Thomas Heilman Takes Down NAG Standard Of Michael Andrew In 200 Individual Medley
One of the most-iconic National Age Group (NAG) records in the 15-16 classification is no more, thanks to 15-year-old rising star Thomas Heilman.
Over the past few years, Heilman (Cavalier Aquatics) has made a habit of shattering NAG standards in a variety of events and age groups, and his latest NAG record wiped out the name of Olympian and age-group all-timer Michael Andrew. Racing the 200-yard individual medley at the Winter Juniors-East Championships in Greensboro, Heilman posted a time of 1:41.71 that easily bettered the former mark of Andrew, which had stood since 2015 at 1:42.77. Diehl managed a second-place time of 1:43.01.
Heilman was in a duel for the first three legs with fellow age-group star Daniel Diehl, but a huge turn heading into the freestyle portion of the race erased any doubt concerning the outcome. Heilman split 22.15 for the opening butterfly leg and followed with a backstroke split of 25.49. At that point, Heilman held an edge of 47.64 to 47.78 over Diehl. By the end of the breaststroke leg, Diehl had a .06 lead, but Heilman erased that advantage in quick fashion, and extended his margin into the finish. Heilman split 23.88 for the freestyle leg, compared to the 25.24 of Diehl.
The fact that Heilman broke an NAG record of Andrew is impressive in itself, but taking more than a second off the seven-year-old standard makes the performance that much more jarring.
Later in the session, Heilman ripped a 44.95 split in the 100 butterfly as a member of Cavalier Aquatics’ 400 medley relay.
Event 8 Men 200 Yard IM
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SC Juniors: M 1:42.01 12/9/2021 Baylor Nelson, SwimMAC Carolina
Pool Record: P 1:39.28 11/17/2022Leon Marchand, ASU
Name Age Team Prelims Finals HyPts Points
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=== A - Final ===
1 Thomas Heilman 15 Cavalier Aquatic 1:43.39 1:41.71M 1039 20
r:+0.68 22.15 47.64 (25.49)
1:17.83 (30.19) 1:41.71 (23.88)
2 Daniel Diehl 17 CUY-MD 1:43.90 1:43.01 1005 17
r:+0.71 22.15 47.78 (25.63)
1:17.77 (29.99) 1:43.01 (25.24)
3 Will Modglin 18 ZSC-IN 1:44.68 1:43.37 996 16
r:+0.68 22.37 48.32 (25.95)
1:18.46 (30.14) 1:43.37 (24.91)
4 Gibson Holmes 18 Mason Manta Rays 1:45.92 1:45.02 953 15
r:+0.66 23.21 49.30 (26.09)
1:19.67 (30.37) 1:45.02 (25.35)
5 Carter Lancaste 16 Bolles-FL 1:45.95 1:45.18 949 14
r:+0.67 22.60 48.64 (26.04)
1:19.28 (30.64) 1:45.18 (25.90)
6 Sean Sullivan 18 Carmel Swim Club 1:46.49 1:45.71 936 13
r:+0.62 22.32 48.60 (26.28)
1:19.98 (31.38) 1:45.71 (25.73)
7 Caleb Maldari 17 SwimMAC-NC 1:46.03 1:46.37 919 12
r:+0.62 23.31 49.83 (26.52)
1:20.71 (30.88) 1:46.37 (25.66)
8 Will Heck 18 Bolles-FL 1:46.85 1:46.94 905 11
r:+0.70 23.00 49.91 (26.91)
1:20.16 (30.25) 1:46.94 (26.78)