2023 U.S. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- June 27 – July 1, 2023
- Indianapolis, IN
- Indiana University Natatorium
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheet (updated version, 6/26)
- Live Results
- SwimSwam Preview Index
- How To Watch
- Day 1 Prelims Live Recap
16 year old Thomas Heilman broke Michael Phelps‘ National Age Group (NAG) Record swimming a 1:54.54 in the men’s 200 butterfly to kick off night one in Indianapolis. That time broke Phelps’ old record of 1:54.58 which he swam back in 2001, which also was the World Record at the time.
Notably, if Heilman breaks the record in Fukuoka, that would be where Phelps set his NAG record back in 2001.
Heilman became the second fastest performer this morning as he swam a personal best of 1:55.11 in prelims, a best time already by over a second. With his swim in finals, Heilman dropped a total of 1.98 seconds off his previous best of 1:56.52 coming into the meet which he swam at Junior Pan Pacs last summer.
| HEILMAN- 2023 Finals | HEILMAN – 2023 Prelims | PHELPS – 2001 | |
| 50 | 25.46 | 25.68 | 25.64 |
| 100 | 54.20 (28.74) | 54.39 (28.71) | 54.81 (29.17) |
| 150 | 1:24.50 (30.3) | 1:24.45 (30.06) | 1:24.71 (29.90) |
| 200 | 1:54.54 (30.04) | 1:55.11 (30.66) | 1:54.58 (29.87) |
Heilman’s biggest difference tonight was his closing 50, where he was almost a second faster. Notably, although Heilman was faster than he was in prelims, Phelps’ old record closing 50 was faster.
Heilman’s swim also makes him the 10th fastest US performer ever, moving up five spots after his prelims swim.
With tonight’s swim, Heilman also becomes the youngest swimmer to *make* the Worlds (or Olympic) team on the men’s side since Michael Phelps did back in 2000. Since Phelps, the only other 16-year-old male to make one of those teams was Open Water swimmer Sean Ryan back in 2009, although Ryan was older than Heilman by a few months at the time he qualified.
Just a small detail to point out this was the first time in any race I’ve seen where Heilman did a celi which is rare to see from him. When he celebrates, you know it was a big deal which this definitely was for him.
I think part of the celebration was influenced by Foster who was clearly excited for Heilman and wanted to include him in his own celebration.
That boy good
Think what most of us were doing the Summer before Jr year of high school. Definitely not dropping a 1:54 in 2fly LC…..Heilman is a Marchand 2.0
I think Brian Goodell was winning two Gold Medals in WR times in Montreal.
Could get under the world junior record in Fukuoka but I think Ilya Kharun touches the wall first to get the record
Heilman is on a trajectory far greater than Kharun. Don’t think Kharun will be able to keep up with Heilman beyond the next couple of months.
Going to ASU is a good trajectory for Kharun.
Good isn’t enough against a 16 year old swimming the same times as you.
Leon Marchand
2:03.25 at 16
1:53.37 under Bowman
1:53.3???? That’s it? Heilman will be faster than that by the end of the year. Kharun gonna be sniffing Heilmans bubbles his entire career.
I give the example of Marchand to illustrate the margin of his improvements.
Also, 18-year-old Marchand is more than a second slower than 16-year-old Luca Urlando.
Does it really matter what you swim at 16-18?
17-year-old Milak 1:53.79
17-year-old Urlando 1:53.84
16-year-old Milak 1:56.77
16-year-old Urlando 1:55.21
15-year-old Milak not even close to 2-minute barrier
15-year-old Urlando 1:58.93
Urlando has had shoulder problems for a long time. But yes it isn’t always a straight road.
Milak is a better comparison.. at 15 no one Knew who he was.. and his improvement from 16 onward is off the charts.. being faster than him at 16 years does not mean you will keep going down to 1:50 also.. need to wait.
That,s the point. Just because a swimmer is fast at 16 doesn’t mean he/she will keep making a linear progression in speed time wise. They may plateau or they may keep improving.
While a swimmer who was relatively slow at 15/16 could explode in his/her early twenties.
Milak for example was never really fast as a 15/16 year old.
The only recent one who showed promise at 13/14 and kept the curve “expected” on men side I remember is Popovici.
True wjr would be the 1:52:7…
Heilman will take that down by next year.
Well we have a new star rising to the occasion he is closing on Milak’s WJR and he might just break it. And the youngest male to make an international team since 2001 and since Phelps! Huge swim and big PB knew he could do it. Congrats Tom.
Keep in mind…he has until the end of 2025 to break that record.
Absolutely crazy… he doesn’t even have his full man muscles yet!
If he doesn’t go pro next year, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t go to ASU and train under Bob Bowman after high school. He’s basically Phelps 2.0.
Bowman coaching Marchand and Heilman is just unfair it’s like Gregg Popovich coaching Jokic and Wemby
Even if he does go pro…he should go to ASU after the OGs
My guess is he heads to Texas.
does seem like he likes the Texas boys
He did used to have UVA stuff in his IG profile which is now gone.
Kids who grow up in Charlottesville tend to wear UVa stuff.
His brother swims at UVa, and his Cavalier Aquatics teammate David King is headed there in 2024.
Matt King doing well tonight followed by some success from Jack Aikins wouldn’t hurt the Hoos’ chances, either.
Honestly at this point it looks like Heilman has left UVa in the dust. I doubt Desorbo and the rest of the men’s team could hold a candle to what he’s gonna be doing in the next few years.
He seems like a Texas guy to me too. UVA/ASU are possible too. Bobby Finke is in Heilman’s Instagram profile pic, so maybe Florida as a dark horse
holy god. he is legit legit.
Sean Ryan the absolute GOAT