Ryan Held Breaks US Open Record in 100 Free at Nationals

Ryan Held broke the U.S. Open record in the 100 free at nationals. Photo Courtesy: Connor Trimble

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Ryan Held wasted no time putting his mark on the 2019 Phillips 66 US National Championships, breaking the U.S. Open and meet record in 47.43.

The previous record was held by Jason Lezak (47.58) set in 2008 at the Olympic Trials. The US Open Record is the fastest time recorded on US soil.

Held was out fast in 22.43 before coming home in 25 flat.

Held was a 2016 Olympian and All-American performer for NC State. He moved to train at Indiana after graduation, then moved again to Alabama this summer.

Held’s time puts him in a tie for third in the world for 2019 with Russia’s Vladislav Grinev, who won the bronze medal at World Championships last week.

Maxime Rooney was also extremely fast this morning, swimming a 47.75.

Tate Jackson took the third seed in 48.12, followed by Harvard’s Dean Farris (48.21), Robert Howard (48.37), Daniel Krueger (48.66) and Bowe Becker (49.21).

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2019 World Rankings:

46.96, Caeleb Dressel, USA
47.08, Kyle Chalmers, AUS
47.43, Ryan Held, USA
47.43, Vladislav Grinev, RUS
47.68, Marcelo Chierighini, BRA
47.79, Zach Apple, USA
47.87, Blake Pieroni, USA
47.87, Duncan Scott, GBR
47.97, Park Seonkwan, KOR
48.04, Vladimir Morozov, RUS

Held won four national championships in relays and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Team in his career with the Wolfpack. He also helped lead NC State to top four finishes at NCAAs in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, as well as four ACC team titles.

Held will be aiming to make his second Olympic Team next summer in Omaha after he was on the gold medal winning 4×100 free relay team in Rio in 2016. Since the Olympics, Held won the gold medal in the 100 free at the 2017 World University Games and also won five medals, including four golds, at the 2018 World Short Course Championships in relays.

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