World Championships: Great Britain’s Jacob Peters Tops USA’s Thomas Heilman in 100 Butterfly Swimoff

Jacob Peters of Great Britain competes in the 4x100m Medley Mixed Relay Heats during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 26th, 2023.

Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment.

World Championships: Great Britain’s Jacob Peters Tops USA’s Thomas Heilman in 100 Butterfly Swimoff

After tying for the 16th position in the preliminaries of the 100-meter butterfly at the World Championships, Great Britain’s Jacob Peters and American teenager Thomas Heilman dueled in a swimoff for the last spot in the event’s semifinals. Surging to an early lead, Peters got to the wall first, going 51.39 to the 51.66 of the 16-year-old Heilman.

Peters built a big advantage over the first lap, splitting 23.54. Heilman covered the first length in 24.28 and although he cut into his deficit over the last 50 meters, he had too much room to make up. Heilman split 27.38 for the back half of his race, compared to the 27.85 of Peters. In the prelims, Peters and Heilman managed matching times of 51.77 to force the swimoff.

The youngest American male to qualify for an international meet since the 2002 Pan Pacific Championships, Heilman has enjoyed a strong showing at his first World Championships. He tied for fourth with Canada’s Ilya Kharun in the 200 butterfly earlier in the meet, going 1:53.82 to just miss the world junior record of 1:53.79.

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