16-year-old Michael Thomas, a junior from Hatboro-Horsham High School snuck under the 15-16 National Age Group record in the 100 back on the final day of Pennsylvania High School state, going 46.65 to take down Ryan Murphyâs 2011 mark.
Thomas soared to the record on the strength of his closing speed: he actually trailed fellow junior Ryan Dudzinski at the 50 turn by four tenths, but surged back with a 23-second final 50 to take the state title and the NAG.
Thomasâs splits were 22.70/23.95 for a 46.65. Thatâs just .07 under Ryan Murphyâs old record time of 46.72. Thomas took second yesterday with a strong time in the 200 IM, and posted the fieldâs best backstroke split by over a second, so it was definitely clear from the get-go his backstroke was clicking.
Heâs got a little ways to go, but has to now have his eye on the Pennsylvania state record of 45.49 set by David Nolan and the national high school record of 45.34 from Murphy a year later. That full second difference is significant, but Thomas has really been hitting his stride this past year â one year ago at this meet he went a lifetime-best 49.11, so the time is clearly coming off in droves for Thomas on this hot streak. Heâll have one more season to give those marks a run.
Video is finally up here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWOJ5oTzZRQ .
Michael Thomas is in lane 5, black cap closest two camera. Great underwaters.
He also split 25.1 on backstroke in his IM. Serious mid-d backstroke speed.
Interesting that he nearly negative split his 100. I wonder what he could throw down in a 200âŠ.1:40.8???
I had never heard of Michael Thomas either, but wow, heâs fast! Does he swim on a club team?
I know heâs from the Philadelphia area. Let me knowâŠ.
Swims for Upper Dublin Aquatic Club. That is also a High School team in same meet. Watch out for their club relays when all get together.
He also swims for Hatboro-Horsham Aquatic Club (he just went to JNats with UD since HH didnât have anyone else going). Heâs always been pretty quick; Iâve been swimming against him since I was 12 (It kinda sucksâŠI wouldâve won the 100 back at districts were it not for him).
Furthermore, Upper Dublinâs got a few great swimmers, but they lack in depth.
Actually he went to Juniors with UDAC because heâs been on that team since he was 11, and does a majority of his training there. He does not compete for Hatboroâs US program.
Never heard of Michael Thomas before.
Usually I feel the records come but here, nothing.
Cool to have surprises.
Congrats to him.
Iâm stunned! You need to scour more results Bobo⊠Weâve come to expect a certain standard from you⊠get back on your game!
There are several boys out there in the 15-16 group that are aiming to break that recordâŠ. I predict that the record will go down a couple of more times before the end of the short course season.
Hulk SMASH
Dear Liquidassets,
Unfortunately Michael Andrew is ineligible for High School or College swimming because he is a professional, so he canât touch those records.
This story is about a NAG record mostlyâŠ
We talk about the âHS National Recordâ like it refers to the fastest HS aged swimmer⊠itâs just the fastest time swum in HS competition. In almost all cases, itâs not the NAG record. Oh⊠and there are two of them. Public and private/independent. So itâd be like saying there is a NAG for kids on teams over 150 athletes and a NAG for kids on teams under 150 athletes. Itâs basically just another way to crown someone else⊠like the states that have multiple divisions for swimming and multiple âstate championsâ⊠it doesnât matter what size your school is in swimming. Ok. Rant over.
The NAG is the record this article is about anyhow.
Gosh DANG IT. I didnât want Ryanâs record to get broken this quickly, heâs a cool guy. But congrats to Michael, thatâs an insane time. Did not expect Ryanâs record to get broken this year
Yeah I didnât think it would go down until Michael Andrew in the next year or so
Exactly. I donât really consider any records in the 15/16 or 17/18 age groups safe from Michael Andrewâs fury anymore (besides the distance freestyles).