2025 Winter Junior Championships – East
- December 10-13, 2025
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Prelims: 9 a.m EST
- Finals: 5 p.m EST
- SCY (25 yards)
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SwimAtlanta’s Collin Holgerson finished the night at the Winter Junior Championships East meet with an all-time split on a medley relay leadoff.
The 17-year-old Tennessee commit split 45.06 in the 100 backstroke on the leadoff leg of SwimAtlanta’s 2nd-place relay (3:11.66). That ranks him as the 6th-fastest 17-18 in the history of the event, in spite of being on the younger end of the age group.
It also makes him the fastest 17-year-old in history and just the 5th 17-year-old to ever go under 46 seconds in the event.
All-Time Rankings, Boys’ 100 SCY Backstroke:
- Collin Holgerson, SwimAtlanta – 45.06 (2025 Winter Juniors East)
- Ryan Murphy, Bolles School – 45.34 (2012 Florida 1A HS State Championships)
- Ryan Hoffer, Scottsdale Aquatic Club – 45.58 (2015 Winter Juniors West)
- Hudson Williams, New Albany Aquatic Club – 45.77 (2022 Winter Juniors East)
- Scotty Buff, Greater Toledo Aquatic Club – 45.89 (2022 NCSA Spring Nationals)
Holgerson, who will swim the individual 100 back on Friday, had a previous best of 46.87.
| Collin Holgerson | Collin Holgerson | Ryan Murphy | |
| Old PB | New PB | Age 17 PB | |
| 50y | 22.74 | 21.80 | 21.75 |
| 100y | 24.13 | 23.26 | 23.59 |
| Total Time | 46.87 | 45.06 | 45.34 |
Earlier in the meet, he had a best of 1:43.23 in the 200 IM to finish 2nd, dropping about 1.2 seconds in that race. He also split 21.02 on the backstroke leadoff leg of SwimAtlanta’s 6th-place 200 medley relay. That split was equal to or faster than 12 leadoff legs in this relay at last year’s NCAA Championship meet – and he still has a season-and-a-half of high school swimming remaining.
The #4 recruit in the high school class of 2027, Holgerson represented the US at the World Junior Championships over the summer. While he wears the cap of SwimAtlanta in USA Swimming competition, but attends and trains at the McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That program promoted alumnus and former assistant Zane Hamilton to head coach this season after the retirement of longtime coach Stan Corcoran. The team have won five state swimming & diving titles in the last seven seasons.
Ryan Hoffer was such an age group beast.
His 100 free where he went a 41 low at juniors is one of the craziest swims I’ve ever watched. Truly incredible underwaters
McCallie
That was absolutely wild
I’m getting more and more tired of seeing “in history” everywhere. I know media like their flashy titles but he’s the fastest American ever in a very specifically American type of pool – not the fastest 17 yo in history. This comment is also valid for most NCAA related articles in recent years. I know “the fastest in American college swimming history” doesn’t have the same ring to it, but it doesn’t make you sound both ignorant and arrogant (something many US fans come across as when supporting their athletes).
Your classic French lack of self-awareness is showing through brightly in this comment – because you don’t know how arrogant it makes you sound. We’re all peas in the same pod. Stop racing so hard for the moral high ground. I promise the view isn’t as great as you think it is.
What moral high ground? I’m mainly talking about a choice of words here. Whether you like my point or not doesn’t mean I’m incorrect. Kliment Kolesnikov and Miron Lifintsev are just two of several swimmers who were faster when they were 17. You can either deal with it, or keep writing articles that make it sound like those people don’t exist.
They didn’t contest a 100 yard back. So no, they were not faster over this distance.
They were more accomplished long course but to act like that makes him being the fastest American 17 year old over 100 Back SCY irrelevant is ridiculous.
Touch grass.
I didn’t say Collin’s performance was irrelevant. What he did is awesome. As an ex-backstroker, I’ll be sure to follow what he does next and hope he breaks the 17-18 NAG record.
But in your own words, he’s “the fastest American 17 year old over 100 Back SCY”. Not quite the same as fastest 17 yo in history. Taking this convenient shortcut in the name of clickbait is bad journalism, and I’m not sorry that pointing it out annoys you.
who has swam a faster 100 yard back than him? I researched it and he seems like the fastest to me
This is pretty big for backstroke. Someone said earlier that men’s backstroke in the US age group rankings was not looking great for our long term success. This is the first sign that we will might still be fine.
While it is always fun water-cooler talk, predictions about the composition of national teams are almost always wrong.
Murph broke into 53 territory in 2012, albeit before he dropped that 45 low time post-OTs. Curious to see if Holgerson can get down to that in LCM.
Jaw drop
🤯🤯🤯