Thomas Heilman is Latest Rising American Star to Pursue Olympic Success
Before arriving at his first U.S. Olympic Trials, Thomas Heilman was already the owner of 20 national age group records, the most impressive of which were set last summer when he made the leap from Junior Pan Pacific Championships medalist to World Championships team member.
On the first day of the 2023 U.S. nationals, Heilman finished second in the 200 butterfly in 1:54.54, clipping 4-hundredths off an age-group mark set by Michael Phelps in 2001—at the time, a world record. Two days later, Heilman smashed the mark in the 100 fly by more than a half-second as he added a second event to his schedule for his global debut.
He excelled even further when racing the best swimmers in the world, qualifying for the final and surging on the last length to finish fourth in 1:53.82, lowering his NAG mark once again and finishing just 3-hundredths off the world junior record. He did not qualify for the semifinals, but he did earn a World Championships gold by virtue of his prelims butterfly leg on the U.S. men’s 400 medley relay.
Heilman used that experience in Fukuoka, Japan, to get himself ready for Trials.
“I think that trip was one of the most beneficial things that could have happened leading into this year and this meet. The format of both meets are very similar with the semifinals, and I think having that experience under my belt really helped me over the past couple days in just trying to swim my races smart to make it to the next round, not put too much effort into the prelim or the semifinal,” Heilman said.
“My coach, Gary Taylor (Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont YMCA, Va.), told me day by day I have as much experience at this level as anyone else despite being only 17 years old.”
When Heilman went to the biggest meet of his life, he dominated his signature event, earning his first Olympic berth in the 200 fly. A lackluster heats swim left Heilman in eighth place, but he improved to second in the semifinals before swimming away from the field in the final to secure his place in Paris.
With the swim, the 17-year-old Heilman became the youngest American male to qualify for an Olympics since Phelps, then 15, made it in 2000, although the teenager dismissed any comparisons to the 23-time Olympic champion.
“It’s always great to be in the same conversation as him, but I’m trying not to worry about that too much and trying to take things day by day and leading up to the rest of the meet and then through Paris,” Heilman said.
Heilman credited his work with Taylor as the key to his breakthrough onto the senior-level swimming scene over the past two years. When Taylor arrived at Cavalier Aquatics in Charlottesville, Va., he instituted an individual medley-based training program that was “focusing on building everything as a swimmer,” Heilman said. Heilman credited the training for taking him “out of my comfort zone doing more distance training, which I think has definitely helped, especially like in the 200.”
Just as important for his success in the pool has been keeping his life as normal as possible and not letting success alter his approach.
“The people around me keep me grounded,” Heilman said. “Obviously it starts with my family, and then my teammates and coaches do a great job of not trying to make me up to be anything special like that for the most part. All my friends just make me feel normal around them. They don’t treat me like I’m any different from them. I think everyone combined just helps me stay a 17-year-old kid and just doing day-to-day stuff like a normal teenager.”
Well, this 17-year-old kid is going to the Olympics, and a return to his best times from last year could put him well within the medal conversation in the 200 fly. And that will not be his only race in Paris: On the eighth day of the meet, Heilman ran down Dare Rose to secure the No. 2 spot in the 100 fly by 4-hundredths. He used a back-half split of 26.57 that was the fastest of anyone in the field, even ahead of race winner Caeleb Dressel.
And yes, he added a 21st NAG record with that swim, his time of 50.80 knocking 3-tenths from the previous 17-18 standard held by—you guessed it—Phelps.
