2016 U.S. WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPS – WEST

After busting out an 18.88 in the 50 free prelims, Ryan Hoffer lowered his best time even more to win the event in 18.71 tonight. Hoffer, who had never broken 19 seconds prior to today, has now been under the mark twice. His time in tonight’s finals was just .04 shy of the 17-18 National Age Group Record of 18.67, which was set by Caeleb Dressel in 2014.

Hoffer now further cements his status as the 2nd fastest 17-18 swimmer of all time in that race, and is just the 2nd 18 & under swimmer to swim a sub-19 50 free. He’s also the 7th fastest 50 yard freestyler of all time, sitting just behind U.S. sprint star Nathan Adrian.

Top 10 All-Time Men’s 50 Freestylers:

Caeleb Dressel, 18.20 Cesar Cielo, 18.47 Matt Targett, 18.52 Vladimir Morozov, 18.63 Kristian Gkolomeev, 18.64 Nathan Adrian, 18.66 Ryan Hoffer, 18.71 Adam Brown, 18.72 Fred Bousquet, 18.72 Simonas Bilis, 18.76

If he wants to take another shot at Dressel’s NAG Record, Hoffer still has the option of leading off Scottsdale Aquatic Club’s 200 free relay on Friday night.