeks ago. At that meet, he won the C final to earn his spot in the 100 back at this meet.
Taylor’s splits:
2015 Junior World Championships Prelims- 54.74: 26.76/27.98
2015 U.S. National Championships Finals- 26.90/28.25
That broke the record of 54.80 that Spain’s Hugo Gonzales set just 2 heats earlier. Gonzales ended up as the 2nd seed overall after breaking the old Championship Record of 54.87 done by Greece’s Apostolos Christou in 2013. He was also well under his entry time, having come in with a 55.43.
There were 3 men under 55 this morning, as Taylor and Gonzales were joined by Team USA’s Michael Andrew. Andrew, the 2015 U.S. Junior National Champion in this event, clipped his best time to grab the 3rd seed in 54.90.
With the top 3 separated by just 0.10 seconds through prelims, the next round of the 100 back could certainly see another record by any of these 3 swimmers.