Did You Know? -- November 26, 1996

Even though Tom Jager currently holds the world record in the 50m freestyle, Alexander Popov has actually swum the fastest 50m freestyle in an 8-man field. Jager set the the current world record of 21.81 when he beat Matt Biondi in a match-race at the 1990 U.S. Sprint Championships. Popov swam his 21.91 en route to winning the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, ironically beating Jager and Biondi.