16-Year Old Matthew Fenlon Swims 1:57 in 200 Fly in C-Final at US Nationals

2019 US NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 31 – August 4, 2019
• Prelims 9:00 AM (Pacific)/Finals 5:00 PM (Pacific)
• Avery Aquatics Center
• Stanford, CA
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheet
• Omega Results

After the NBC television cameras shut down for the night, with the stars of the A&B finals cooling down and heading back to their hotels, the D & C finals of the 2019 US National Championships showcased some of the upcoming young talent that the country has to offer. The highlight of that session was a 1:57.39 in the 200 fly from Matthew Fenlon of the Badger Swim Club in New York. That bumps him to 4th place all-time in the 15-16 age group in American swimming history.

In prelims, Fenlon swam a 1:59.73 in the race, and his best time coming into the meet was a 2:00.56 from May of this year. In total, at the conclusion of Wednesday’s C final, in the 2019 calendar year he has dropped 26 seconds from his previous lifetime best (though he actually hadn’t swum the race since 2016, when he was only 13).

His previous best events have been largely the backstrokes, where he’s been 2:05 in the 200 back in long course and 1:45 in yards. This year, though, he’s shown big progress in both butterfly events. In May he also swam a 55.3 in the 100 fly, which he is still scheduled to swim later in this meet. That’s almost a 3 second drop from his previous best time in that event.

Fenlon’s swim won the C final, was faster than any times in the B final and was the 8th-best overall in the evening session in the 200 fly.

All-Time US 15-16 Boys’ Rankings, 200 LCM Butterfly

1. Michael Phelps, 2001 – 1:54.58
2. Luca Urlando, 2018 – 1:55.21
3. Andrew Seliskar, 2013 – 1:56.42
4. Matthew Fenlon, 2019 – 1:57.39
5. Justin Lynch, 2013 – 1:57.80

OTHER NOTABLE SWIMS FROM C & D FINALS

• 14-year-old Claire Curzan of the TAC Titans clocked a 55.65 in the 100 free.
• Chelsea Piers’ Maxine Parker took the 100 free D final with a 55.23. She’s a verbal commit to the University of Georgia.
• 16-year-old Grace Cooper of Delta Aquatics clocked another lifetime best in the 100 free to hit 55.52, as did Blue Dolfins’ Micayla Cronk at 55.48. Cronk is now 20th in the age group, and Cooper is 22nd.
• UGA commit Jake Magahey swam to a 49.20, winning the men’s C final.
• Jack Alexy of Somerset Hills YMCA is racing here instead of YMCA Nationals; he went a 49.67 in the D final to move to #3 all-time in the 15-16 age group.