Is that good?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=talSKGXXzEY

Very impressive hand timed swim!

Yes, anything under 20 is very good for a 17 year old. I believe Anthony Robinson was the first HS-er ever to go under 20 (in 1997) and it has only been done by one other swimmer in Texas (Feigen). There are usually just a few college swimmers each year under 19 (flat start).

This year's NCAA results:
1) 18.63
2) 18.99
3) 19.18
...
8)19.58

The only "question" is whether the stopwatch time is legit. Either way - it's fast.

BTW, from a quick browse through TX HS state results it looks like times are just now getting back to the level of the late 1990's in many events. Did I miss something or did TX swimming drop off a bit in the 2000's?

H2O - I looked at the 2013 5A state meet results, which also shows the records. I only found one record from before 2000 - boys 200 free relay record set in 1993 by Humble Kingwood. Several records from 2005 and 2006 - Dana Vollmer, Michael Klueh, Annie Chandler, and Scott Spann. All superb swimmers including world record holder and NCAA champions. Lots of records set in 2008, 2009, and newer (several in 2012 by Gray Umbach).

http://www.tisca.org/2013%20Championship%20Files/2013%205a%20state%20meet%20results.pdf

[This message has been edited by SpicewoodAg (edited 8/23/2013 8:04a).]

Spice- Yep, that's what I was looking at too... Didn't mean to hijack. It just looked like a dip in early 2000's on the boys side. Times are definitely faster now, it just hasn't been the continuous progression I would have expected.

I suspect that records move in spurts, not continuously, when a star athlete develops. Like Gray Umbach or Jimmy Feigen. Both own several. Vollmer was obviously a superstar.

This year the boys got a new 200 free record (1:36). That's noteworthy because so many kids swim that event.

Think about how long Joe Hudepohl's national 100 free record stood. Or Jeff Kostoff's 500 free national high school record from 1983 (4:16) broken just this year by Jack Conger (Texas recruit). That record stood for 30 years!

I also think sometimes elite swimmers choose not to swim for their high school team. As much as I can tell, Simone Manuel, from Fort Bend Austin high, a WC finalist in Barcelona, didn't complete last year in high school. I can't imagine she shouldn't have crushed the field in the 50 and the 100.