World Championships: Thomas Heilman 26th in 100 Fly in Latest International Downer
Thomas Heilman remains the future of American men’s butterfly.
When he was a 16-year-old taking down Michael Phelps’ national age-group record, it’s because of what he might do down the road.
Now, that designation seems to be more rooted in the fact that he continues to struggle in the present.
For the third straight summer, Heilman has had a swim at a major international meet where he has failed to make a final. This time, at the World Championships in Singapore, he’s not even in the semifinals of the men’s 100 butterfly, a similar fate that befell him at the Paris Olympics.
Heilman went 52.02 in the 100 fly in Friday morning’s prelims in Singapore in his only individual event at Worlds. He landed 26th in the race. And while the acute gastroenteritis ravaging the United States team may be a mitigating factor, it isn’t the first time Heilman has come up short at an international meet.
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Heilman was seventh in the first circle-seeded heat in Singapore. Two relatively quick heats later, he was out.
Heilman’s health status is unknown. While the U.S. has had four swimmers scratch prelim events – plus Carson Foster passing on the 200 IM final in which he was seeded eighth and Gretchen Walsh bowing out of a relay – USA Swimming has not commented on the status of any individual. Heilman was not alone in a disappointing swim Friday, with Shaine Casas finishing 19th and missing the semifinals in 51.66. Casas’ swim came a day after he won the silver medal in the 200 IM in which he was the fourth-fastest performer in history.
But Heilman is in danger of making this a trend. Heilman’s first international swim has remained his best and, arguably, only good one. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, Heilman finished fourth in the 200 fly, going 1:53.82 in the final to land .16 seconds off the podium.
That remains his best time. He had been 1:54.54 at trials that year.
His first successful foray cushioned the blow when three days later, he tied for 16th in the 100 fly prelims in 51.77 and lost a swim-off to Jacob Peters of Great Britain despite going a tenth of a second quicker.
A year later, Heilman went 1:54.50 to win the 200 fly at Olympic Trials, then charged home from seventh at the turn in the 100 fly in 50.80 to seize the second Olympic spot behind Caeleb Dressel.
Paris was a disaster. Heilman went 1:54.87 in the 200 fly to bow out of the semifinals in 10th. He didn’t even make the semifinals of the 100 fly, his time of 51.82 not just a second slower than he’d been at Trials but 18th in the field. Such a failure to make semifinals used to be a shocking occurrence from an American; Heilman’s miss was one of five in Paris after four at the previous four Olympics combined.
On time, Heilman hasn’t gotten quicker in the 200 fly since 2023, getting to 1:54.03 in Indy this summer. He has steadily improved in the 100 fly, ticking off another tenth this summer.
Heilman remains just 18 years old. He graduated high school in the spring and is headed to the University of Virginia. He has a long career ahead of him. But his performances at major meets are casting a concerning shadow.
