Thomas Fannon Breaks Irish 50 Free National Record in Heats, 21.79

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• Pool Swimming: July 27 – August 4, 2024
  • Open Water Swimming: August 8 – 9, 2024
• La Défense Arena — Paris, France
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Full Swimming Schedule
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Pick ’em Contest
• How To Watch
• Entry Lists
• Live Results
• Prelims Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
• Finals Live Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Thomas Fannon continued Ireland’s momentum on day 6 of the 2024 Paris Olympics with a new national record.

Swimming in heat 6 of the men’s 50 free, the 26-year-old scorched a new Irish record of 21.79, breaking the standard set by Shane Ryan just last month at the European Championships by 0.03-seconds.

That swim cut 0.15-seconds off Fannon’s previous best performance, also set last month at the Sette Colli Trophy.

When the dust settled, Fannon ended up in a tie for 6th going into semifinals tonight. No matter where he ends up placing, he is already Ireland’s top performer in the Olympics in this event by virtue of qualifying for semis. Barry Murphy held the previous best finish at 29th from the 2012 London Games.

Shane Ryan was a no-show in heat 8 of the men’s 50 free.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – HEATS

• World Record: 20.91 – Cesar Cielo, BRA (2009)
• World Junior Record: 21.75 – Michael Andrew, USA (2017)
• Olympic Record: 21.07 – Caeleb Dressel, USA (2021)
• 2021 Winning Time: 21.07 – Caeleb Dressel, USA
• 2021 Time to Advance to Semifinals: 21.97

1. Cam McEvoy (AUS) – 21.32
2. Jordan Crooks (CAY) – 21.51
3. Florent Manaudou (FRA) – 21.54
4. Lorenzo Zazzeri (ITA) – 21.64
5. Ben Proud (GBR) – 21.70
6. Thomas Fannon (IRL)/Leonardo Deplano (ITA) – 21.79 (TIE)
7. –
8. Ben Armbruster (AUS)/Kristian Gkolomeev (GRE) – 21.86
9. –
10. Meiron Cheruti (ISR) – 21.88
11. Vladyslav Bukhov (UKR)/Gabriel Castano (MEX) – 21.89 (TIE)
12. –
13. Diogo Ribeiro (POR)/Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 21.91 (TIE)
14. –
15. Josh Liendo (CAN) – 21.92
16. Maxime Grousset (FRA) – 21.94