After SwimSwam posted a video of Ilya Kharun swimming 31.2 in a 75 yard fly swim in observe, one reader requested “does Ilya have potential as a relay freestyler or is he strictly fly on the worldwide stage?”
Deliberately or not, the reply got here swiftly on Friday from a video posted by Poolside Perspective. Within the video, a bunch of the highest Solar Satan sprinters line up and race a suited 100 yard free from the blocks, together with amongst them the sophomore Kharun. The swim was at a Friday intrasquad scrimmage.
Kharun touched first in 42.30, which is simply .12 seconds shy of his lifetime greatest – which got here from a twin meet in opposition to the College of Arizona in February 2024.
Instances from the Time Trial Swim
- Ilya Kharun, 42.30
- Patrick Sammon, 43.45
- Filip Senc-Samardzic, 43.78
- Andy Dobrzanski, 45.65
- Daniel Matheson, 46.91
- Lucien Vergnes, 46.94
- Cale Martter, 47.39
- TJ Hochwalt, 48.39
Whereas not a definitive reply to the unique query, it is a vital knowledge level in two methods:
The primary being that Kharun is adapting simply nice with Herbie Behm, beforehand this system’s high dash coach anyway, transferring into the top teaching function to exchange Bob Bowman, who left after the staff’s NCAA title to take over because the Director of Swimming at Texas.
The opposite is that Kharun is probably going on monitor to signify Canada internationally in a free relay, at the very least, if not a person dash freestyle occasion.
Kharun comes from the Sandpipers of Nevada program that’s identified for producing sturdy, versatile swimmers. He’s proof of that with a better of 18.82 within the 50 free (2024 Pac-12s) and an altitude-adjusted 14:56.56 within the 1650 free (from highschool). There aren’t many, if any, swimmers in historical past who can match that vary, although the altitude-adjusted is an asterisk on that 14:56.
Kharun, who remains to be solely 19 till February, has a protracted course better of 49.37 that he swam eventually yr’s Canadian Olympic Trials. Whereas that wasn’t sufficient to earn him a spot on the Canadian 400 free relay in Paris that positioned sixth, it was sufficient to maneuver him into seventeenth place all-time amongst Canadians.
Canada’s 400 Free Relay, 2024 Paris Olympic Video games Remaining
- Josh Liendo – 47.93
- Yuri Kisil – 48.18
- Finlay Knox – 48.26
- Javier Acevedo – 47.81
Jonny Kulow was the quickest American 19-year-old within the 100 free final season at 48.38. Jerry Fox was 2nd at 49.02. Brendan Whitfield 49.12, Dylan Smiley 49.24, and Kharun would have been fifth at 49.37 – from Canadian Trials.
Even going from the Toronto Pan Am Pool (a identified ‘quick pool’) to the Olympic pool (a hypothesized ‘sluggish pool’), he dropped six-tenths of a second within the 100 fly from Trials to the Olympic Video games.
An analogous drop within the 100 free would have put him at a 48-mid within the first half of his nineteenth yr. Relative to what swimmers like Pan Zhanle and David Popovici did after they had been 19 (break World Data, win Olympic gold), that doesn’t transfer a lot earth. However as one other comparability, American Jack Alexy, who was seventh on the Olympics, swam 49.14 at 19. Chris Guiliano, who was eighth on the Olympics, had a better of 49.17 at 19.
Provided that Kharun was raised coaching within the American system, possibly that’s a greater analogy for his progress.
The Arizona State 400 free relay final season gained the NCAA title in 2:43.40 and within the course of set a brand new NCAA and U.S. Open Report. Of the 4 swimmers on that relay, Jonny Kulow (40.82 anchor) and Patrick Sammon (41.02 third leg) return, whereas leadoff Leon Marchand (40.28) turned professional and Jack Dolan (41.28 2nd leg) exhausted his eligibility.
Marchand being up to now forward of Sammon, who was the important thing leg there swimming greater than a second higher than his particular person time of 42.10, can also be head-turning on the transitive property of swimming instances.
Kharun, having raced on the Olympics, is likely to be at a distinct coaching spot than a few of his teammates, however both approach, going a near-best time at an intrasquad meet can solely be considered as a constructive signal for him, and the Solar Devils, forward of the 2024-2025 season.
Arizona State formally kicks off their season on October 4th on the highway in opposition to UNLV in Kharun’s dwelling tome of Las Vegas.
Different Notable Outcomes
- Kharun additionally swam 45.72 within the 100 again, which is a lifetime greatest (he hasn’t swum the race since 2022); 45.00 within the 100 fly;
- Junior Zoe Summar swam 51.44 within the 100 free, which undercuts her lifetime better of 51.53 from December 2020 when she was nonetheless in highschool. Summar is primarily a breaststroker and IM’er. Swiss freshman Julia Ullmann swam the 100 free in 51.29 in her first quick course yards meet, and Caroline Bentz, a switch from Virginia Tech, swam 49.31.
- Ullmann additionally swam 53.70 within the 100 fly, and Charli Brown swam 53.73 within the 100 fly.
- Put up-grad Jack Dolan swam 19.25 within the 50 free.
- Extra race movies and outcomes out there on the Poolside Perspective YouTube web page.
Kharun’s 45.72 within the 100 again:
Summar’s 51.44 within the 100 free
Dolan’s 19.25 within the 50 free
