Michael Taylor Breaks Michael Phelps’ 200 Back Meet Record In Atlanta

Michael Taylor broke the men’s 200 yard backstroke meet record, held by Michael Phelps, by over two seconds at the Speedo Eastern Classic hosted by his home club Dynamo in Atlanta.

Taylor bettered Phelps’ 1:43.78 record that he set back in 2003 with a swift 1:41.54. That time would have given the 18-year-old ย the win this past December at the U.S Winter Nationals.

The year that Phelps set the meet record was the year he went on to suggest that he might be able to beat Mark Spitz’ record of 7 gold medals in one Olympic Games, with top performances at the 2003 World Championships. Although he didn’t compete in any backstroke evens there, he was one of the best backstrokers in the world. At the 2004 U.S Olympic Trials he made the team in the 200m backstroke, but opted not to swim it.

Currently, Taylor’s best long course time is a 1:56.78 from the 2016 U.S Olympic Trials. His short course time suggests that he can be significantly faster if he can translate his success into the big pool. According to the Speedo Time Converter, his 1:41.54 converts to a 1:55.10 long course, a time that would make him competitive on the world stage.

Taylor has been establishing himself as one of the best up-and-coming backstrokers in the United States since 2016 trials. He most recently competed at the short course world championships in Windsor, Canada where he was 12th in the 200m backstroke.

In This Story

50
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

50 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Blastoff
7 years ago

Here’s my handy-dandy conversion from SCY to LCM for backstroke (each stroke is different because of the effect of turns and men and women are different because of power off walls, etc.)

SCY time in seconds + 3.5 seconds per 100 (women =3 seconds) x 1.093613 = LCM time in seconds

1:41.54 = 101.54 + 7 x 1.093613 = 1:58.70 LCM

Pretty darned good but not a 1:55

Swimmerb0y
7 years ago

Yes the converted time would be faster but he is monster off of his wall’s. Believe me. I watched his record… LC he wouldn’t have the opportunity to kill as many walls

bobo gigi
7 years ago

1. The headline is flashy, sorry for the lack of vocabulary. It’s just to encourage people to click. It has worked for me. ๐Ÿ™‚
2. His 1.56.78 in long course is a much better performance than that 1.41.54 in yards.
3. The conversion you made from SCY to LCM is hilarious and not serious from your part. I imagine that Murphy would swim around 1.49 in long course with that kind of conversions! ๐Ÿ˜† Once again stop definitely the conversions from the bathtub to the big pool and from the big pool to the bathtub. It doesn’t mean anything!
4. However I know that Michael Taylor is a better long course swimmer so every time he improves… Read more ยป

Iceage Swimmer
Reply to  bobo gigi
7 years ago

Bobo always says the speedo time converter is hilarious. As soon as I read the article, I knew it was coming!

Swim mom
Reply to  Iceage Swimmer
7 years ago

Because he’s right!

FL Swimmer
7 years ago

I was lucky enough to be at the meet today and this was an awesome race to watch. Michael’s turns and exit points are absolutely seamless. Would’ve loved to see what he could’ve gone in a faster pool than the one he swam it in!

Swimnerd
Reply to  FL Swimmer
7 years ago

Don’t get it confused, that Dynamo pool is one of the fastest pools outside of UGA and GT in the state of Georgia. Kid’s going to make an impact next year at UF that’s for sure.

Dynamo swimmer
7 years ago

And congratulations to Cam Auerbach for getting 3rd place with a time of 1:55.82!! He is someone to look out for in the upcoming years, a lot of potential in that young man

Cam Auerbach Fan
Reply to  Dynamo swimmer
7 years ago

Cam Auerbach is definitely a serious up and coming swimmer at Dynamo Swim Club, posting a 10:02.91 in the 1000 free later that afternoon. With a time like that, he’s only 5 seconds off the 11-12 girls’ National Age Group Record. He could definitely dip under that essential ten minute mark with a suit shave and taper meet in March.

Rachel
7 years ago

I’ve noticed that on this conversion tool SCY to LCM is usually a little too fast ans LCM to SCY is usually a little too slow.

Joey Joe joe
7 years ago

Swimson,

Clearly a troll comment. Nice try though.

Backstroker
7 years ago

For comparison my underwaters suck and I’m 1:41.4 and 2:00.0

About Mitch Bowmile

Mitch Bowmile

Mitch worked for 5-years with SwimSwam news as a web producer focusing on both Canadian and international content. He coached for Toronto Swim Club for four seasons as a senior coach focusing on the development of young swimmers. Mitch is an NCCP level 2 certified coach in Canada and an ASCA Level โ€ฆ

Read More »