Thormeyer Lowers Canadian Record After Being Last Minute Sub In 200 Back

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Markus Thormeyer took full advantage of the opportunity he was given in the men’s 200 back semi-finals, breaking a 10-year-old Canadian Record and qualifying for the final after being a last-minute replacement.

China’s Xu Jiayu was a late scratch from the event, pulling out at 6:36 p.m. local time with the session starting at 8:00. With Thormeyer placing 17th in the heats in a time of 1:58.16, he was bumped up into the semis.

Swimming out in lane 8 in the first semi, the 21-year-old clocked a time of 1:56.96 to extinguish the super-suited 2009 National Record of 1:57.34 held by Matt Hawes. Thormeyer’s previous best was 1:57.42 from World Trials back in April.

The University of British Columbia product ended up being the fifth-fastest swimmer overall to advance to the final, with defending champ Evgeny Rylov the only one sub-1:56 in 1:55.48.

SPLIT COMPARISON

Thormeyer split the race very similarly to how he did in April, with the biggest difference coming on the last 50 where he was almost three-tenths quicker. Hawes was more conservative on the opening 50 when he swam his race, but managed to keep all four laps under 30.

Hawes, 2009 Trials Thormeyer, 2019 Trials Thormeyer, 2019 Worlds
28.21 27.86 27.69
57.73 (29.52) 57.38 (29.52) 57.06 (29.37)
1:27.50 (29.77) 1:27.04 (29.66) 1:26.87 (29.81)
1:57.34 (29.84) 1:57.42 (30.38) 1:56.96 (30.09)

Tomorrow night will mark his first individual World Championship final.

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Oooh
4 years ago

…and the saying goes, “All you need is a lane…”! Great job on the record! 👏👏👏

LTyke
4 years ago

Happy to see him make the most of the opportunity given his meet had been underwhelming. I hope he has fun with it tomorrow! Relax and see what happens 🙂

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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