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Thomas Heilman Swims 21.50 in 50 Yard Free at 12 Years Old

27TH ANNUAL YOTA/ARENA CAPITAL CLASSIC

  • December 6th-8th, 2019
  • Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
  • 25 yard course
  • Results on Meet Mobile – “27th Annual YOTA/Arena Capital Classic”

Thomas Heilman has broken yet another National Age Group Record, showing off his versatility on Saturday at the YOTA Capital Classic.

After breaking the 200 free and 200 fly records on Friday, Heilman swam a 21.50 in the 50 yard free, which broke Vinny Marciano’s 11-12 National Age Group Record of 21.78 that he set in 2014. In conjunction with a 100 yard fly record that he broke in November, Heilman now owns 4 National Age Group Records.

With 1 day remaining at the meet, where he has entries in the 100 free, 200 IM, and 50 fly, there could be more on the way. Already being the owner of the 100 and 200 yard fly records puts the 50 fly in the crosshairs, as does the fact that he’s blowing away best times this week and is already within half-a-second of Marciano’s record of 47.89 in the 100 free.

Times This Week (With All-Time 11-12 Age Group Rankings):

  • 50 yard free – 21.50 (#1)
  • 200 yard free – 1:44.18 (#1)
  • 500 yard free – 4:49.76 (#25)
  • 400 yard IM – 4:14.68 (#8)
  • 200 yard fly – 1:53.66 (#1)
  • 100 butterfly (on a relay split) – 51.99
  • 50 free (on a relay split) – 21.68

Heilman trains with the Piedmont Family YMCA/CYAC in Charlottesville, Virginia. He ages up early in the new year.

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Joe
4 years ago

What a beast… I’m speechless

Scott
4 years ago

Truly impressive. My son swam against him down in Florida at a meet. His fly and free were out of sight.

Kirk Nelson
4 years ago

Today’s Chas Morton! Love the range this kid has.

Paulypo
4 years ago

Riccardo Osio of LAC-NT may be a challenge to Heilman’s 100 fly NAG, he swam a 52.06, 3rd fastest time in history behind Heilman’s time of 51.44, and former NAG record holder, Chas Morton, 51.85.

Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Congratulations. Always great to see the bar moved. An obvious question — what’s the height/weight of this star?

Patrick
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Don’t know exact height/weight but he’s within the normal range for a kid his age. There are YouTube videos of a couple of his swims and he definitely doesn’t tower over his competition.

FSt
Reply to  Patrick
4 years ago

I just looked him up on youtube and clicked ont he first video that came up (thanks SwimSwam) – he looks A LOT taller/bigger than the other boys.

Coach Cali
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

One of my swimmers (who is a big-ish), swam against him last Dec. He is well above average in height in my opinion.

Technique First
4 years ago

Good lesson here for young swimmers and parents. This meet/state is an early adopter of the no tech suit policy for 12 and unders. He is doing this without a fancy/expensive suit! Save your money parents

Lane 8
4 years ago

Congratulations Thomas! He’s on fire this season. Best of luck for your swimming career.

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
4 years ago

whatever happened to Vinny Marciano?

Dbswims
Reply to  SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
4 years ago

I believe he stopped swimming to focus on school. I might be wrong

Johnny
Reply to  Dbswims
4 years ago

Great swims by this kid but let’s be careful and not put him up on a pedestal just yet. Vinny burned out. We’ve seen this movie before with stud 11-12’s….

Jack
Reply to  Johnny
4 years ago

Agreed, 11-12’s is not the best age group to get nags in for a promising future, but I hope to see this kid develop and excited to see his performance tomorrow.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Johnny
4 years ago

One that had legendary swims as a 10 and under, 11-12 age grouper back in the day was Kiki Vandeweghe, who quit swimming to focus on basketball. Good decision.

Ken K
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

Don’t forget about Kris Humphries. An absolute stud as a young age grouper and ended up with a pretty decent career in the NBA.

Michael
Reply to  Ken K
4 years ago

One might argue his career highlight was Kim Kardashian. 🙂

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Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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