Breaking Down Ahmed Jaouadi’s Scintillating 22.73 Final 50 En Route to The NCAA Mile Record

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Texas (1x)
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  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

Ahmed Jaoudi roared home in the mile last night in 22.73.

22.73

He put more than a body length between himself and Zalan Sarkany in just 50 yards, outsplitting the Hungarian record holder by 2.20 seconds. Jaouadi sliced two seconds off Bobby Finke‘s record of 14:12.08 that had stood since 2020, a time set by a swimmer who has since won multiple world medals and owns the world record in the long course 1500 free.

Jaouadi said in an interview after the race that the aim was “to stay with Zalan as long as I can”, and the keep the legs fresh for the final 50. That tactic paid off in spades, as he stayed on Zarkany’s shoulder the whole way through, with the gap between the two not exceeding half a second until the final 50. With Sarkany touching just a tenth behind Finke’s record, it proved to be a record-setting strategy from the Tunisian as well.

Sarkany’s final 50 was a more than respectable 24.93, one of just six in the field under 25 seconds. That should not look slow at the end of the mile – the fact that it did was testament purely to Jaouadi’s strength, not any weakness for Sarkany.

Jaouadi’s was the fastest closing 50 ever in a 1650 free, more than a second and a half faster than Bobby Finke ever closed in the mile. The previous fastest ever closing split came from Felix Auboeck in the epic final heat of the 1650 free at the 2017 NCAA Championships, were four swimmers were separated by 1.04 seconds at the touch. He split 23.29 to move from 4th to 2nd, while Texas’ Clark Smith split 23.75 to stay in 1st. These appear to be the only sub-24 second final 50s ever in the mile.

Luke Mijatovic came close in his 15-16 NAG Record swim of 14:30.01 in December, clocking 24.02.

Jaouadi’s split was not just historic for the mile – it would be one of the fastest ever final 50s in the 200 free. For context, here are all the sub-23 second final 50s we could find:

Swimmers To Split Sub-23 On The Final 50 – 200 Free

There have only been four 200 free swims with a faster closing 50 than Jaouadi’s last night – two from Luke Hobson and two from Destin Lasco. The only current NCAA swimmer who has done so is FSU’s Logan Robinson, who was 22.92 on the final 50 at ACCs as he placed 2nd in 1:31.18.

Jaouadi’s final 50 was faster than any of the top-five performers in the 200 free or 500 free closed on their best-ever swims.

There is a pattern you can see here – the final 50 in the 200 is normally slower than those preceding, while in the 500 and especially the mile it is faster than the mid-race average. This is not just a case of saving up, but rather a difference between two energy systems. In a sense those 200 swimmers are aiming to slow down as little as possible, while milers are aiming to speed up

Glycolitic Vs Aerobic

The energy systems used in the two events are not the same – the mile takes almost ten times as long as the 200 free, and the body breaks down its energy reserves – known as ATP (adenone triphosphate) – in a different way as the time of the activity increases.

There are three main energy systems:

1. ATP creatine phosphate system (<~10 seconds)
2. Anaerobic Glycolytic system (~10 seconds – 2 minutes)
3. Aerobic System (~2+ minutes)

The times referenced above are the period in which this energy system is dominant. Athletes will use the anaerobic Glycolytic system in the mile, but at a lower level and for shorter periods than they would in a 200 free, where it would be used for the majority of the race. A good example is the final 50 – lasting roughly 25 seconds, this falls in the lower end of the time period for that system, but could expect a similar energy output to that for a straight 200 free. Fatigue obviously plays a part though, as Jaouadi’s speed on the final 50 was very much not the norm for milers.

The main difference is one that the name ‘aerobic’ suggests – oxygen is used to regenerate ATP through reactions including glycolysis, whereas the anaerobic glycolytic system breaks sugars such as glucose down into ATP without requiring oxygen. The anaerobic glycolytic system is faster at creating ATP, but the body accumulates lactic acid which acts as a limiting factor.

After 14 minutes of intense, hard-fought battling with Sarkany, the fact that Jaouadi was able to switch on and blast an final 50 comparable to that of the very best 200 freestylers is beyond impressive. We saw his closing speed in long course at Worlds last summer, and there may be even more to come at either the African Championships in May (where he is the defending 400 free and 1500 free champion) or the world championships next summer. A battle with Zhang Zhanshuo, who closed his 800 free at the China Open last week in 24.95, could be a mouthwatering prospect for 2027.