Thom de Boer Lowers Own Dutch 50 Free National Record – 21.62

2021 MARE NOSTRUM TOUR – MONACO

• Saturday, May 29th & Sunday, May 30th
• Swimming Pool Prince Albert II
• LCM (50m)
• Results

The Mare Nostrum Tour stop in Monaco finished up today at Prince Albert II Swimming Pool, with a national record biting the dust before all was said and done.

Thom de Boer of the Netherlands topped the men’s 50m freestyle skins race in a final duel with Brazilian Bruno Fratus, firing off a new Dutch mark in the process.

Hitting the wall in a time of 21.62, de Boer’s effort sliced .12 off of his own previous national standard of 21.74, a time he produced last December at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet. For his part, Fratus touched .42 later in a final time of 22.04.

De Boer knocked off the likes of Florent Manaudou, Andrii Govorov and newly-minuted European Championships gold medalist Ari Pekka Liukkonen throughout the rounds of rapid-fire racing.

At the just-completed European Championships, de Boer placed 4th overall in a time of 21.80. Had he produced this same 21.62 effort, the 29-year-old would have wound up with the silver.

With tonight’s effort in Monaco, De Boer further cements himself as a bonafide Olympic competitor with this swim, ranking #3 in the world this season in this event with Tokyo on the horizon.