Andrew Wilson Becomes 4th American Ever Under 59 Seconds in 100 Breast

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
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Swimming in the first semifinal of the men’s 100 breast tonight at Worlds, Andrew Wilson finished second to qualify fifth for the final with a new lifetime best of 58.95.

With that time, Wilson becomes only the fourth American man to ever break the 59-second barrier. Kevin Cordes (58.64 AR), Cody Miller (58.87), and Eric Shanteau (58.96) are the only other Americans to have ever done so, with Wilson joining their ranks tonight. He becomes the third-best American performer in history, as well as the 15th-best overall performer in history.

In prelims, Wilson was 59.26, his second-best time ever. His best until tonight was a 59.19, done at the 2018 Atlanta Pro Swim Series. He split 27.85 going out tonight, coming home in a 31.10; that back half is actually .13 quicker than Cordes was in the 2017 Worlds semifinals when he set the current American record. Wilson, who swam collegiately with Division III Emory, has spent time training with Texas’s pro group and has been stationed with the Athens Bulldogs at UGA since last fall.

With a lane in the final tomorrow night, Wilson will have a shot at taking down Cordes’ American Record, or at least jumping Miller’s #2 U.S. time in history of 58.83.