arena Swim of the Week: Daniel Diehl Becomes Fastest 16&U Ever In 100 Back

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Last weekend was a rough one for Ryan Murphy and his 100 backstroke records.

While Luca Urlando shocked everyone by lowering Murphy’s NCAA, U.S. Open and American Record in the SCY event at the Men’s NCAA Championships, Daniel Diehl laid waste to his 15-16 National Age Record in the LCM race over at the Speedo Spring Sectionals in Buffalo.

Diehl, 16, came into the meet with a best time of 54.90, set last May, and lowered that down to 54.29 in the prelims to move into second all-time in the 15-16 age group, trailing only Murphy, who set the NAG of 53.76 at the 2012 Olympic Trials.

In the final, Diehl blasted his way to a time of 53.59, extinguishing Murphy’s record while also becoming the fastest swimmer aged 16 and under in history, to the best of our knowledge.

In addition to overtaking Murphy, Diehl also surpassed South African Pieter Coetze, who clocked 53.62 at the age of 16 last year, and Russian Kliment Kolesnikov, who was 53.65 at the age of 15 back at the 2016 European Junior Championships.

All-Time Performers, 16 & Under Men’s 100 Back (International)

1. Daniel Diehl (USA), 53.59 – 2022
2. Pieter Coetze (RSA), 53.62 – 2021
3. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 53.65 – 2016
4. Ryan Murphy (USA), 53.76 – 2012
5. Conor Ferguson (IRL), 54.41 – 2016

In the U.S. rankings, Diehl, Murphy, Michael Taylor (54.62) and Michael Andrew (54.74) are the only four to have broken the 55-second barrier.

Diehl, who won’t turn 17 until October, also now ranks 19th all-time among Americans in the event, and would already slot in as the second-fastest swimmer in the 17-18 age group. Murphy holds that NAG record at 53.38.

As of Wednesday, Diehl ranked fifth in the world in the 100 back this year and third amongst Americans, trailing only Murphy (53.03) and Shaine Casas (53.28).

Watch Diehl’s swim below:

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