College swimming has seen unprecedented levels of depth in the sprinting department so far this season as an NCAA-record 20 men have already been under 19 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle — with the national championships still to come later this month.
Sub-19 second times have been required to make the A-final at the past two NCAA Championships, but it might take sub-19 to even earn a B-final swim this time around.
Sub-19 50 FreeShifting trends in training and coaching philosophy have ushered in this sprinting renaissance along with a resurgence of top international talent trickling through the NCAA pipeline.
Of the 20 swimmers under 19 seconds in the 50 free this season, nine hail from outside the United States: Cayman Islands’ Jordan Crooks (17.99), Canada’s Josh Liendo (18.55), Brazil’s Gui Caribe (18.70), New Zealand’s Tai Torepe-Ormsby (18.76), Egypt’s Youssef Ramadan (18.79), Egypt’s Abdelrahman Elaraby (18.82), Canada’s Ilya Kharun (18.82), Sweden’s Bjorn Seeliger (18.88), and Croatia’s Jere Hribar (18.99).
They’re following in the footsteps of international sprinting greats such as Brazil’s Cesar Cielo, France’s Fred Bousquet, and Australia’s Matt Targett, who helped bring about an NCAA sprinting revolution from 2005-09. In 2005, Bousquet became the first man under 19 seconds in the 50 free at any meet (18.74 at NCAAs). It took another decade before Caeleb Dressel became the first man to go sub-19 during the fall semester with an 18.77 at the 2015 Ohio State Invitational.
Six programs combined to produce 14 of the 20 sub-19 swimmers this season. Arizona State (Jack Dolan, Kharun, and Jonny Kulow) and Florida (Liendo, Macguire McDuff, and Adam Chaney) lead the way with three apiece while Tennessee (Crooks and Caribe), NC State (Quintin McCarty and Drew Salls), Cal (Seeliger and Jack Alexy), and Notre Dame (Chris Guiliano and Elaraby) also boast multiple swimmers on the list.
Other sub-19 swimmers this season include Virginia senior Matt Brownstead (18.74), Auburn senior Logan Tirheimer (18.95), and Texas A&M sophomore Connor Foote (18.97). Kharun and Hribar are the only true freshmen under 19 seconds this season.
Jim Born D3 19.97 in 1985 continues to impress. What a mark to put up almost 40 years ago!
Possibly 18.7 low for A final
I don’t have the exact %, but it’s a low % that go best times at NCAAs and probably a lower % that do it in prelims. As a result, I’d be very surprised if it were that fast, but it would be pretty cool if that many were on.
Typo alert! I need a proof reader. My previous comment did not have the word “thought”….
I’m so old that I remember when Zac Zorn from UCLA was the first swimmer to break the 21.0 second barrier and when Joe Bottom (I think) broke the 20 second barrier. We all thought that was super fast. Now, those times look almost average….
You can edit your posts for 15 minutes
Yes, it was Joe Bottom going under 20 in prelims of the 1977 NCAAs at Cleveland State.
I’m so old that I remember when Zac Zorn from UCLA was the first swimmer to break the 21.0 second barrier and when Joe Bottom (I think) broke the 20 second barrier. We all that was super fast. Now, those times look almost average….
Is Kaii Winkler already attending College? I haven’t heard from for months. Does he have any chance of making the 4×100 free olympic relay team?
He’s been quiet this spring. He’s committed to NCST for fall (not there yet). Looks like last meet was December, where he went 42.2 / 1:32 freestyle; :45 fly; :47 back
https://www.swimcloud.com/swimmer/1387571/
Thanks!
Only two data points (others can weigh in on 20 second barrier and 21…) but I find it interesting both the 19 and 18 second barriers were broken by a fairly large margin. I believe the record was 19.05 (Jager?) before Bousquet went 18.76 and the record was 18.20 (by Dressel) before he went 17.63. Those are relatively large drops, versus someone just barely breaking the barrier with 18.99/17.99.
edit, I now recall Caeleb went 17 high the same meet he went 17.63, nonetheless, they were done is such close proximity I’m standing by my initial observation above.
I believe Joe Bottom took it from 20.0 to like 19.75 or 19.70 more or less in one go as well. Definitely interesting, and hard to think of a meaningful unified explanation; maybe it’s mental, or maybe we underrate the small variations in a single swimmer’s physiology that allow even the most talented to just be “on” for a given weekend.
Reminds me of a quote from JJ Redick on how the day of his one (or one of a couple) NBA in game dunk he just felt extra “bouncy” for no particular reason.
who will go under 18?
Jordan Crooks has
I have a hunch that COVID-19 was a big catalyst for this jump forward.
Why?
Less training time = more intent + intensify + more weights
Covid-19 vaccines infused with people’s blood and provide extra sprint speed. Notice how more people have gone sub-19 seconds since the pandemic. Makes you think.
You really did your own research. Proud of you.
This was my other theory 🤯
Please tell me this is satire
This is Swimswam, a netherworld where fantasy and reality merge with surprising regularity in the comments section!
That’s why MA’s stagnated, too.
This comment wins
And the 5g helps too!
the adrenochrome in the vaccines makes you more hydrodynamic from the reptilian scales they make you grow
Maybe more something other you can inject to your muscles than vaccine…..
Noah touched on a big part of it.
I would add that a lot of people had to get creative with pool time and LENGTH, forcing coaches and athletes to focus intensely on skills that are magnified when sprinting (breakouts, underwater, technique, strength, explosiveness).
@ex-NC Lurker What do you mean by length? Length of the pool? Length of time spent in the pool?
The length of the pool.
How about age? Curious how many of these guys are 5th year Seniors enjoying their “covid” year of eligibility. Could that explain the increase in numbers?
I think that’s a legit explanation. There’s way more people training into their mid-20s now than ever before.
Duration of training + male peak athletic years
I think it would be interesting to look at the data and see the time progression for each swimmer who has gone under 19.
I initially thought this wouldn’t be true … but after looking at top times from the past 10 seasons, you might be on to something. Counts of swimmers under 19 (2024 is incomplete of course)
2024 – 20
2023 – 18
2022 – 17
2021 – 10
2020 – 4
2019 – 8
2018 – 10
2017 – 9
2016 – 5
2015 – 4
Just eyeballing it, there does seem to be a pretty big jump from 2021 to 2022
Oh lol … there’s a graph of this right in the article 😅