Trenton Julian Posts 1:54.71 200 Meter Fly In Irvine, #7 In the World This Year

2021 SPEEDO SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS – IRVINE

Cal’s Trenton Julian of Rosebowl Aquatics took down his lifetime best 200 fly time from the U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II by .90 to win the event at the Summer Championships in Irvine.

He swam a 1:54.71, the 9th fastest 200 fly time ever posted by an American:

Top Ten All-Time Fastest U.S. Performers

  1. 1:51.51 – Michael Phelps (2009)
  2. 1:53.64 – Tyler Clary (2009)
  3. 1:53.84 – Luca Urlando (2019)
  4. 1:53.86 – Gil Stovall (2008)
  5. 1:54.46 – Davis Tarwater (2008)
  6. 1:54.47 – Jack Conger (2017)
  7. 1:54.58 – Pace Clark (2017)
  8. 1:54.63 – Justin Wright (2018)
  9. 1:54.71 – Trenton Julian (2021)
  10. 1:54.79 – Chase Kalisz (2017)

Julian is now the 7th fastest 200 butterflyer in the world this year, including times swam at the Tokyo Olympics:

2020-2021 LCM Men 200 Fly

KristofHUN
Milak
05/19
1:51.10
2Tomoru
Honda
JPN1:53.7307/28
3Federico
Burdisso
ITA1:54.2805/19
4Tamas
Kenderesi
HUN1:54.3705/18
5Eddie
Wang
TPE1:54.4407/26
6Antani
Ivanov
BUL1:54.5005/19
7Trenton
Julian
USA1:54.7108/03
8Leonardo
de Deus
BRA1:54.8307/26
9Zach
Harting
USA1:54.9207/26
10Chad
le Clos
RSA1:54.9307/28
View Top 26»

Julian is the fastest American in the event this year.

At the U.S. Olympic Trials Wave II, Julian finished 5th in this event with a finals time of 1:56.35. His time today would have won the race by about one-third of a second.

He came back a lot stronger in his Irvine swim than he did at Trials, bringing home the race in 1:00.86 on the final 100 meters versus his 1:01.70 final 100 split at Trials.

Julian took out the race in 53.85, .20 slower than he did at Trials.

This time would have even rivaled competition at the Tokyo Olympics. It took. a 1:54.45 for Federico Burdisso to win bronze, but a 1:54.71 would have placed Julian 5th ahead of South Africa’s Chad Le Clos.

Later in the finals session, Julian led off Rosebowl’s 4×100 free relay in a blistering 100 free split of 49.97, taking more than 1.5 seconds off his lifetime best individual 100 free time from 2017.

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Bobo Gigi
2 years ago

Alone, clear water, no semis, no pressure. We can’t compare to the times of an olympic final.
But 1.54.71 is still a great time.

The Weez
2 years ago

Im curious about next season. For Julian, people likes Brooks Curry…even top stars…

Looking at a lot of these top 10 lists, best times lists, etc., it’s noteworthy how many 2016 Olympians and Olympian adjacent swimmer shad PB’s that year. Kalisz, Pace Clark, Conger above. If I recall even people like Ledecky and others had a banner year Olympics +1.

Is this usually a thing?

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  The Weez
2 years ago

There are always breakout swims the year post-Olympics after people get a “taste” about almost getting there or being there, but, like Conger then or Curry now, got there but want more. We always had the general sense that this wasn’t happening because of post-2008 Phelps, who would only really geared up for a quad and would even skip Worlds. But 2009 Worlds had 26 WRs set (I know, the supersuits were better). 2013 Worlds, Ledecky set two WRs. 2017 Worlds Dressel, Chase, Kyle Masse, others were sensational.

The Weez
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
2 years ago

yeah, I wasn’t counting 2009 as a valid comp due to all of the suit issues that year. I know the WRs were set…but it was Granny Smith’s to Red Delicious in ’08 v ’09…

The Weez
Reply to  The Weez
2 years ago

Sorry for the confusion ~ I was asking if, in general, the year after the Olympics is typically a “banner” year for a lot of competitors, both those who made the Olympic Team and those Trials Finalist people (like Julian here).
It’s almost as if all the work they put in to round out the quad …actually paid the best dividends the year following the goal (aka, 2022 this time around, 2017 last time)?

Yup
2 years ago

So he and Carson Foster can cling to that….

daeleb cressel
Reply to  Yup
2 years ago

why do you feel the need to rag on his performance like that?

Irish Ringer
Reply to  Yup
2 years ago

I would cling to a 1:54.71 200 fly, anytime, anywhere. Congrats to the young man and hope he keeps improving.

Last edited 2 years ago by Irish Ringer
Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Yup
2 years ago

Historically, it’s these breakout swims post-Olympics that launch people to the next level. Happens every cycle.

About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

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