Swimming Video courtesy of USA Swimming
Reported by SwimSwam / Braden Keith
American Andrew Seliskar has broken his own Junior World Record in the men’s 200 meter fly on the first day of the 2014 Jr. Pan Pac Championships in Maui, Hawaii.
Seliskar, who doesn’t turn 18th for another month, posted a 1:55.92 in finals for a gold medal, which broke his old Jr. Pan Pacs Record of 1:56.65 done in prelims, and was also faster than the 1:56.42 that he swam at the 2013 Junior World Championships.
That 1:56.42 was technically not the old record, rather it was the “benchmark standard,” but most within swimming have resorted to referring to those benchmark standards as the records, so we’ll follow suit. It was bettered by, though the time hasn’t officially been recognized yet, Tamas Kenderesi last week at the Youth Olympic Games, where he swam a 1:55.95.
Comparative splits:
Seliskar Old Record: 26.50 / 30.17 / 29.04 / 30.71 = 1:56.42
Kenderesi Old Record: 26.18 / 29.54 / 30.07 / 30.16 = 1:55.95
Seliskar New Record: 26.62 / 29.35 / 29.26 / 30.69 = 1:55.92
It’s interesting that Seliskar’s best swims seem to come when he runs out of steam a little on the end – he’s the kind of swimmer who does best ensuring that they use all of their energy, rather than saving up for the final 50. That showed even on Wednesday, where in prelims he was seven-tenths slower, but had a much faster split in his last 50 meters.
Had Seliskar done this time at Nationals, he would have made the Sr. Pan Pacs team instead. At that meet he was 4th in the same 1:56.65 that he did in prelims here in Hawaii, which meant he missed the team by .16 seconds.
The all-time Junior World Best, as far as we can tell with the help of our readers, from the eligible age groups, is a 1:53.93 done by Michael Phelps.
Very very interesting race.
Seliskar can close FAST!!!! I agree he will be a factor in 2016. Watch out for him, King Chad!
And yes that Japanese kid goes way up and down, and amazingly still going forward fast, how is it possible.
It’s Stephens brother!
amazing race strategy for this age….i loved watching this race developed!
The Japanese swimmer certainly gets amazing distance per stroke! I was most surprised by how fast he could swim the first 100 with that stroke, which would seem much better suited for a 200. Wow, Seliskar sure knows how to finish hard!
wow, that kid in second place REALLY goes up and down. super low stroke count but DAAAAAAAAAANG his chest is coming completely out of the water. still faster than I ever went so I cant knock it too much.
Loved watching Seliskar. He should be in the mix for Rio. I also couldn’t take my eyes of the Japanese flyer. One can’t help thinking that with a few tweaks from a good coach that he could be really fast.