Norvy Clontz Swims 3:50 in the 400 Free, Fastest American 15-Year Old Ever

2022 SPEEDO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 1 to 5, 2022
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Page
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Live Results (OMEGA) (also can be found on MeetMobile)

15-year old Norvy Clontz of SwimMAC Carolina is now the fastest swimmer ever at his age in the 400 meter freestyle.

He swam 3:50.82 on Wednesday evening, which won the event and broke the 2017 Meet Record of 3:51.44 set by Alex Zettle.

While USA Swimming doesn’t keep single age records, only one swimmer has been faster at either end of the 15-16 age group: Larsen Jensen, who swam 3:50.68 in 2002. Jensen was less than three weeks from his 17th birthday when he swam that time.

The previous fastest American 15-year old in the event’s history was Dare Rose, who swam 3:51.41 in 2018.

When talking about middle-distance freestyle at 15, of course, the gold standard continues to be Australian Ian Thorpe. Thorpe swam 3:44.35 at this age in 1998; he would become the World Champion in the event that year, his first of what would become three World Championships in the event.

Globally, the person who has come closest to that recently was Italian Lorenzo Galossi, who swam 3:45.93 at the Italian Spring Championships in April.

While Clontz’s time is a ways away from those swims, it is the latest spark in American middle distance swimming, which is a discipline where the US has lagged behind the world for most of the last 30 years. The only US medalist in the 400 free at the World Championships since 1986 was Connor Jaeger, who won bronze in 2013. The US has had more success in the event at the Olympic Games (they’ve won the bronze medal at 5 of the last 6 Olympic Games), but also don’t have any silver or gold medals since winning both in 1984.

Jensen, who won bronze in 2008, remains the American Record holder in the event at 3:42.78.

Clontz’s previous best time of 3:53.71 in the 400 free came less than a week ago at Summer Nationals. Between the two meets, he has lopped five-and-a-half seconds off his best time of 3:57.13, done in April.

Clontz is now the 15th-fastest American of any age in the event this year. Only three other teenagers rank ahead of him on that list; four of those are 19 (Charlie Clark, Luke Hobson, James Plage), and the other is 18 (Alex Enyeart).

Below are two splits comparisons tables to show how far Clontz has come, and the swimmers he’s chasing.

Comparisons to Previous Personal Bests

Comparisons to World’s top 15-Year Olds

Clontz also swam a best time in the 200 fly of 2:05.53 earlier in the meet. He swam a 4:27.85 in prelims of the 400 IM, about three seconds slower than he was at Senior Nationals last week, and scratched finals.