Heilman just became the 15th fastest swimmer in history for the 200 yard butterfly, and he’s only 17 years old. His time would have secured third place at last year’s NCAA D1 championships. It’s hard to fully grasp how fast this swim really is.
I swam at DII. I wasn’t great, but being almost 20 seconds slower is just wild to me. It’s tough to explain to people who don’t swim just how fast DI and Olympic swimmers are. It’s hard to believe kids are still in high school and swimming like that!
@Kyrie
I did a 1:50 as my best in freestyle and a 1:38 in butterfly? That’s incredible!
Bryn said:
@Kyrie
I did a 1:50 as my best in freestyle and a 1:38 in butterfly? That’s incredible!
Right!? That’s just crazy!
@Kyrie
I was D3 and he’s only 17 seconds faster than my best time.
Gabi said:
@Kyrie
I was D3 and he’s only 17 seconds faster than my best time.
I know D3 swimmers can be faster than D2. Those academic schools have some serious talent.
Gabi said:
@Kyrie
I was D3 and he’s only 17 seconds faster than my best time.
Nice! That’s about where I was. I think that’s a solid time for the 200 fly; 1:39 is just wild.
Gabi said:
@Kyrie
I was D3 and he’s only 17 seconds faster than my best time.
Nice! That’s about where I was. I think that’s a solid time for the 200 fly; 1:39 is just wild.
Hobson’s 1:38 for the 200 free in meters was incredibly fast.
Kharun did a 1:48 for the 200 fly this week in Budapest. I tagged Herbie on X, predicting he’d hit a 1:35 high to 1:36.5 at NCAAs and got a like.
Being part of the class of 2025 is rough.
I competed at this meet in the breaststroke, and I have to say, it was incredible how he dominated. We ended up staying in hotels a few rooms apart, and he was really nice, which makes it even better knowing he’s doing so well.
If converted to long course meters, this would place him #3 or #4 at the Olympics. Wow!
I was confused at first because this 100 butterfly time looks slow at first glance, but then you see the 200 time below, and it makes sense.
You can find some training session videos of him on SwimSwam. After watching, his progress doesn’t seem so surprising.
He’s on track to be the guy (I’m also excited about Maximus and Kai).
Hal said:
You can find some training session videos of him on SwimSwam. After watching, his progress doesn’t seem so surprising.
He’s on track to be the guy (I’m also excited about Maximus and Kai).
He’s definitely the most prolific age group swimmer we’ve seen in recent times. He’s clearly talented and dedicated. I’m curious to see how he performs in the NCAA and whether he chooses to go pro before completing all four years of college.
@Day
I’m very interested in following his career. He has so many possibilities right now.
I appreciate that he decided to stay close to home and chose a top university with good coaching and culture instead of going pro right away. He has options with NIL, and while professional swimming isn’t like NFL money, he could go that route if he wanted to. I believe having a good degree holds more value than what he might miss out on, and it likely won’t interfere too much with training; it may even help him stay disciplined.
@Hal
A degree really is worth more than just swimming, unless you’re a superstar like Ledecky or Phelps. But he definitely has choices. I’m looking forward to seeing if UVA becomes a big name on the men’s swimming scene since they haven’t matched the women’s team dominance yet.
Wow, that’s incredibly fast! Are there dolphins following him in the water?
I’ve been following this kid since he started breaking NAG records a few years back.
Speaking of, does his time qualify him? He just broke Aiden Hayes’s record.
Check out Gavin Keogh’s 1:40.xx in the 200 back. That’s impressive.
I’m also from the class of 2025, and I swam a 500 free in the same heat as Heilman back at the YOTA Capital Classic in 2019. This dude went a 4:49 when he was TWELVE! It’s just insane. He won first place by 34 seconds and beat me by about 45 seconds.