UMBC’s Alexander Gliese Breaks Danish 200 Back Record

Swimming at the Santa Clara stop of the Arena Pro Swim Series earlier this month, Alexander Gliese broke the Danish record in the men’s 200 meter backstroke. Gliese, a rising junior at UMBC, swam a time of 2:01.31, slicing .06 off of the old record. Mathias Gydesen previously held the national mark at 2:01.37.

Gliese had swum a 2:01.42 in the 200 back prelims, just .05 off of the record, but officials disqualified him. They ruled his finish as the reason for his disqualification, as he was allegedly fully submerged at the touch. Though he couldn’t try again for the record in finals, he signed up for the time trial, cooled down and warmed back up, and then hopped in for a second swim. He was successful in the time trial, breaking the record and not getting DQ’d.

His 2:01.31 was a best time by over a second– his previous best was a 2:02.43. In yards, Gliese posted a 1:44.59 to win the 2017 CCSA title, a time that made him the third-best conference performer in the event. At this year’s conference meet, in addition to his 200 back win, he also placed 2nd in the 100 back and 3rd in the 500 free.