Murphy Finally Earns Sole Possession Of 50 Back American Record

2018 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

  • Tuesday, December 11th – Sunday, December 16th
  • Hangzhou, China
  • Tennis Centre, Hangzhou Olympic & International Expo Center
  • SCM (25m)
  • Prelims: 9:30 am local, 8:30 pm ET / Finals: 7:00 pm* local, 6:00* am ET
  • *The final night of finals will be one hour earlier, starting at 6:00 pm local and 5:00 am ET
  • Live Results (Omega)

Ryan Murphy of the United States finally took over sole possession of the American Record in the final of the men’s 50 backstroke, clocking a time of 22.63 to break the mark of 22.87 he had gone in the semi-finals. That swim had tied Randall Bal for the official record, with Bal having gone 22.87 back in 2008.

However, Murphy had been 22.77 earlier in the meet on the lead-off of the mixed medley relay, but officially it didn’t count for a new American Record since it was in a mixed gender event.

Additionally, Murphy’s swim tonight isn’t the fastest ever done by an American. Peter Marshall swam a time of 22.61 back in November of 2009, but since that was done during the ‘suit gap’, USA Swimming didn’t recognize it as a world record. You can read more about that here.

Marshall’s swim is still included in the all-time rankings, however, as Murphy moves up into 4th. Evgeny Rylov, who edged out Murphy for the gold, moved up to 2nd with his swim of 22.58, and Shane Ryan (22.76) and Kliment Kolesnikov (22.77) also moved up in the top-10 with their swims in the final.

ALL-TIME PERFORMERS, MEN’S 50 BACK

  1. Florent Manaudou (FRA), 22.22
  2. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 22.58
  3. Peter Marshall (USA), 22.61
  4. Ryan Murphy (USA), 22.63
  5. Guilherme Guido (BRA), 22.68
  6. Xu Jiayu (CHN), 22.70
  7. Stanislav Donets (RUS) / Junya Koga (JPN), 22.74
  8. Shane Ryan (IRL), 22.76
  9. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 22.77

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Mary Beth Ryan
5 years ago

And this is why the 50’s should be included into the Olympic event format! So fun to watch. Pure speed, mixed with skill!!! Congrats to all, so enjoyable watching Pre-lim’s, Semi’s & Finals!

sven
Reply to  Mary Beth Ryan
5 years ago

I agree they’re fun to watch, but thinking about the Olympics as a whole, swimming has plenty of events already and does not need to take up any more time than it does. The only events that needed to be added were the 800 for men and 1500 for women. Mixed relays and 50s other than freestyle should be left to the World Champs.

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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