SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll compared two of the best U.S. age group swims of all-time:
RESULTS
Which swim is more impressive:
- Mary T. Meagher’s 2:05 in the 200m fly at age 16 (in 1981) – 51.9%
- Katie Ledecky‘s 8:06 in the 800m free at age 18 – 48.1%
It was a showdown of legends, with two of the top junior swimmers in history pitted against one another in our A3 poll.
Even though recency bias might have helped Ledecky’s cause, it was Meagher who wrangled the most votes, winning a nail-biter by just under 4% of the total votes. In all, that came to 46 more votes than Ledecky’s swim out of about 1200 total votes cast.
There’s really no wrong answer between these two legendary swims. Both were world records and sport-defining swims in their respective generations. Meagher’s 2:05.96 would stand as the world record for 19 more years, holding fast from 1981 until the year 2000. It’s still the U.S. National Age Group record in the 15-16 age group and is actually faster than the 17-18 NAG record. Meagher’s 1981 swim was so ahead of its time that it still would have earned her a World Champs silver medal 34 years later at the 2015 Worlds in Kazan.
Ledecky’s swim has had plenty of buzz itself. It’s the fastest 800 freestyle in world history by seven tenths of a second, and 7.4 seconds faster than any non-Ledecky swim of all-time. It gave Ledecky control of the top 8 swims in history in the 800 free, and truly cemented her as the greatest distance swimmer of all-time (though she really already owned that title by a wide margin).
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks readers to choose which NCAA Championship meet they are most looking forward to (or whether there is a different major meet on their mind at present):
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Other things Mary T didn’t have as an advantage, besides longer walls: no “tech” suits (whether textile or polyurethane), goggles (though she wore those in practice), and a faster pool. Though Brown Deer was definitely among the best in the world in those days, I’d imagine that the many deeper and faster pools these days would give her a few tenths of seconds per 50.
Does not matter to me which swim is ranked as more impressive – they’re both off the charts. Sentimentally I’d pick Mary T.’s swim, cause we’re the same age and I swam (toiling anonymously in early heats) at a few meets she graced back in the day – meets where everyone stopped what they were doing to watch her swim (I imagine the same with Katie Ledecky now). What I find impressive is how much better they both are/were at this point in time (when they did these swims) than anyone else around them. To be the best in the world by such a decisive margin – that’s incredibly rare. And just really special and fun to watch. I don’t… Read more »
One thing that’s quite impressive about Mary T.’s time is how quickly she comes up after each turn because it was thought to be faster then. If we knew then what we know now about good walls, even a modest (ie. actually getting properly clear of the flags but nowhere near the modern DQ line) improvement in her (kind of non-existant) underwaters probably would have put her a 2:04.
I would argue that Debbie Meyer would hold the claim of greatest distance swimmer of all-time over Ledecky. Aside from the fact that she has Olympic gold medals in the 200/400/800, she took the world record in the 1500m free from an 18:12.9 in 1966 to a 17.19.9 in 1969. The men’s 1500 had been contested at the Olympics since 1896, and the gold medal in Melbourne 1956, just 13 years prior, was won by Murray Rose in a world record time of 17:59.5. She swam nearly 40 SECONDS FASTER than the men’s Olympic champion/world record performance from just over a decade before. She also took the world records in the 400 from a 4:36.4 in 1967 to a 4:24.3… Read more »
Amen to that, Aquajosh.
Please make it understood that “T” was the world record holder for the 200 fly for 21 years (1979-2000.) Her first 200 WR came at the young age of 14 which in itself is amazing. I think her first was a 2:09 and then took it down to a 2:05. Long live the Queen!
Actually, it was 2:07.01 at 14, if you can believe that!!
Just seems too early to compare KL’s 800m with any other swims as she is still actively competing. She may break this record again (maybe even a few times?). Meagher’s swim also has the advantage in this comparison as “time tested”.
Re: Ledecky already owning “by a wide margin” the title of “greatest distance swimmer of all time”. This is in my opinion at the same time an overstatement and, in perspective, an understatement. I think she has been on the top for too short a time, AS OF NOW, to be considered the greatest distance swimmer of all time: Evans, Salnikov, Hackett have sat atop for longer.
On the other hand, it is my firm belief that, if all goes well in Rio and in the following years, she will go down as the greatest FREESTYLER, not just “distance swimmer”, of all time.
As for Mary T, she was the personification of butterfly.