Maximus Williamson Knocks Off Ryan Murphy’s 15-16 NAG Record in 200 Back, Tops 100 Free at Juniors West
In the span of two days, Maximus Williamson has beaten longstanding National Age Group records held by a pair of swimming’s stars. After surpassing Michael Phelps‘ 15-16 NAG record in the 400 IM Friday, Williamson took down the 15-16 boys’ record in the 200 backstroke set 11 years earlier by Ryan Murphy, who went on to win individual Olympic gold medals in both long course backstroke events in 2016.
Williamson, representing Lakeside Aquatic Club, swam a time of 1:40.88 to narrowly beat the 1:40.90 that Murphy swam at the 2011 Winter Juniors meet, which was ironically also held in Austin. Williamson got a push from Neptune’s Keaton Jones, but he handled that surge on the last 50. Jones ended up finishing second in 1:41.43, and Inspire’s Nathaniel Germonprez took third in 1:42.49.
Barely 10 minutes after the 200 back final, Williamson was back on the blocks to take on the 100 freestyle, and he surged ahead on the second 50 to win that event as well. Williamson put up a time of 42.61, which made him the second-fastest 15-16 performer ever in the event behind Kaii Winkler, who broke the record earlier Saturday with a 42.21. Williamson beat Ryan Hoffer’s previous record of 42.67 which stood until last month. Ethan Harrington ended up touching out Cade Duncan for second place, 42.92 to 42.94.
At the end of the session, Williamson led his Lakeside teammates to a win in the 400 free relay. He led off in 42.49, getting closer to Winkler’s individual NAG record from earlier in the day, and he was followed by River Paulk, Max Hatcher and Cooper Lucas on the way to a time of 2:54.75. Lakeside actually trailed Rose Bowl with 50 yards to go before Lucas hammered home to get into the wall two tenths ahead.
Rose Bowl’s Nathan Kim, Rex Maurer, Zach Larrick and Jonathan Gim ended up finishing second in 2:54.96, while Neptune’s August Vetsch, Ian Pickels, Beri Yang and Keaton Jones took third in 2:56.25. Maurer split 42.74 on the second leg for Rose Bowl while Jones came home in 42.79.
Williamson’s individual wins were his fifth and sixth of the meet after winning the 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke earlier on. In the 200 IM, Williamson beat Michael Andrew’s time that had been the NAG record with his 1:42.07, but Thomas Heilman swam even faster earlier in the day at Junior Nationals East.
bruh these kids too fast