If you followed along with our coverage of the just-concluded 2020 Queensland Championships, then you know that 15-year-old Flynn Southam introduced himself to the world with a monster 100m freestyle performance.
The Bond University Swimming Club athlete busted out the swim of his life to log a 100m free time of 49.65, slicing .03 off of Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers‘ Australian Age Record of 49.68.
“I knew going into the meet that my 100 free was going to be a good race. I was and still am confident in my skills, race plan and my abilities come race day because I trained to outwork my potential every day and was just trying to be a better athlete/person than what I was yesterday,” Southam told SwimSwam about a week after his breakout performance.
Splitting 24.51/25.14, Southam’s big-time effort marked his first occasion ever under the 52-second threshold, having possessed a PB of 52.52 from this same meet last year. His 49.65 would rank the Bond teen as the 3rd fastest man ever in the 15-16 age group in U.S. history, sitting only behind Caeleb Dressel’s 49.28 and Destin Lasco’s 49.67.
But behind the massive record, of which you can read more about here, is a humble and hungry teenager with an even-keeled view of his rapidly improving career, despite setbacks leading up to this particular meet.
Speaking with me today, December 20th, Southam said, “At the start of age nationals I broke my radial head in my left arm twice playing basketball at school. This left me not being able to swim and exercise at all, in comparison with my competition.”
The Kyle Samuelson-trained rising star explained that the injuries affected him more mentally than physically, “I realized the sport that I love could be taken away very, very quickly.”
Surging to the wall, Southam felt that it was a record-setting swim. “I knew it was the record as soon as I came into the wall. I’d say I’m a very goal-oriented athlete and I train towards my goals for these championships event.”
Coach Samuelson’s words to his protege after the race entailed conveying, ‘the job is not yet finished. Take one race at a time and focus on the process, not the end result’ which “was really awesome and helpful to get me through the rest of the week.”
Of note, Chalmers did not compete, having had shoulder surgery last month.
It turned out Southam wasn’t done with just his 100m free showpiece, as the 15-year-old busted out another record in the men’s 50m free. Grinding out a personal best of 22.91, the outing checked in as Southam’s first-ever result under the 23-second barrier. His performance overtook the previous Aussie age record of 23.03 set by Maxwell Haumi a decade ago.
Remarkably, Southam’s PB entering these championships was marked by the 23.91 he logged just last month at the Queensland Medal Shots Preparation Meet. Prior to that affair, the teen had never been under 24 seconds.
These two swims combine for a potentially exciting future for Southam with the Australian Olympic Trials on the horizon for June 2021.
“My short term goal is to get better every day, get people around me better every day and lead my team to success in any field of life, develop into and become one of the greatest swimmers/athletes of all time.”
With a legendary national history in sprint freestyle paired with his natural ability and work ethic, look for Southam to continue his upward trajectory and follow in the path of those whose records he is currently breaking.
I wonder if he’ll end up in the NCAA or not. Australians typically don’t, but recently a few have come over. Alabama has Charlie Hawke coming this August, who last week swam a 1:59.2 2 fly and 3:58.2 400 free (LCM). Maybe that’s the start of more AUS swimmers making the jump over to the US
Great prospect for 2022.
What’s the fastest 15 yo 100 free?
49.68 by Chalmers
It appears that his time is the second fastest in the world for 15-16 age group.
The text below photo refers to 10 meters free?