Baylor Nelson Jumps into All-Time US Top 10 with Sub-2 Minute 200 IM

2021 US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, December 1 – Saturday, December 4, 2021
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, NC
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Info
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live stream
• Live Results (Omega)
• Thursday night heat sheet
• Day 2 finals live recap

SwimMAC Carolina’s Baylor Nelson won the men’s 200 meter IM on Thursday at the 2021 U.S. Open Championships, and in the process swam the 9th-best time in 17-18 age group history in the event.

Nelson won the race in 1:59.86, which was his first time under 2 minutes.

Nelson’s previous lifetime best came at the Speedo Summer Championships – East meet in August, where he swam 2:01.08 in finals and a 2:02.22 in prelims. Before that, he swam a 2:02.62 at the US Olympic Trials, meaning that he has been a best time in three consecutive swims.

While a touchpad error means that we don’t know exactly what Nelson split in his previous best time, we do know that he was actually slower in the opening 50, in spite of being more than a second faster overall.

Top 10 U.S. All-Time, 17-18 Age Group, 200 LCM IM

1. Michael Phelps, 2003 – 1:55.94 (World Record at the time)
2. Carson Foster, 2019 – 1:57.59
3. Michael Andrew, 2017 – 1:59.12
4. Jake Foster, 2019 – 1:59.15
5. Gunnar Bentz, 2014 – 1:59.19
6. Chase Kalisz, 2012 – 1:59.51
7. Kieran Smith, 2017 – 1:59.56
8. Nick D’Innocenzo, 2009 – 1:59.71
9. Baylor Nelson, 2021 – 1:59.86
10. Andrew Seliskar, 2015 – 1:59.93

Nelson, who has versatility through all four strokes, is swimming a limited schedule this week – after the 200 IM, he’ll only swim the 200 back and 400 IM this week.

Nelson, the #1 commit in the high school class of 2022, is signed to swim at Texas A&M next fall.