arena Swim of the Week: Maximus Williamson Rockets To 48.84 100 Free On Relay Lead-Off

Swim of the Week is brought to you by arena, a SwimSwam partner.

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.

Maximus Williamson has been an age group standout for quite some time, but his recent emergence in the 100 freestyle has largely been overshadowed.

For one, he hasn’t quite broken the National Age Group Record in the event, which he has done in both the 200 IM (1:58.65) and 200 free (1:47.29) this week at Junior Nationals.

But the other thing is that Williamson’s recent progression in the 100 free has coincided with other stories that have grabbed the headlines.

At Nationals, Williamson dropped his best time down from 50.13 to 49.00 in the prelims, moving into #2 in the 15-16 age group behind Kaii Winkler (48.81), and then cracked the 49-second barrier with a 48.91 performance in the consolation final.

Due to the chaotic nature of the 100 free at Nationals, where the top four finishers were separated by just seven one-hundredths of a second, Williamson’s swim flew under the radar.

The same might have been the case on Thursday night, as he led off his Lakeside Aquatic Club squad to a new National Age Group Record in the 400 free relay with an opening split of 48.84.

While the NAG record in the relay was the top story of the race, Williamon’s lead-off leg was simply sensational and inches him even closer to Winkler’s NAG record, now just three one-hundredths back.

U.S. Rankings, Boys’ 15-16 100 Freestyle (LCM)

1. Kaii Winkler, 48.81 (2023)
2. Maximus Williamson, 48.84 (2023)
3. Thomas Heilman, 49.06 (2022)
4. Caeleb Dressel, 49.28 (2013)
5. Jason Zhao, 49.39 (2023)
6. Destin Lasco, 49.40 (2018)
7. Jack Alexy, 49.67 (2019)
8. Daniel Diehl, 49.71 (2022)
9. Henry McFadden, 49.72 (2022)
10. Adam Chaney, 49.95 (2018)

Split Comparison – Williamson

Williamson also set a new best time of 22.89 in the 50 free leading off Lakeside’s 200 free relay in Irvine, ranking him 16th all-time for 15-16 boys.

While he’s not a pure sprinter, consistently flipping within seven or eight-tenths of your 50-meter PB in the 100 free is certainly about as fast as you can take it out, and Williamson clearly has his closing speed dialed in, as he’s already approaching a sub-25 back half despite having only cracked 50 seconds one month ago.

If he entered the 100 free individually, Williamson likely would have emerged with the victory, as his lead-off time was over half a second faster than what eventually won gold. The winner of that race was another 16-year-old standout, Mason Manta Ray Jason Zhao, who clocked 49.39 to rank #5 all-time among 15-16s.

With Zhao’s swim, we’ve now seen six of the top 10 times for 15-16 boys come within the last two years, and three of the top five have come in 2023.

See arena North America here.

Follow arena USA on Instagram here.

About arena

arena has revolutionized the world of aquatic sport through insightful collaboration with world class athletes and the development of cutting edge competitive swimwear since 1973. Today, this spirit of collaboration and innovation lives on through a continuous evolution of advanced materials and Italian design that improves the performance, style and expression of all those who chose arena. From leading the lanes to living in style, arena is dedicated to providing all swimmers with the tools they need to express themselves, feel confident, win and achieve more. Because in arena, you can.