Campbell McKean Unleashes 1:41.19 200 IM, Moves To #2 Among U.S. 17-18 Boys

2024 Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 11-15, 2024
• Austin, Texas
• Prelims: 9:00 am (CT) / Finals: 5:00 pm (CT)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central
• How to Watch
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• Prelims Recap: Day 1
• Finals Recap: Day 1 | Day 2

Campbell McKean ripped a 1:41.19 to win the 200 IM at the 2024 Winter Junior Championships — West, hitting an Oregon state record and moving up to #2 all-time among 17-18 American boys. His time ranks him .38 seconds behind Maximus Williamson‘s National Age Group record (1:40.81).

The swim was the culmination of a big day for McKean as he demolished his previous lifetime best. The onslaught began in prelims, when he swam a 1:42.33, breaking the lifetime best of 1:44.23 he held coming into the meet, which he swam at these championships last year. That swim marked a 1.90-second improvement as he qualified first for the final, like he did in 2023 when he finished third. But even with a sizable drop in prelims, McKean, a Texas commit set to begin training in this pool next fall, wasn’t done yet. His 1:41.19 in finals was another 1.14-second drop, for a total of 3.04 seconds on the day.

Split Comparison: 

In prelims, McKean improved each stroke’s split from his previous lifetime best. Then, he did it again in finals, improving to a 21.77/26.00/28.16/25.26 slash line.

McKean is entered in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, and 200 butterfly for the rest of the meet. In 2023, he finished second in the 400 IM, fifth in the 100 breaststroke, and fifth in the 200 butterfly along with his third place finish in the 200 IM.

Boys’ 200 IM

• West Record: 1:41.18 – Maximus Williamson (2023)
• Meet Record: 1:41.18 – Maximus Williamson (2023)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:45.29 – Michael Andrew (2014)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:41.41 – Thomas Heilman (2023)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:40.81 – Maximus Williamson (2024)

Top 8 Finishers:

1. Campbell McKean (BEND)- 1:41.19
2. Jack Armour (TFA)- 1:43.34
3. Maximus Williamson (LAC)- 1:44.22
4. Abe Astle (OA)- 1:45.31
5. Rowan Cox (TXLA)- 1:45.80
6. Henry Webb (AQJT)- 1:46.25
7. Tyler Bardak (FOX)- 1:46.60
8. Stuart Timmerman (WILD)- 1:46.65

Campbell McKean from Bend Swim Club pulled off an upset in the boy’s 200 IM, beating the NAG record holder, Maximus Williamson, and winning the event by more than two seconds. His winning time of 1:41.19 was also only one one-hundredth off the meet record time of 1:41.18, also set by Williamson. This swim also marked a three second drop this season for McKean, a Texas commit, who came in with a previous best time of 1:44.23 from this meet last year. It is also the 2nd fastest swim in history, taking the spot from Thomas Heilman’s 1:41.26 from just an hour prior.

Texas Ford Aquatics swimmer Jack Armour also beat the NAG record holder, going 1:43.34. This was an even more significant drop than we saw from McKean, with Armour, a Notre Dame commit, coming into the season at 1:50.89 in the event. He has dropped slowly but surely over the season, going a new personal best of 1:45.81 in the prelims, only to drop another 2.47 seconds in the final.

Maximus Williamson took 3rd in 1:44.22. Where the first two swimmers saw significant drops, this was a 3.41 second add for the Virginia commit. His best time stands at 1:40.81 from the Texas High School State Meet in February.