Eddie Wang Goes Sub-1:50 To Lower 200 Fly WJR For Third Time In Budapest

2020 INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING LEAGUE – SEMIFINAL #2

Cali Condor swimmer Eddie Wang became just the ninth swimmer in history to break the 1:50 barrier in the men’s 200 butterfly during the ISL semi-finals, clocking 1:49.89 to lower the world junior record for the third time this season.

Wang, an 18-year-old who hails from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), first set the record back in Match 1 in mid-October, touching in 1:50.79 to lower the benchmark time of 1:51.30 established by Daiya Seto in 2012. He then got the mark down to 1:50.14 in Match 10.

Wang now ranks eighth all-time.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 200 Fly (SCM)

Rank Swimmer Time Year
1 Daiya Seto (JPN) 1:48.24 2018
2 Chad Le Clos (RSA) 1:48.32 2018
3 Laszlo Cseh (HUN) 1:49.00 2015
4 Tom Shields (USA) 1:49.02 2020
5 Kaio Almeida (BRA) 1:49.11 2009
6 Nikolay Skvortsov (RUS) 1:49.46 2009
7 Takeshi Matsuda (JPN) 1:49.50 2011
8 Eddie Wang (TPE) 1:49.89 2020
9 Kristof Milak (HUN) 1:49.98 2019
10 Pawel Korzeniowski (POL) 1:50.13 2009

Split Comparison

Wang was more aggressive opening things up in this swim compared to his other two, making a big push on the third 50 in 27.92. It resulted in his slowest closing split, but it didn’t matter in the end.

Match 1 Match 10 Semi 2
24.98 25.02 24.68
28.39 (53.37) 28.19 (53.21) 28.05 (52.73)
28.50 (1:21.87) 28.42 (1:21.63) 27.92 (1:20.65)
28.92 (1:50.79) 28.51 (1:50.14) 29.24 (1:49.89)

Wang does have two wins in the event this season, but his three record-breaking performances all came when he didn’t finish first. In Match 1, he was beaten by both Tom Shields and Chad Le Clos, and in the last two swims, Shields was the victor with Wang the runner-up.

In today’s swim, Shields set a new American Record in 1:49.02, with Wang hot on his heels through the 150.

Heading into the ISL finale this weekend, Wang ranks second in the event behind only Shields, with Le Clos’ best swim of the season so far having been 1:50.24.

Wang also broke his Taiwanese record, which he also did on day one in the 400 freestyle (3:42.08).

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SwimFani
4 years ago

Wang is amazing

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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