Hoffer, Dressel, and…Nikita Sheremet (Key Swims From Wednesday Evening)

If I asked you to name the three fastest 18-year-olds ever in the 50 yard freestyle, many of you could probably come up with the names of two of them.

One, Caeleb Dressel, is the fastest 50 yard freestyler in history at any age, was very good from a very young age, and thanks to a very, very late birthday (August 16), he finished his freshman year of college at 18.

Two is one Ryan Hoffer, who was 22 by the time he was 18 (proverbially speaking) and an unmitigated monster in high school swimming. He was 19 by the time he started college, but already had his man muscles in by then.

But the third might surprise you. That, and other things you might have missed on Wednesday night, are below:

Nikita Sheremet, 18-Year-Old Legend

Joining Dressel and Hoffer in the ranks of the top 18-year-olds in history is Louisville freshman Nikita Sheremet. The Ukrainian sprinter was born April 11, 2007, and so will finish his freshman season at 18 – bucking the trend of ‘older’ internationals pouring into the NCAA.

He finished tied-for-2nd at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday in the 50 yard free in 18.71, behind only NC State junior Quintin McCarty and tied with Virginia Tech junior Brendan Whitfield. By comparison, the 4th place finisher Martin Wrede (18.81) from Cal is also a freshman – but he’s already surpassed his 21st birthday.

Sheremet now ties Adam Chaney as the 3rd-fastest 18-year-old in the history of this event.

Fastest 18-Year-Olds in History, 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 18.67 (2015)
2. Ryan Hoffer, Scottsdale Aquatic Club, 18.71 (2016)
3. (TIE)
   • Nikita Sheremet, Louisville, 18.76 (2021)
   • Adam Chaney, Florida, 18.76 (2021)
5. (TIE)
   • Michael Andrew, Race Pace Club, 18.88 (2018)
   • Matt Brownstead, Virginia, 18.88 (2021)
7. Ilya Kharun, Arizona State, 18.93 (2023)
8. Jonny Kulow, Arizona State, 19.05 (2023)
9. (TIE)
   1. Vlad Morozov, USC, 19.06 (2011)
   2. Lucca Battaglini, East Carolina Aquatics, 19.06 (2023)

The success of Louisville’s women’s sprint squad by this point is well known – they won the ACC title in the 200 medley relay on Tuesday.

But the men have lagged behind. Sheremet earlier this season became just the 2nd Louisville man to go under 19 seconds, and on Wednesday broke the school record of 18.79 set in 2023 by Abdelrahman Elaraby.

With how good the Louisville men are in races like the 400 IM (3 out of top 8 seeds at ACCS) and the stroke events, adding a little more of the ‘sizzle’ that comes from the sprint freestyles should help the Cardinals with recruiting and put them on the radar of more top 20 types from the US.

Incidentally, Sheremet also split 18.91 to lead off Louisville’s 200 free relay, which placed 3rd and broke a school record. That relay was only 9th place at last year’s meet.

Jeremy Kelly Redemption Arc

Jeremy Kelly was a casualty of the new House Settlement roster limits and the ensuing cuts at the University of Texas to bring their roster down. While there was eventually a judicial reprieve allowing cut swimmers who were cut to remain on rosters until graduation, Kelly ultimately transferred to Notre Dame.

Leaving the greatest IM coach in history in Bob Bowman would be a scary proposition for many, but Kelly has thrived in his new environs.

On Wednesday, he finished 8th at the ACC Championships in the 200 IM in 1:43.73, with a 1:42.46 from prelims making him the 6th-fastest on the day in Atlanta.

That knocked a second off his previous best time of 1:43.55 from the mid-season Texas Hall of Fame Invitational last season.

He will now chase the same later in the meet in the 200 free, where he’s the 49th seed; and the 100 free, where he’s the 65th seed. His lifetime bests in those races are 1:34.79 and 43.43, respectively, from the Austin Sectionals in March.

Quick Hits

• Boston College’s men’s 200 free relay swam 1:19.25, which broke their own school record of 1:19.87 from earlier this year. That included a 19.51 split from freshman Lucas Bailey. All four legs split faster than they did midseason to set the previous record. The quartet was Matt Lang (20.17), Bailey (19.51), Luke Condon (19.97), and Charlie Bruce (19.60). Boston College has now, three coaches in a row, made big strides, though with the rest of the ACC also improving it has been tough for them to dig out of the back end of the conference meet. Progress is progress, none-the-less.
• Auburn freshman Luke Bedsole won the B Final at the SEC Championships in 1:41.85. His best time from high school was 1:44.68. While he improved every lap of this race in college, he did most of the work in the first 150 – especially on the opening split, where he started in 22.46.
• Wisconsin’s Maggie Wanezek split 23.19 to lead off the Badgers’ runner-up 200 medley relay at Big Tens. In what has been an electric season for the sophomore, that is the fourth time this season she has been faster than the 23.85 that she split at NCAAs last year. In spite of swapping the other three legs from last year’s relay, which finished 11th last year, the Badgers are already faster than they were at NCAAs as a group.