Thomas Heilman Breaks 13-14 Record in 100 Fly, Takes #1 Seed into US Open Final

2021 US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, December 1 – Saturday, December 4, 2021
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Info
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live stream
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

After blowing through the National Age Group Record in the 50 free on Thursday, 14-year old Thomas Heilman was back at it on Friday, taking down more records in the 100 fly.

Heilman swam to the top seed in prelims of the 100 meter fly in 53.43 in the heats. At just 14 years old, he’s now the top qualifier into the U.S. Open final (albeit in a field without most of the US’ top senior competitors).

The old record also belonged to Heilman in 54.43, which in turned shaved .02 off the 54.45 he swam when he was still 13. He took more than a second off in his latest record-setting swim.

Prior to Heilman’s swim last year, the American age-group record was a 54.59 done by Michael Andrew in 2014.

This one comes with a small asterisk because Andrei Minakov swam 54.04 at 14 when he was training in the United States, but as a non-American citizen, he wasn’t eligible for the National Age Group Record.

Heilman has always had the raw front-end speed, even as compared to Michael Andrew, who is famous for his front-end speed, but now as he’s maturing, he’s putting together a fantastic back-half that is carrying him to new heights.

All-Time Top 5, 13-14 American Boys, 100 LCM Fly

1. Thomas Heilman, 53.43 – 2021
2. Michael Andrew, 54.59 – 2014
3. Justin Lynch, 54.80 – 2011
4. Dare Rose, 55.68 – 2017
5. Michael Phelps, 55.78 – 2000

Heilman’s swim is so good that he’s almost within range of ‘jumping the age group’ – something we occasionally see in women’s swimming with young talents like Katie Ledecky, but rarely see in men’s swimming. His prelims swim on Thursday would rank him 9th all-time among 15-16 boys, just one slot (and .03 seconds) behind Caeleb Dressel’s best time at 16.

This swim follows a pair of National Age Group Records for Heilman on Wednesday: he first swam 22.99 in the 50 free in prelims (breaking another Michael Andrew record), and lowered it to 22.95 in finals.

Heilman now holds 11 National Age Group Records in the 10 & under, 11-12, and 13-14 age groups. In the long course 13-14 age group record book, he holds the 100 free (51.20) as well, so that record seems in danger.

Heilman trains at Cavalier Aquatics in Charlottesville, Virginia, with former Auburn head coach Gary Taylor.