Ryan Murphy Rocks 48.50 Personal Best, Championship Record In 100 Back

2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
• Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
• SCM (25m)
• Prize Money
• Meet Site
• Meet Schedule
• How To Watch
• Meet Roster Index
• Psych Sheets (Updated)
• Live Results

American Olympian Ryan Murphy put up a statement-making swim tonight at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre.

While competing in the men’s 100m backstroke final, 27-year-old Murphy crushed a time of 48.50 for gold, beating the next-closest swimmer by over half a second. Italy’s Lorenzo Mora was next to the wall in 49.04 for silver while host nation swimmer Isaac Cooper rounded out the top 3 in 49.52 for bronze.

Murphy’s 48.50 not only topped the podium, however, but the time also overtook the previous Championship Record. That mark stood at the 48.95 Russian Stanislav Donetc put on the books over a decade ago in 2010.

Opening in 23.40 and bringing it home in 25.10, Murphy’s performance also came within .17 of the World Record in this men’s 1back event. That remains at the 48.33 fellow American Coleman Stewart registered in August of 2021; however, Murphy now checks in as the 2nd fastest man in history.

Entering this competition, former Cal Bear Murphy’s personal best rested at the 49.23 he produced at the 2018 FINA Short Course Championships. That means his outing here hacked well over half a second from the storied backstroker’s career-quickest to rocket up the all-time rankings from his prior slot of #13.

All-Time Men’s SCM 100 Backstroke Performers

1. Coleman Stewart (USA), 48.33 2021
2. Ryan Murphy (USA), 48.50 2022
3. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 48.58 2020
4. Shaine Casas (USA), 48.84 2022
5. Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 48.88 2020

He joins the exclusive sub-49 second club, adding his name to fellow Americans Casas (48.84), Matt Grevers (48.92) and Nick Thoman (48.94) who have also achieved the accomplishment.