The Most Impressive Records In Short Course Yards

This article originally appeared in the 2022 Fall edition of SwimSwam Magazine. Subscribe here to the SwimSwam Magazine here.

Yes, we know, short course yards are only used in the United States. But it does not reduce their value. After all, many of the greatest swimmers in history have been competing in college events in America, including some of the best swimmers in the world as of today, like Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel.

So, it is no surprise that some of the short course yards records are impressive. Truly impressive. Some of them are arguably among the greatest swims in history, including long and short course meters performances.

And then there is the question: what are the most impressive short course yards records?

There are some ways to evaluate it.

Maybe the first one that comes to mind is comparing a given record to the fastest time of the second all-time performer. It gives an idea of how the record is an outlier.

Dressel and Ledecky on top

By this criterion, no one tops Caeleb Dressel and his 50 freestyle’s 17.63 from 2018. He is not the only swimmer to ever crack the 18-second barrier, but he is 0.64 faster than the second all-time performer, Swedish Bjorn Seeliger. Dressel’s time represents 96.50% of Seeliger’s.

In fact, in men’s events, Dressel owns the top three percentages: the other two being his 100 freestyle’s 39.90 (97.91% of Seeliger’s 40.75) and his 100 butterfly’s 42.80 (97.92% of Andrei Minakov’s 43.71). All three of these records were set at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Championships.

In women’s events, we have a similar scenario. Katie Ledecky owns the top three performances: 1650 freestyle’s 15:03.31 from 2017 (97.78% of Erica Sullivan’s 15:23.81), 1000 freestyle’s 8:59.65 from 2015 (97.98% of Katie Hoff’s 9:10.77) and 500 freestyle’s 4:24.06 from 2017 (98.20% of Leah Smith’s 4:28.90). Curiously, all three of Ledecky’s swims were produced at different meets.

Actually, this system might be flawed in some ways. The second fastest performer of all time in one event does not necessarily represent the same level of difficulty in another one, so the comparison might be unfair.

Comparing with the average might be a good idea

Instead, we can compare a given swim with the average time of the 25 fastest performers of all time in the corresponding event. This is exactly the methodology behind the International Points System (IPS) which FINA used to compare swims across events some years ago before adopting FINA Points. The IPS uses a set of times as the base, and not only one time, and we can expect that the difficult level of this average might be equivalent across all events.

For example, the average of the fastest times of the top 25 all-time in men’s 50 freestyle is 18.59. So, Caeleb Dressel‘s 17.63 represents 94.86% of this value. Actually, this swim by Dressel is also the most impressive of all by this criterion. In men’s events, he is followed again by… himself (100 butterfly 96.72%, 100 freestyle 97.19%).

In women’s events, Katie Ledecky again is the top performer, but this time with her 1000 freestyle’s 8:59.65 (95.53%), then by her 1650 freestyle (96.61%). Third is Kate Douglass’ 50 freestyle (20.84 from 2022, 96.63%).

A more robust comparison

Again, this methodology might have some flaws. The average value is generally skewed by a small proportion of extremely large or small values. An outstanding record might change the average significantly. So, we could use the median instead of the average. The median usually provides a better representation of a “typical” value.

The median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample. In other words, in a top 25 all-time performers ranking, the median corresponds to the time of the 13th fastest performer — because it separates the data sample in 12 values above it and 12 values below it.

For example, the median of the top 25 all-time in men’s 50 freestyle is 18.64, which is the best time of Kristian Gkolomeev, the 13th in that ranking. The median wouldn’t change its value if the all-time is 17.63 or 15.43 or 12.76. Obviously, the average would.

And, again, using the median, Caeleb Dressel tops the men’s events: he owns the three best performances, with his 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, and 100 freestyle, in that order.

In women’s events, guess who? Katie Ledecky leads with her 1000 freestyle, then her 1650 freestyle, and then her 500 freestyle.

Just out of curiosity, who is the best performer if Dressel and Ledecky are not considered? It depends on the criterion.

By comparing with the second performer of all-time, there are Bobby Finke (1650 freestyle, 14:12.08 from 2020) and Lilly King (100 breaststroke, 55.73 from 2019). By comparing with the top 25’s average, there are Luca Urlando (100 backstroke, 43.35 from 2022) and, as mentioned previously, Kate Douglass by her 50 free from 2022. By comparing with the top 25’s median, there are Ryan Murphy (200 backstroke, 1:35.73 from 2016), and Lilly King by her 100 breast from 2019.

Tables below rank all the short course yards record holders, considering an average of those three criteria.

MOST IMPRESSIVE SHORT COURSE YARDS RECORDS – MEN’S EVENTS

MOST IMPRESSIVE SHORT COURSE YARDS RECORDS – WOMEN’S EVENTS

Of course, there are many “ifs.” What if Florent Manaudou had swum NCAA competitions? Maybe Dressel’s 50 freestyle would not be so outstanding after all. We can say the same about Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky. But that’s not the point. We can only analyze the results as they were produced, and not how they could be.

And, as we can see, as of today, Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky own the most impressive short course yards records, by any criterion. Period.