WATCH: TOM SHIELDS SWIM HISTORIC 43.8 100 YARD BUTTERFLY
2016 U.S. WINTER NATIONALS
- Live Results
- Wed. Nov 30 – Sat. Dec 3, 2016
- Georgia Tech McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
- 25 yard course
- Live Stream
- Day 3 finals heat sheets
On night 3 of the 2016 U.S. Winter Nationals, U.S. Olympian Tom Shields made history with the first ever sub-44 time in the 100 yard butterfly. Shields crushed the field, winning the race in a new American and U.S. Open Record time of 43.84. With that swim, Shields is now the fastest 100 yard butterflier of all time, surpassing Singapore’s Olympic champion Joseph Schooling.
Check out the video of the race below, courtesy of USA Swimming’s YouTube channel.
At last season’s NCAAs, Schooling narrowly missed becoming the first man under 44 seconds with his 44.01, but Shields has now secured that title for himself. Shields had been sitting 6th on the all time top performers list coming into today with a 44.59 from 2013. Before Shields lowered the record tonight, the previous American Record was a 44.18 done by Stanford’s Austin Staab in 2009. He also took down his own Championship Record, which he’d set at 44.88 at the 2012 U.S. Winter Nationals.
In addition to his incredibly fast 100 fly, Shields also swam the fastest flat start 50 fly ever. Read more about that race here.