Intertwined, Thomas Heilman and Ilya Kharun On Path to Stardom in 200 Butterfly
American Thomas Heilman and Canadian Ilya Kharun have enjoyed rapid ascents in the last 12 months, ones that may lead to battles on the college and international stages for years to come. And both offer the promise to make the 200 fly one of the most exciting races in global competition—for this Olympic cycle and well beyond.
History happened just off the podium in the men’s 200 butterfly at last summer’s World Aquatics Championships.
The doors to the race were thrown wide open when world record holder Kristof Milak of Hungary announced he’d skip the meet in Fukuoka, Japan. The reigning world and Olympic champion, the heir apparent to Michael Phelps’ throne in the 200 fly, Milak remains the favorite any time he takes the blocks in a butterfly event. Although, it is worth noting that Milak’s extended absence has generated doubt concerning his preparation for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Sans Milak, the field had to find a new favorite. That it was the indominable Leon Marchand ultimately emerging for gold was no surprise, adding to his individual medley double with a French record in 1:52.43. Tomoru Honda of Japan held his bronze-medal position from the previous Worlds, with Polish teen Krzysztof Chmielewski leapfrogging him into silver.
But two of the biggest winners didn’t end up with a medal.
Tied for fourth that day in Fukuoka were two teens: 16-year-old American Thomas Heilman and 18-year-old Ilya Kharun of Canada. Both went 1:53.82, 2-tenths off Chmielewski’s silver-winning time in a pulsating final.
FLIPPING INTO THE ELITE
Kharun and Heilman seem destined for their swim journeys to be intertwined. They share not just a specialty, but a birthday—Feb. 7—in 2005 for Kharun, 2007 for Heilman. They were born in between the second and third Olympics swum by Phelps, who remains the measuring stick in the 200 fly. (Ten days after Heilman entered the world, Phelps went 1.53.71 in the 200 fly at the MV Missouri Grand Prix, still among the top 55 performances of all time.)
They also share an uncommonly rapid ascent to the world stage.
Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Kharun’s journey was unconventional. Born in Montreal, he moved to Las Vegas at a young age to accommodate the careers of his parents, acrobats for Cirque du Soleil. He was one of the swimmers at the forefront of Sandpipers of Nevada’s growth into one of the country’s elite clubs, taking down what at the time was the 15-16 national age group record in the 100 yard fly that had belonged to Luca Urlando.
But when it came time for international competition, the only passport Kharun was found to have was Canadian. That scrapped his chance at swimming at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships for the U.S. Instead, by year’s end, he’d have a maple leaf on his cap and a spot at the World Aquatics Short Course Championships in Melbourne for his first senior international event.
In short order, Kharun has twice tied Josh Liendo’s Canadian record in the 50 fly at 23.27. He owns the 200 fly mark with that Worlds time. At age 18, he is more than five seconds quicker than any 17-year-old Canadian has ever been (that honor goes to Kevin Zhang from the last World Junior Championships.) In short course meters, he’s surpassed Liendo at all three distances for national records.
Kharun picked up his first international hardware back in Melbourne in December 2022, winning silver in the 100 fly in a world junior record 49.03. It accompanied a WJR in the 50 fly, which he set twice and tied once, in finishing ninth.
“The race was amazing,” Kharun said of the 100. “Being on the same podium with those guys was a really thrilling experience because I didn’t even know—I was hoping to get to that place, but when I touched the wall and saw that I was second, I was like, ‘Oh my god. It was really, really fun.’”
YES, VIRGINIA, THAT IS A RECORD
That 15-16 USA Swimming NAG that Kharun had to vacate with his nationality swap now belongs to Heilman…along with the 200 fly and 200 individual medley SCY records…and both fly long course marks. His time in the LC 200 fly is already faster than Urlando’s 17-18 NAG. And in the 100, his 51.19 is within 9-hundredths of the best time Phelps swam as an 18-and-under. Heilman’s 44.67 in the SCY 100 fly is also quicker than Aiden Hayes’ 17-18 NAG.
It leaves the native of Crozet, Va., with little historical company other than Phelps.
One difference may be in the rapidity of Heilman’s growth in long course. He’d long been projected as a major prospect, setting NAGs at 11-12 (all three fly distances and the 50, 100 and 200 free) and 13-14 (100 and 200 free plus the 400 IM). But he didn’t swim at Olympic Trials in 2021 at age 14. Before trials for Worlds in 2023, his best time in the 200 fly was 1:56.52, set at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs, the meet where he and Kharun were supposed to be teammates.
But his training at Cavalier Aquatics has jumped into overdrive in the last year. It led to his first senior team, finishing second at Trials in both the 200 fly (to Carson Foster) and the 100 fly (to Dare Rose). The 100 didn’t go as well for Heilman in Fukuoka, finishing 16th in prelims and dropping a swimoff to Great Britain’s Jacob Peters to miss out on semifinals. But the 200 fly he had swum two days earlier more than overshadowed it. He also seems built more for the 200 than for the 100.
“I felt like that was one of my strengths, being able to close the last 50, 100 meters,” Heilman said in Fukuoka. “I was just trying to get out and utilize my strength at the end and just came up a little short of getting a medal.”
WELCOME TO THE CLUB
The road to the Olympic podium is littered with swimmers who set records in their teens and never lived up to the promise. But the proximity of Kharun and Heilman to the likes of Milak and Phelps serves to magnify their teenage triumphs. It wasn’t just that they threatened the international podium long before anyone expected. It’s that in the process, they insinuated themselves to the inner sanctum of the event’s greats.
The pair is tied for the 14th-best performer of all-time (and 61st-best performance) in the 200 fly. Kharun’s is a Canadian record. Heilman’s is the fastest time by an American not named Michael Phelps.
Only 47 performances in a textile suit have bested them. Milak may have the monopoly on times under 1:51.50 (he’s done it five times). But the sub-1:54-club is essentially the medal contention cutoff. The time they both posted was only 3-hundredths off the world junior record of…Milak, the modern-day benchmark in the event.
“It’s one of the most painful races I’ve ever experienced,” Heilman said. “Just happy to be here…happy to be able to race the best of the world…and just had a lot of fun right there.”
* * *
The NCAA stage beckons for both. Kharun is already at Arizona State, training alongside Marchand and for International Swimming Hall of Famer, Coach Bob Bowman. Heilman has chosen a more trailblazing tack, staying home in pledging his future to the University of Virginia. It allows him to stay at Cavalier Aquatics, and he’s attracted a passel of top talents to Charlottesville that he hopes will elevate the men’s program to the echelon in which the three-time-reigning NCAA champion women’s team resides.
The climb remains steep: Milak, at his best, is looking to blaze the path beneath 1:50, and three seconds even in the 200 fly is massive. But Heilman and Kharun have a most elusive commodity on their side: time.