Yesterday, comeback Olympic Champion Anthony Ervin looked a touch slow in his 100 freestyle at the Pacific Short Course Meters Championships. In today’s 50, however, that was not the case. Ervin, who turned 30 earlier this year, broke his own Masters National Record in the 50 free with a very swift 22.39. Not only is that a National Record, that’s the second-fastest time ever swum in Masters competition in the world. His next target will be a 22.13 set by Germany’s Thomas Rupprath in 2009, which stands as the short course meters World Record.
With two short course FINA/Arena World Cup meets out of the way (where many of the world’s best SCM times are swum annually), that leaves Ervin just outside of the top 30 in the world rankings.
He wound up scratching the 100 IM.
Overall, this was a positive weekend for Ervin. He posted good times (especially in that 50) in outdoor competition (though, conditions were mostly sunny and in the 80’s which is close to ideal for outdoor racing).