Swim of the Week: Patrick Sammon’s Huge Drop to 50.0 In the 100 Free

Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

17-year-old Patrick Sammon has cruised through the 52s and 51s in the 100-meter free. He’s now on the cusp of a 49-second swim and a major national-level breakout.

Swimming at the Irvine site of the 18&Under Spring Cup, Sammon put up the fastest time of any 100 freestyle at any of the meet’s four sites. The AquaSol swimmer went 50.05 in a huge swim, besting a number of well-known age group standouts.

Sammon was just 52.2 in this event as of last fall. He had a great calendar year 2019, breaking 54 for the first time and hitting that 52.2 at Winter Juniors.

Then, last November, Sammon hacked seven tenths of a second off of his best for a 51.5. But his big swim this week constituted an even bigger drop: 1.45 seconds.

Sammon also hit best times in the 50 free (23.00) and 100 free (1:49.79). All three were new Wave I Olympic Trials cuts, qualifying Sammon for the big show just over a month away.

For this season (September 2020-August 2021), Sammon ranks #3 among U.S. 18-and-unders in the 100 free. He’s also #12 in the 50 free and #6 in the 50 free.