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The Evolution of the Men's 200 Butterfly | World Record Progression
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- Published on Feb 14, 2026
- When you swim it correctly the 200 butterfly is all flow, all down hill, hips high. If you're truly fit in 200 fly, it's easier than 200 free or 200 back. 200 fly is rhythm. 200 free or back is all driving your legs, all pain. THAT is how Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in the 200 butterfly Mel Stewart described the feeling of swimming a high quality 200 fly when I asked him. Throughout this event’s lifespan there have been NUMEROUS incredibly talented athletes that worked to push the boundaries of the event further and FURTHER, so let’s look at every world record in the men’s 200 butterfly from the first Olympic Champion to where the mark lies today.
2.16 to 1.50. Only took 70 years.
I love when You tell us stories like this, You just do ir really really well
Imagine what MP could have gone in 08’ had his goggles didn’t fill up with water.
Edit: you should also do 2 separate video idea’s one about the men’s 400 IM WR progression, and the rise of Phelps and his entire career
Looking at one swimmers whole career is a format I’ve wanted to do for a little while now. I probably won’t start with Phelps, he’s so impactful and that would be such a HUGE video I’d want to have the format dialed in a bit before I have him as a subject.
@TheSwimScribedo that pleaseee
@TheSwimScribedo that pleaseee
I’ll chime in here. I was a D1 swimmer in the 80s. Went 1:50 SCY and 2:05 LCM in the 2 fly. Those were good times back then, pretty average now. Of course we had no tech suits in those days, no angled blocks and our nutrition and training was sub par. 200 fly in my opinion is a lot easier for swimmers that drive their hips up, think undulation rather than a flat style which is what I had. I tried breathing to the side like Mel did, but couldn’t get used to it. That side breathing if you can do it, keeps your neck and traps from seizing up that last 50 yards/meters. I really wished I had a more undulating stroke and could side breathe. I recently swam the 400 IM at a Masters meet; very painful, but the 200 fly that last 50 is just brutal! I’m 57 now and I might be able to swim a 2fly in about 2:15 SCY. It’s hard to remember what a 1:50 feels like. BTW, Mike Troy coached me for a week at a Junior National Training Camp in Walnut Creek, CA.
Great video! So funny watching videos from the Spitz era when everyone basically does a belly flop so that they can get to the surface of the water faster.
That was very interesting thanks! Would love to watch other évents record evolutions from you 😊
Thanks! If you haven’t seen them yet I have a few other videos covering other events, it’s been a little bit since I’ve done the format and hopefully I’ll be doing more in the near future
The most exciting race in 2026 might be 200m freestyle at the Asian games.
You should do like a video for each NCAA season, so we can learn more about how the past seasons were, who the «top dog» teams were and etc. Either you can do like a 10 minute video for each season, or you can make like a really long video called something like "NCAA: 2010-2025". Just a suggestion as someone who is really interested in NCAA swimming now, but don’t know a lot about the history
100 meters is enough for me and just free style 😁
Vídeo mais completo sobre uma prova que já vi. Se puder, faça das outras provas também. Inclusive femininas óbvio. Terá muitos vídeos para fazer. E um excelente trabalho de pesquisa.
I honestly think this record will take a long long time to be broken, Milak put almost a whole second between him and the second fastest all-time (Marchand)
Honestly I think Leon can potentially break it but he’d need to focus on the event more than before. Also Luca Urlando might get close to it but I still think Leon has the best shot unless Milak decides to lock in because he’s the only other person who could still break the WR.
200 fly easier than 200 free??
The 200 free is a sprint which is what makes it so difficult
@Samclem08 I’ve done both many times. I was never scared of the 200 free pain. Couldn’t say the same about 200 fly
@j@jbrodez you aren’t scared of the 200 free you aren’t swimming it right, you’re sprinting with lactate for 150m, whereas the 200 fly is more paced so the lactate doesn’t hit till maybe the 100
@Samclem08 your hands jus give up in the last 50 fly
@supersuperboyzzjust becaude the 200 fly is difficult, it doesn’t make the 200 free any easir