18-Year-Old Ilya Kharun Drops 1:41.39 in 200 Yard Fly in Las Vegas

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

2023 Desert Committee Championship

• February 18-21, 2023
• Pavilion Center Pool, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Results on Meet Mobile

Canadian swimmer Ilya Kharun dropped a 1:41.39 in the 200-yard fly on Monday evening in Las Vegas at the 2023 Desert Committee Championship. That time is the fastest in the country so far this season for a swimmer in the 17-18 age group. Thomas Heilman swam 1:40.86 at Winter Juniors – East when he was just 15.

That time would rank him 6th all-time in USA Swimming history and exactly a second behind Aiden Hayes’ 17-18 National Age Group Record if Kharun were record-eligible in the US.

Kharun split the race 49.25 // 52.14 by 100. That spread of less-than-3-seconds is much tighter than most elite 200 butterfliers swim the race. In his previous personal best, for example, he split 49.00 // 53.39. The top time in the NCAA this season was split 47.64 // 51.93.

Kharun trains with the Sandpipers of Nevada club team, and his coach Ron Aitken said that this was his chance to get a yards swim in after missing Winter Juniors while preparing to represent his native Canada at the Short Course World Championships.

At that World Championship meet, Kharun finished 2nd in the 100 fly and 8th in the 200 fly.

Aitken says that Kharun was wearing a tech suit, but was not rested, for the race.

In the fall, Kharun will head to Arizona State, which is home to the #1 and #3 ranked 200 butterfliers in the NCAA right now: Leon Marchand (1:39.57) and Alex Colson (1:40.78), respectively. His swim would rank him 9th in the NCAA this season.

Kharun’s previous best time was 1:42.39, done at the 2021 Winter Junior Championships – West.

Kharun’s Results this Weekend:

• 100 free – 43.79 (43.70 in prelims) – 1st place/PB in prelims
• 1650 free – 15:07.56 – 1st place
• 100 fly – 45.26 – 1st place/PB
• 400 IM – 3:50.90 (3:49.39) – 1st place/PB in prelims
• 200 fly – 1:41.39 – 1st place/PB

Other Notable Results:

• Olympic medalist Bella Sims swam 1:04.12 in the 100 breaststroke and 2:17.21 in the 200 breaststroke. That 100 time is a new personal best in her weakest stroke, which could prove big in the long term for her IM races.
• US National Teamer Claire Weinstein swam 1:59.30 to win her only race, the 200 yard backstroke. That’s a half-second improvement on her previous personal best.
• 16-year-old Sandpipers sophomore Luke Ellis hit a new personal best of 1:50.63 to win the 200 IM. That knocked almost two seconds off his previous best time from December 2021. He also swam best times in the 50 free (22.17) and 200 breast (2:09.88).
• Sandpipers 17-year-old Dillon Wright had a handful of best times at the meet. He won the 200 back in 1:50.03 (dropping three seconds), the 200 breast in 2:05.97 (dropping nine seconds), and the 200 fly in 1:48.15 (just-missing a best time).

SwimSwam: 18-Year-Old Ilya Kharun Drops 1:41.39 in 200 Yard Fly in Las Vegas