By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
When Ollie MoClair became the fastest junior (under 18) Australian in history in the 50 free on Saturday, he also moved into the top 10 fastest juniors of all-time in the event.
According to data compiled by Nuoto Mondiale, the most comprehensive historical times database of the moment, MoClair’s 22.04 ranks him as the 8th-fastest junior age swimmer in history.
Top 27 All-Time, Boys’ 18 & Under 50 LCM Freestyle
- 1. 21.75 – Michael C. Andrew (USA), Aug 23, 2017 – World Junior Championships (Prelims)
- 2. 21.83 – Artem Selin (GER), Jul 3, 2019 – European Junior Championships
- 3. 21.92 – Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR), Aug 30, 2022 – World Junior Championships
- 4. 21.95 – David Curtiss (USA), Aug 22, 2019 – World Junior Championships (Semis)
- 5. 21.97 – Vladyslav Bukhov (UKR), Jan 24, 2020 – LUX Euro Meet
- 6. 21.98 – Evgeny Sedov (RUS), Mar 28, 2014 – Russian Cup
- 7. 22.00 – Hexin Yu (CHN), Aug 17, 2014 – Youth Olympic Games
- 8. 22.04 – Ollie MoClair (AUS), Dec 13, 2025 – NSW State Senior Age Championships
- 9. 22.05 – James Roberts (AUS), Nov 26, 2009 – AIS Invitational, Canberra
- 10. 22.09 – Giovanni Izzo (ITA), Jul 6, 2016 – European Junior Championships
- 11. 22.10 – Kenzo Simons (NED), Jul 3, 2019 – European Junior Championships
- 12. 22.11 – Luke Percy (AUS), Aug 26, 2013 – World Junior Championships (Semis)
- 13. 22.12 – Lorenzo Ballarati (ITA), Aug 10, 2024 – Italian Junior/Senior Championships
- 14. 22.13 – Vladimir Morozov (RUS), Aug 12, 2010 – USA Junior Nationals
- 15. 22.15 – Kyle Chalmers (AUS), Mar 28, 2016 – Australian Age Championships
- T-16. 22.16 – Matheus Santana (BRA), May 10, 2014 – Brazilian Junior Championships
- T-16. 22.16 – Ziv Kalontarov (ISR), Jun 23, 2015 – European Games, Baku
- T-16. 22.16 – David Popovici (ROU), Jul 5, 2022 – European Junior Championships
- 19. 22.22 – Caeleb Dressel (USA), Aug 26, 2013 – World Junior Championships
- 20. 22.23 – Sunwoo Hwang (KOR), Oct 12, 2021 – Korean Sports Festival
- 21. 22.24 – Thomas Fannon (GBR), Apr 12, 2016 – British Olympic Trials
- T-22. 22.25 – Bruno Blaskovic (CRO), Jul 6, 2016 – European Junior Championships
- T-22. 22.25 – Maxime Grousset (FRA), Aug 23, 2017 – World Junior Championships
- T-21. 22.25 – Jonathan Eu Jin Tan (SGP), Dec 4, 2019 – SEA Games
- T-22. 22.25 – Isaac Cooper (AUS), May 18, 2022 – Australian Nationals (Prelims)
- T-26. 22.26 – Luca Leonardi (ITA), Aug 11, 2009 – Italian Junior Championships
- T-26. 22.26 – Cameron McEvoy (AUS), Apr 9, 2012 – Australian Age Championships
What is most interesting about this list is how many of the names on it never worked out, at least not as prestigiously as they did in their junior ages, especially at the top.
While there are lots of historical speculations about fast junior-aged swimmers not working out, by-and-large those stories are overblown. Most Olympic medalists were also among the best junior-aged swimmers.
But even in an event like the 50 free where men historically peak just a few years later between ages 21 and 23 (though there are many exceptions to this, of course), the path from 18 to 21 is not always clear.
It’s not that nobody at the top of this juniors list has had any success – the best of that group is Vladyslav Bukhov, who is 18th best of all-time. The #1 ranked Michael Andrew, for example, is an Olympic Champion, it’s that none of them have had really retained their ranking in the 50 free at the senior level. Andrew, in fact, is the top-ranked among this group in the 50 free all-time, open age, at 21st.
The average all-time, all-age ranking of the junior top 12 (pre MoClair) is about 107th place. The average all-time, all-age ranking of the junior top 26 (pre MoClair)Â is about 130th place. That is in spite of both #3 Caeleb Dressel and #4 Cam McEvoy being on the top juniors list and bringing up the ranking.
Among the top 27 juniors, 7 of them never got any faster after turning 18. Many left the sport early or had meandering paths (Curtiss, Percy, and Cooper as examples). Many, like Grousset, Popovici, or Ribeiro, have pivoted to other events and excelled.
To be fair, one or two, like Bukhov at 23, are still very much in their primes, and the differences on these lists are just fractions of seconds, so this might be overstating the statistical significance in a pure sense. But in this event, junior success surely hasn’t equated to senior success, especially over the last 11 or 12 years (Morozov, for example, was #2 at the time, and his career worked out better than most on this list).
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Who are the Top 10 Juniors All-Time in the Boys’ 50 Meter Free?
