Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.
Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Belgian backstroker Noah Verreth continued his incredible national record-breaking run last weekend at the Flanders Cup (LCM), becoming the first Belgian man under 54 seconds in the 100 back.
The 20-year-old lowered his own Belgian Record three times in an eight-day span, kicking it off by putting up a time of 54.14 at the Lausanne Swim Cup on March 14 to lower the 54.19 mark he established last summer.
Then, at last weekend’s Flanders Cup in Antwerp, Verreth went sub-54 twice, first clocking 53.94 in the prelims to take two-tenths off his national record and become the first Belgian under the barrier.
He followed up in the final by blasting a time of 53.62, putting him more than a half-second under what the record was entering the day.
Verreth broke 26 seconds on the opening 50 for the first time at the Lausanne Cup, and then at the Flanders Cup, he came home sub-28 twice to reset the record two more times.
Split Comparison
| Verreth, 2025 Belgian Championships | Verreth, 2026 Lausanne Cup | Verreth, 2026 Flanders Cup Prelims | Verreth, 2026 Flanders Cup Final |
| 26.10 | 25.99 | 25.99 | 25.86 |
| 54.19 (28.09) | 54.14 (28.15) | 53.94 (27.95) | 53.62 (27.76) |
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In addition to breaking his national record, Verreth solidifies his qualification spot for this summer’s European Championships and moves into 9th in the world rankings this season.
2025-2026 LCM Men 100 BACK
Jiayu
52.39
| 2 | Pieter COETZE | RSA | 52.40 | 04/14 |
| 3 | Oliver MORGAN | GBR | 52.41 | 04/16 |
| 4 | Apostolos CHRISTOU | GRE | 52.53 | 05/10 |
| 5 | Hubert Kos | HUN | 52.63 | 12/05 |
| 6 | Thomas CECCON | ITA | 53.16 | 04/16 |
| 7 | John SHORTT | IRL | 53.17 | 04/09 |
| 8 | Kliment KOLESNIKOV | RUS | 53.20 | 04/17 |
| 9 | Pavel Samusenko | RUS | 53.30 | 04/17 |
| 10 | Miron LIFINTSEV | RUS | 53.33 | 05/28 |
He also set a new national record in the 50 back at the Lausanne Swim Cup, clocking 24.98 to become the first Belgian under 25 seconds.
At the Flanders Cup, he won the 50 back in a time of 25.07, and also set a new lifetime best of 1:59.79 en route to winning the 200 back, coming just 15 one-hundredths shy of the 34-year-old Belgian Record of 1:59.64 set by Stefaan Maene at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
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