Thomas Heilman Becomes #2 U.S. 15-Year-Old In 200 Fly, Trailing Only Phelps

2022 U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS

•  April 26-30, 2022
• Greensboro, NC
• Greensboro Aquatic Center
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times: Prelims – 9 am ET / Finals – 6 pm ET
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Age group stud Thomas Heilman had an explosive start to the 2022 U.S. International Team Trials on Tuesday morning, delivering a blistering time of 1:58.01 in the men’s 200 butterfly preliminaries.

Heilman, who aged up out of the 13-14 age group in February having rewritten numerous National Age Group Records, dropped nearly two seconds in the event to become the second-fastest U.S. 15-year-old in history, trailing only the GOAT, Michael Phelps.

Heilman set his previous best time of 1:59.87 at the U.S. Open in December, a time that made him the second-fastest in 13-14 history behind Phelps’ 1:59.02 from March 2000.

Now Heilman ranks second behind Phelps for 15-year-olds, with Phelps having turned 15 in late June of 2000, gone 1:57.48 to make the U.S. Olympic team, 1:56.50 to place fifth in Sydney, and then ultimately breaking the world record in the event the following year in 1:54.92.

All-Time 15-Year-Old U.S. Performers, Men’s 200 Fly (LCM)

1. Michael Phelps (NBAC), 1:54.92 – 2001 Spring Nationals
2. Thomas Heilman (CA), 1:58.01 – 2022 U.S. International Team Trials
3. Carson Foster (RAYS), 1:58.47 – 2017 Summer Junior Nats
4. Luca Urlando (DART), 1:58.93 – 2017 Summer Junior Nats
5. Dare Rose (SCAR), 1:58.97 – 2018 Summer Nationals

In the 15-16 age group, Heilman now ranks seventh despite having turned 15 just two months ago.

All-Time 15-16 U.S. Performers, Men’s 200 Fly (LCM)

1. Michael Phelps (NBAC), 1:54.58 – 2001 World Championships
2. Luca Urlando (DART), 1:55.21 – 2018 Summer Nationals
3. Andrew Seliskar (NCAP), 1:56.42 – 2013 World Junior Champs
4. Matt Fenlon (BAD), 1:57.39 – 2019 Summer Nationals
5. Justin Lynch (TERA), 1:57.80 – 2013 Summer Junior Nats
6. Justin Wright (FDST), 1:57.90 – 2013 Pro Series – Santa Clara
7. Thomas Heilman (CA), 1:58.01 – 2022 U.S. International Team Trials
8. Daniel Madwed (SHKS), 1:58.15 – 2005 US World Maccabiah Games
9. Carson Foster (RAYS), 1:58.47 – 2017 Summer Junior Nats
10. Corey Okubo (AZOT), 1:58.58 – 2012 Junior Pan Pacs

Split Comparison

Heilman was significantly faster than his December swim on the opening 150, out-splitting that performance by an average of nearly a second over each of the first three 50s. Although he was just under a second slower coming home, using his speed to get out quick was clearly a strategy that paid off for the Cavalier Aquatics product.

Heilman ultimately ended up falling just shy of qualifying for tonight’s ‘A’ final, finishing two-tenths back of eighth-place Nicolas Albiero (1:57.81).

Trenton Julian paced the field this morning in a time of 1:54.34, followed by Zach Harting (1:55.83) and Chase Kalisz (1:56.04). Luca Urlando, who now ranks fourth-fastest among 15-year-olds having been overtaken by Heilman, comes into the final seeded fourth (1:56.32).

In tonight’s ‘B’ final, Heilman will be the youngest swimmer by two years, joined by a pair of 2005-born athletes in Henry McFadden (1:59.60) and Ilya Kharun (2:00.00). All three will vie for a spot on the Junior Pan Pacific Championship team.