Reported by Mitch Bowmile.
MEN’S 100M BACKSTROKE SEMIFINALS
Top seed: David Plummer (53.22)
World record: 51.94 – Aaron Peirsol
American record: 51.94 – Aaron Peirsol
U.S Open record: 51.94 – Aaron Peirsol
U.S Nationals record: 51.94 – Aaron Peirsol
JR World record: 53.67 – Javier Acevedo (Canada)
2012 Winning Time: 52.08 – Matt Grevers
Ryan Murphy threw down a wicked 100m backstroke to put up the top time in the world this year in the first semifinal. Murphy was a 52.28 at the wall, just shy of his 52.18 personal best.
Indicative of the absolute depth that the United States has in the 100m backstroke, in the second semifinal, David Plummer bettered that time with a 52.12 in order to become the fastest swimmer this season in the event.
Plummer’s time also ranks as the fifth fastest 100m backstroke ever, ranks him as the fifth fastest backstroker of all time, and sets him up nicely for tomorrow’s final.
Riding Plummer’s hip in the second semifinal was 2012 Olympic gold medallist Matt Grevers. Grevers took the third seed overall with a 52.64.
While the way Murphy and Plummer are swimming, Aaron Perisol’s 100m backstroke world record looks to be in jeopardy tomorrow night.
TOP 8
- David Plummer (52.12)
- Ryan Murphy (52.28)
- Matt Grevers (52.64)
- Jacob Pebley (53.10)
- Michael Taylor (54.07)
- Sean Lehane (54.08)
- John Shebat (54.52)
- Jake Taylor (54.63)
For official results click here.
My bet is murphy breaks the record plummer 2nd.
Like a couple of others I hope that Grevers and Plummer make the team in the 100 since both are getting on a but and are unlikely to keep going for another 4 years and still be as competitive, and Murphy is looking like he has a good chance in the 200. However after Plummer and Murphys swims yesterday I feel like Grevers is in trouble, think he could sense it from watching the video.
3 guys with a pb within 0.25 of the WR. Oh yeah, that WR is going down. What’s scary is it might take sub 52 to make the team!
Man, I thought so, too! And, yes, those shiny suit records don’t sit well with any of us. The worst of them obviously is Biedermann’s 200 (and the one that brought the big outcry if I recall). Still, Peirsol’s 51.94 is one strange phenomenon. It’s not just three guys’ pbs within a quarter-second of the record; it’s that backstrokers have come within roughly about three-tenths of it on no fewer than eight occasions in the world in the last couple, few years, but none has taken it down. That thing may have nine lives! Obviously, the best chance for breaking it is in Rio, particularly with Murph, Plummer, Larkin in the field. The beasts of the beasts of the forest!… Read more »
That record is going down! xD, and Grevers might break it. 51.9 is in a shiny suit anyway. Probably a 52.6 in textile.