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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
After racing the event for the very first time in short course meters during the morning prelim session, Gabriel Jett rocketed up the historical rankings in the final of the men’s 200 backstroke on Thursday night at the U.S. Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont.
Jett, 24, used phenomenal underwaters to score an upset win over former Cal teammate Destin Lasco in a time of 1:47.75, making him the third-fastest American in history and the 12th-fastest performer of all-time.
In the prelims, Jett went 1:51.48.
Lasco, a three-time NCAA champion in the 200 back, was also racing the event for the first time in short course meters, clocking 1:47.96 to rank #4 all-time among Americans.
All-Time SCM Performers, Men’s 200 Backstroke (SCM)
- Ryan Lochte, 1:46.68 – 2010
- Ryan Murphy, 1:47.34 – 2018
- Gabriel Jett, 1:47.75 – 2026
- Destin Lasco, 1:47.96 – 2026
- Shaine Casas, 1:48.01 – 2022
The performance from Jett comes after he had a phenomenal summer, headlined by winning silver at the Pan Pacific Championships in the 200 free in a time of 1:43.96, cracking the top 10 all-time.
Although he’s become more known for his prowess in freestyle and butterfly, Jett also set a best time of 1:57.75 in the LCM 200 back at Pan Pacs, a precursor of what was to come at SC World Trials.
During his college career, Jett raced the 200 back at NCAA Championships just once, doing so as a senior, and placed third in a time of 1:36.76, so it should be no surprise what he managed to do in the SCM event on Thursday.
Having booked his ticket to the Short Course World Championships on Day 1, Jett followed up by qualifying third overall into the final of the 100 free on Day 2 in a time of 45.74, leading to him dropping the 200 fly from his program.
He is scheduled to race the 200 free on the final day.
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