Swimming

14-Year-Old Shareef Elaydi Swims 2:00 in the 200 Meter Fly, #2 Behind Phelps All-Time

March 3, 2024

2024 CALIFORNIA/NEVADA SECTIONALS

February 29-March 3, 2024
Novato, California
Long Course Meters (50 meters), Prelims/Finals
Live Results

In a meet where one 14-year-old is assaulting the national age group record books, another very-nearly took out a record of his own.

Shareef Elaydi of the Santa Clara Swim Club swam 2:00.38 in the 200 fly finals on Saturday That makes him the #2 American in the history of the event behind only Michael Phelps 1:59.02 from the 2000 Spring National Championships.

Later that year, Phelps would turn 15 and qualify for his first Olympic Team, in the 200 fly, and place 5th.

Top 6 American 13-14s, 200 LCM Fly

Michael Phelps – 1:59.02 (2000)
Shareef Elaydi – 2:00.38 (2024)
Dare Rose – 2:01.89 (2017)
Max Miranda – 2:02.54 (2014)
Eddie Erazo – 2:02.80 (2001)
Dan Madwed – 2:03.10 (2003)

The swim breaks Elaydi’s own LSC Record of 2:03.03 done at last July’s Far Western Championships.

Splits Comparison:

	Shareef Elaydi	Shareef Elaydi
	July 2023	March 2024
50m	27.63	—
100m	30.84 (58.47)	57.72
150m	32.22	—-
200m	32.34 (64.56)	62.55
Final Time	2:03.03	2:00.38

Elaydi had a previous win at the meet in the 100 fly, where he swam 55.60.

He and Luka Mijatovic, the meet’s other national age group record breaker, still have one big head-to-head showdown remaining in the 200 IM. There, Michael Andrew holds the national record in 2:04.13; Elaydi holds a best of 2:06.79 and Mijatovic, who broke the 400 IM record earlier in the weekend, holds a best of 2:06.73.

Based on their other drops this week, it’s possible that both swimmers get under that record. Mijatovic swam the 200 fly in a best time of 2:03.67, dropping almost seven seconds, and set a new National Age Group Record in the 400 free in 3:51.18 (read more about that swim here).

Other Day 3 Winners & Notables

Stella Canoles swam a best time to win the girls’ 50 free in 26.11. Canoles is now the 28th-best 13-14 in history in the 50 free. She was three-tenths faster than, and is 20 years younger than, the runner-up Megan Waters, a former Princeton swimmer now training with Quicksilver Swimming in the Bay Area. Waters’ best time was 26.14 – done at the 2012 US Olympic Trials – and she’s just a few tenths away from that.
Bailey Hartman of the Crow Canyon Sharks won two more races, giving her five individually and six total in the meet. On Saturday, she won the 200 fly in 2:15.46 and the 400 free in 4:24.92.
Another Crow Canyon Shark Raya Mellott ran away with the girls’ 200 breaststroke in 2:31.01, almost four seconds ahead of the field. Those three wins helped keep the Sharks well in the lead in the team battle.
Natalie Farquhar of Neptune Swimming won the 100 back in 1:03.55; she very-nearly swam a best time in prelims with a 1:02.75, missing her best from Winter Juniors in December by .07 seconds.
Cal commit Edward Huang of the California Dolphins dominated the boys’ 100 back final in 56.35, which put him over 2.4 seconds clear of the field. His best time is a 55.99 from last summer’s Junior National Championships.
A battle in the boys’ 50 free went4 to Hawaii commit Finn Brophy in 23.78, just out-touching a best time from UCSB commit Mason Wendler in 23.84.