Maximus Williamson Breaks National High School/NAG (17-18) Records in 200-Yard Medley
Competing at the Texas 6A Championships at the Jamail Swim Center, Keller High School’s Maximus Williamson put together a spectacular night of racing.
Williamson first took down one of the most iconic scholastic records on the books on Saturday night. A Virginia recruit, Williamson clocked a time of 1:40.81 in the 200-yard individual medley to break the 2011 standard of Hershey’s David Nolan. A future NCAA champion for Stanford, Nolan’s record stood at 1:41.39.
A junior, Williamson covered the opening butterfly leg in 21.71 and followed with a backstroke split of 24.14. He produced a breaststroke split of 30.44 and brought the race home with a freestyle split of 24.52. The time was also a National Age Group (NAG) record for the 17-18 classification, with Williamson breaking his own record of 1:41.18. Williamson won the Texas state title by more than five seconds, as Luke Stibrich was second in 1:46.50.
Later in the evening, Williamson led off Keller’s 200 freestyle relay, jumpstarting the squad on its way to a national record of 1:19.21. Williamson opened in 19.45 and was followed by River Paulk (19.74), Riccardo Osio (20.15) and Cooper Lucas (19.87). The former relay record was held by the Bolles School at 1:19.27 since 2012, with that group including Ryan Murphy, Joseph Schooling and Santo Condorelli.
Williamson is one of several teenage stars in the American male arsenal, alongside Thomas Heilman. The teenager is expected to be a factor in multiple events at this summer’s United States Olympic Trials. His best chances of qualifying for the Paris Games are likely in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle, where six athletes typically are selected for Olympic competition.
