Van Mathias breaks American record in 50m breaststroke in swimming comeback
· Yahoo Sports
Van Mathias broke the American record in the 50m breaststroke — a new Olympic event — after sitting out swimming competition for two years.
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Mathias, 25, clocked 26.39 seconds in the preliminary heats at the Bergen Swim Festival in Norway, taking six hundredths off Nic Fink's American record from the 2022 World Championships.
Mathias swam for Indiana University from 2018-23, highlighted by a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2023 NCAA Championships, though he was primarily a butterflier in college.
He then left competition for two years, taking a job as director of swimming operations at Indiana.
Then last year, Mathias told SwimSwam he was inspired to return after seeing the U.S. Championships in Indianapolis and believing he could be competitive.
Two months later, he made the team for this August's Pan Pacific Championships, posting the fastest 50m breast for an American in 2025 after last contesting the event in 2013 (per USA Swimming's database).
"It's been a new lease on life in swimming," he said after winning a 50m breast at a Pro Swim Series meet in Austin, Texas, in January.
Olympic, World Championships swimming events now match after changes to both meetsThe Olympics are adding stroke 50m events, while the World Championships dropped a mixed relay.