Thomas Heilman Shatters NAG Record (15-16) Of Caeleb Dressel in 100 Freestyle
Thomas Heilman, the 15-year-old rising star who has broken countless National Age Group records, added another NAG standard to his resume on Thursday. Racing in the preliminaries of the 100-meter freestyle at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii, Heilman clocked a time of 49.06. That effort bettered the nine-year-old record of 49.28, set in 2013 by Caeleb Dressel.
The fact that Heilman broke an NAG of Dressel is impressive in itself. That he achieved the feat on the younger end of the age group makes the performance even more spectacular. En route to his newest record, Heilman was out in 23.61 and came home in 25.45. In the final, Heilman was the runnerup to Australia’s Flynn Southam, who took the title in a meet record of 48.23. Heilman followed in 49.34. Southam has been busy during the summer, representing the Dolphins at the World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
On the opening day of Junior Pan Pacs, Heilman claimed the silver medal in the 200 butterfly. The gold medal for Southam was his second of the meet, as he prevailed in the 200 freestyle during Night One.