5 To Go: Brazilian Sprinter Bruno Fratus Nearing Career 100th Sub-22 LCM 50 FR

Brazilian superstar sprinter Bruno Fratus made history last summer, becoming the oldest swimmer in history to win their first career Olympic medal. At 32 years old, Fratus finished 3rd in the final of the men’s 50 free at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, swimming a 21.57 to win the Bronze medal.

Fratus also made history last summer when he swam a 21.67 in prelims of the 50 free in Tokyo, marking his 90th sub-22 LCM 50 free of his career. In terms of the number of times Fratus has been under 22 seconds in his career, he stands in a field of his own. After hitting the 90 mark last summer, Fratus is well on his way to swimming his 100th 21-point 50 free, a feat which it seems very plausible he will achieve this summer.

Since the Tokyo final, Fratus has swum 3 21-point 50 frees, all 3 of which came during this past weekend’s Mare Nostrum Tour stop in Monaco. The Monaco stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour featured 5 flights of the 50s: prelims, 1/8 finals, 1/4 finals, 1/2 finals, and the final, which was a head-to-head race between the top two finishers from the semifinal. After swimming a 22.15 and 22.30 in the first two rounds of the event, Fratus swam a 21.85 in quarterfinals, then a 21.76 in semifinals. In the final, Fratus would swim a 21.49, bettering the time which he swam to win Bronze in Tokyo last summer.

Fratus is on Brazil’s World Championships team in the 50 free, which should provide him (if all goes well) 3 more opportunities to crack 22 seconds. As his results last weekend show us, Fratus is still highly capable of swimming the necessary 21-points to advance through the rounds in elite international competition. With Worlds on the schedule, that means Fratus would just need 2 more opportunities to swim 21s to get to 100. Those could come anywhere, really. Another Mare Nostrum stop, a meet home in Brazil, etc.

Nonetheless, we’re going to be on “100 watch” providing updates until Fratus hits the historic mark.

The table below shows all 95 of Fratus’ 21-point 50 freestyles in his career, listed in chronological order starting with his first sub-22 at the 2009 Brazilian Nationals, all the way up through his 21.49 in finals on Sunday at the Mare Nostrum. A huge thanks to SwimSwam/Swimming Stats’ Daniel Takata and coach Alex Pussieldi for helping to compile and verify this data.

Year Time Date Event City Info
2009 21.91 5/5/2009 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2009 21.87 9/2/2009 BRA Nationals Palhoca Prelim
2009 21.80 9/2/2009 BRA Nationals Palhoca Final
2009 21.81 12/17/2009 BRA Nationals Sao Paulo Final
2010 21.93 8/21/2010 Pan Pacific Championships Victoria Final
2011 21.76 7/29/2011 World Championships Shanghai Semifinal
2011 21.96 7/30/2011 World Championships Shanghai Final
2012 21.99 4/14/2012 Swim Cup Eindhoven Prelim
2012 21.87 4/15/2012 Swim Cup Eindhoven Final
2012 21.70 4/24/2012 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2012 21.76 4/24/2012 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2012 21.82 8/2/2012 Olympic Games London Prelim
2012 21.63 8/2/2012 Olympic Games London Semifinal
2012 21.61 8/3/2012 Olympic Games London Final
2013 21.92 2/16/2013 FRA Meet Nancy Final
2013 21.98 4/22/2013 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2013 21.92 4/22/2013 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2013 21.80 12/18/2013 BRA Open Porto Alegre Final
2013 21.82 12/18/2013 BRA Open Porto Alegre Final
2014 21.45 4/21/2014 BRA Nationals Sao Paulo Final
2014 21.44 8/24/2014 Pan Pacific Championships Gold Goast Final
2014 21.45 12/16/2014 BRA Open Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2014 21.41 12/16/2014 BRA Open Rio de Janeiro Final
2015 21.91 1/15/2015 USA Grand Prix Austin Final
2015 21.91 4/6/2015 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2015 21.74 4/6/2015 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2015 21.91 7/17/2015 Pan American Games Toronto Final
2015 21.60 8/7/2015 World Championships Kazan Semifinal
2015 21.55 8/8/2015 World Championships Kazan Final
2015 21.99 8/17/2015 BRA Nationals Sao Paulo Prelim
2015 21.89 8/17/2015 BRA Nationals Sao Paulo Final
2015 21.66 12/16/2015 BRA Open Palhoca Prelim
2015 21.37 12/16/2015 BRA Open Palhoca Final
2015 21.50 12/16/2015 BRA Open Palhoca Final
2016 21.74 4/15/2016 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2016 21.93 8/11/2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2016 21.71 8/11/2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro Semifinal
2016 21.79 8/12/2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro Final
2017 21.83 5/2/2017 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2017 21.70 5/2/2017 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2017 21.77 6/10/2017 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Semifinal
2017 21.78 6/10/2017 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Final
2017 21.76 6/13/2017 Mare Nostrum Barcelona Final
2017 21.92 6/17/2017 Mare Nostrum Canet Final
2017 21.81 6/23/2017 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Prelim
2017 21.86 6/23/2017 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Final
2017 21.73 7/1/2017 French Open Chartres Prelim
2017 21.97 7/1/2017 French Open Chartres Final
2017 21.51 7/28/2017 World Championships Budapest Prelim
2017 21.60 7/28/2017 World Championships Budapest Semifinal
2017 21.27 7/29/2017 World Championships Budapest Final
2018 21.76 4/17/2018 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2018 21.35 4/17/2018 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2018 21.74 4/28/2018 TYR Derby Pro Swim Meet Louisville Prelim
2018 21.87 4/28/2018 TYR Derby Pro Swim Meet Louisville Final
2018 21.85 6/9/2018 Mare Nostrum Canet Final
2018 21.76 6/13/2018 Mare Nostrum Barcelona Final
2018 21.89 6/16/2018 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Quarters
2018 21.92 6/16/2018 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Semifinal
2018 21.64 6/16/2018 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Final
2018 21.79 6/29/2018 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Final
2018 21.77 6/29/2018 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Final
2018 21.90 7/7/2018 Open de France Chartres Final
2019 21.68 4/16/2019 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Prelim
2019 21.47 4/16/2019 BRA Nationals Rio de Janeiro Final
2019 21.67 5/11/2019 FINA Champions Swim Series Budapest Final
2019 21.81 6/8/2019 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Prelim
2019 21.89 6/8/2019 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Quarters
2019 21.56 6/8/2019 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Semifinal
2019 21.31 6/8/2019 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Final
2019 21.64 6/11/2019 Mare Nostrum Canet Final
2019 21.89 6/15/2019 Mare Nostrum Barcelona Final
2019 21.63 6/21/2019 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Prelim
2019 21.42 6/21/2019 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Final
2019 21.71 7/26/2019 World Championships Gwangju Prelim
2019 21.53 7/26/2019 World Championships Gwangju Semifinal
2019 21.45 7/27/2019 World Championships Gwangju Final
2019 21.61 8/6/2019 Pan American Games Lima Final
2019 21.59 12/4/2019 US Open Atlanta Prelim
2019 21.72 12/4/2019 US Open Atlanta Final
2020 21.77 1/25/2020 Euro Meet Luxembourg Final
2020 21.97 3/5/2020 USA Sectionals Plantation Prelim
2021 21.73 4/9/2021 TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo Prelim
2021 21.80 4/9/2021 TYR Pro Swim Series Mission Viejo Final
2021 21.98 5/15/2021 Atlanta Classic Atlanta Final
2021 21.91 5/29/2021 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Final
2021 21.87 5/30/2021 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Semifinal
2021 21.73 6/5/2021 Mare Nostrum Barcelona Final
2021 21.71 6/25/2021 Trofeo Sette Colli Rome Final
2021 21.67 7/30/2021 Olympic Games Tokyo Prelim
2021 21.60 7/31/2021 Olympic Games Tokyo Semifinal
2021 21.57 8/1/2021 Olympic Games Tokyo Final
2022 21.85 5/21/2022 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Quarters
2022 21.76 5/22/2022 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Semifinal
2022 21.49 5/22/2022 Mare Nostrum Monte Carlo Final

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Seamus
1 year ago

You should team up with swimmingstats to put together the top 10 swimmers by number of sub-22 swims

Michael Andrew Wilson
1 year ago

The first thought that crossed my mind was that dueling LCM 50 gods Biondi and Jager had, what, 3 between them? And those were in a 1-on-1 format.

2Fat4Speed
1 year ago

I did not realize how many times he has been under 21.5

Dang impressive!

Horninco
1 year ago

Love his passion and sportsmanship

Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
1 year ago

Shame he’s so sensitive

Scuncan Dott
Reply to  Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
1 year ago

What did he do?

Horninco
Reply to  Scuncan Dott
1 year ago

He beat Jacob Whittle, probably 🙂

Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
Reply to  Scuncan Dott
1 year ago

Braden suggested he probably wouldn’t hit 21.4 or below at the world champs and when he went 21.49 at Mare Nostrum Fratus posted the video of him saying that

Scuncan Dott
Reply to  Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
1 year ago

That’s just a bit of banter lol, sounds like you’re the one who’s sensitive.

John
Reply to  Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
1 year ago

Sounds like projection to me, you ok bud? Do you want to talk?

Jacob Whittle 46.90 in Paris
Reply to  John
1 year ago

Given we know Bruno likes to cruise SwimSwam I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re him, good luck in Barcelona bro, keep shaving and tapering for Mare Nostrum’s

SwimGuy123
1 year ago

It would be cool if you add a table above his actual performances with a year by year breakdown.
Something like: 2018: Quanitity: 12, Best: 21.35, Best Event: Rio BR Nationals. And anything else that would a make sense.

Troyy
Reply to  SwimGuy123
1 year ago

While not everything you asked for here’s the totals per year:

2009 4
2010 1
2011 2
2012 7
2013 5
2014 4
2015 11
2016 4
2017 13
2018 12
2019 17
2020 2
2021 10
2022 3

Justhereforfun
Reply to  Troyy
1 year ago

17 swims in 2019, with the first one being on 4/16 and the last being on 12/4, which means he is averaging a 21. swim every 13 days, just nuts

Last edited 1 year ago by Justhereforfun
daeleb cressel
1 year ago

Beast