Schooling Surpasses Crocker for Fastest Ever Textile 100 Fly

The men’s 100 fly was an absolutely crazy event last night.  Joseph Schooling took the gold medal from reigning Olympic champion Michael Phelps, and then Phelps finished in a three-way tie for silver with Laszlo Cseh and Chad LeClos, something that had never happened before in Olympic history. 

Lost in all that hullabaloo was the fact that Schooling’s winning time, a 50.39, set a new mark as the textile world record in this event.  That time is just 0.01 faster than the great Ian Crocker swam at the 2005 World Championships Montreal.  Amazingly enough, that time survived the Phelps juggernaut at its 2007-2008 peak, and only fell to several supersuited swims from 2009.

Here are the top times ever in the 100 fly:
49.82 – Michael Phelps, 2009
49.95 – Milorad Cavic, 2009
50.01 – Milorad Cavic, 2009 (semifinals)
50.22 – Michael Phelps, 2009
50.39 – Joseph Schooling, 2016
50.40 – Ian Crocker

Textile record comparative splits:
Schooling, 2016:  23.64/26.76 = 50.39
Crocker, 2005: 23.51/26.91 = 50.50

Compared to Crocker, Schooling took it out just a tad bit slower (although he still touched first at the 50m mark), and then came home 0.15 seconds faster (with also the fastest split).

Schooling is now the third-fastest ever in the event, and he’s only 21 years old.  At the moment, he is expected to return to the University of Texas for his junior year.  There, he trains under Longhorn coach Eddie Reese, who also coached Ian Crocker.  Last year at the NCAA championships, Schooling became the fastest man ever in the yards versions of both the 100 fly and 200 fly.  He also swam on all five of the Longhorns relays, as they won the NCAA championship for the second year in a row.