Rex Maurer Posts Scorching 4:13.90 500 FR at CIF-SS D1 Finals, #1 17yo All-Time

2022 CIF-SS Division 1

• Prelims: Monday, May 2, 2022
• Finals: Friday, May 6, 2022
• Margeurite Aquatic Center, Mission Viejo, CA
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results
• Results also on MeetMobile, search “2022 CIF-SS Division 1”
• CIF-SS Division 1 Recap

The CIF-SS Championships were held this past weekend, playing host to a ton of fast swimming. Perhaps no race was more exciting than the boys 500 free, which featured two of the fastest high school times in U.S. history from Rex Maurer and Matthew Chai. The duo didn’t compete head-to-head, as Maurer is in the CIF-SS Division 1, while Chai is Division 2. However, the CIF State meet takes place this weekend, and this time it will feature a real showdown between the rising stars.

Maurer, who is just a junior at Loyola, had the better of the times this past weekend, throwing down a scorching 4:13.90. Not only was that a massive personal best for Maurer, it also makes him the fastest American 17-year-old ever, and the first 17-year-old to dip under 4:14 in the event. Next-fastest is Townley Haas, who swam a 4:14.19 at Winter Nationals when he was 17. Haas would of course go on to win the 500 free at Men’s NCAAs 3 times in his career at Texas, as well as win a Gold medal on the U.S. 4×200 free relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Moreover, Maurer is now #10 all-time in the 17-18 age group. The 17-18 NAG was set in March by Texas freshman Luke Hobson at 4:08.42.

Matthew Chai, a Sonora senior, swam a personal best by half a second this past weekend, clocking a 4:15.91. While the swim doesn’t necessarily have the same flash as Maurer’s 4:13, it was just as historic of a swim. Chai brought down Jeff Kostoff‘s legendary CIF-SS Division 2 Meet Record of 4:16.39, which had stood since 1983. To further put into context just how long Kostoff’s record stood, the record was set 21 years before Chai was even born.

Both races landed in the all-time top 10 for high school swimming. Maurer’s swim is the #3 high school time in history, while Chai’s is #7. Here is the updated all-time top 10 for high school performances. Note: these performances include only those which were done while competing for a high school team, not club teams.

Here is a split comparison between Maurer’s swim, Chai’s swim, and Grant Shoults‘ National High School Record, which was set at the 2016 CIF-SS Division 1 Finals.

Despite Maurer and Chai’s final times being only 2 seconds apart, they swam completely different races. Maurer took the race out fast, splitting 22.80 on the first 50, which was 1.74 seconds faster than Chai and 0.30 seconds faster than Shoults’ National HS Record swim. Maurer would split 2:04.85 on the first 250 yards of the race (4:09.70 pace), but then pay for it on the back end, coming home in 2:09.05 on the 2nd 250 (4:18.10 pace). Chai, a true distance swimmer, would take the exact opposite approach. Swimming a much more conservative first 100, Chai would split 2:08.40 on the first 250 (4:16.80 pace), then negative split the race, coming home in 2:07.51 on the 2nd half (4:15.02 pace).

In his National HS Record swim, Shoults was someone between Maurer and Chai in terms of his execution. He was half a second slower than Maurer on the first 100 of the race, but where he really distinguished himself from Maurer was on the final 200, where he out-split Maurer by 1.37 seconds. Shoults’ 250 splits were 2:05.24/2:07.63.