How Unusual Is Rylee Erisman’s 21.6 in the 50 Free + 4:34 in the 500 Free? ...Middle East

By Braden Keith on SwimSwam

16-year-old American sprinter Rylee Erisman turned heads at the recent USA Swimming Winter Junior Championships – East meet, winning all four of her individual events in dominating fashion.

It was the two longest of these races that caught the most attention, as they were new revelations for the young Floridian. She swam 1:40.93 in the 200 free, which ranks her as the 16th-fastest performer in history (of any age), and 4:34.60 in the 500 free, making her the 8th-fastest swimmer in 15-16 history.

This begged the question: just how rare was this range? A swimmer capable of going 4:34.60 in the 500 free and 21.61 in the 50 free.

The answer is incredibly rare. In fact, of the 52 women all-time who have been 4:34-or-better in the 500 free, only four have been under 22 seconds in the 50 free, and only one has been faster than Erisman.

This data will have some bias to it because most of the swimmers who have been 4:34-or-better haven’t swum a tapered flat-start 50 free in their senior careers.

But context that also matters: at this meet, Erisman didn’t go best times in her best events. Her meet-best in the 50 free was 21.95, and she has been 21.6 more than once.

And she’s only 16.

The four members of the 4:34, 21-second club:

Bella Sims (4:28.64, 21.88) Anna Peplowski (4:33.86, 21.85) Rylee Erisman (4:34.60, 21.61) Mallory Comerford (4:34.63, 21.49)

Sims and Peplowski are both Olympic medalists in the 800 free relay, and while Comerford never qualified for an Olympic team, mostly because of bad timing, she has 14 World Championships (LC + SC) on relays, including gold at the 2017 World Championship in Budapest.

This combination of speed + endurance has historically lent itself to the 200 free, an event that Erisman has only recently begun exploring. She was the silver medalist at the World Junior Championships over the summer, and improved her long course time over the summer by almost three seconds.

While National High School and National Age Group Records from Erisman in the 50 and 100 free have built her as a pure sprinter, this performance implies that as she grows and matures, she might find a space internationally as more of a modern 100/200 freestyler, ala a Mollie O’Callaghan.

Erisman, like O’Callaghan, is tall by a normal definition, but not overly tall in the context of swimming like the 6’1″ Gretchen Walsh or the 6’0 tall Sarah Sjostrom.

Erisman is graduating high school early and will begin training at Cal in the fall of 2026 at only 17 years old.

Full List of Best 50 Free Times by 500 Freestylers Who Have Been 4:34 or Better

Note: data was hand-compiled. Let us know if you spot any errors.

Rank 500 Free Time Swimmer Country 500 free PB meet Best 50 free 1 4:24.06 Katie Ledecky United States 2017 NCAAs 22.64 2 4:27.52 Summer McIntosh Canada 2022 Speedo Winter Juniors East 23.27 3 4:28.27 Katie Grimes United States 2023 CA Speedo Sectionals CA/NV Golden West 23.43 4 4:28.64 Bella Sims United States 2022 Speedo Winter Juniors West 21.88 5 4:28.90 Leah Smith United States 2017 NCAAs 23.71 6 4:29.38 Claire Weinstein United States 2023 CA Speedo Sectionals CA/NV Golden West 22.51 7 4:30.47 Katie Hoff United States 2007 MD NBAC CHRISTMAS INVITATION 22.91 8 4:30.68 Jillian Cox United States 2024 Texas Invitational 23.4 9 4:31.18 Dagny Knutson United States 2009 Winter Nationals 22.72 10 4:31.34 Brooke Forde United States 2019 NCAAs 23.52 11 4:31.63 Aurora Roghair United States 2024 Texas Invitational 23.27 12 4:31.90 Cierra Runge United States 2015 PAC-12 Champs women 23.24 13 4:32.08 Allison Schmitt United States 2015 ST American Short Course Cha 22.55 14 4:32.53 Brittany MacLean Canada 2014 NCAAs 23.71 15 4:32.66 Missy Franklin United States 2014 NCAAs 22.01 16 4:32.71 Kate Ziegler United States 2007 PV Tom Dolan Invitational 23.26 17 4:32.87 Rachel Stege United States 2023 Georgia Invite 23.67 18 4:32.89 Ella Eastin United States 2019 PAC 12 Champs women 23.11 19 4:32.98 Paige Madden United States 2019 NCAAs 22.91 20 4:33.07 Sarah Henry United States 2012 UH Phill Hansel Inv 24.63 21 4:33.24 Lia Thomas United States 2022 NCAAs 22.78 22 4:33.35 Hali Flickinger United States 2016 NCAAs 23.79 23 4:33.47 Lotte Friis Denmark 2015 ST American Short Course Cha — 24 4:33.60 Caroline Burckle United States 2008 NCAAs 23.53 25 4:33.61 Kennedi Dobson United States 2025 GT Dual Meet Tournament 22.69 26 4:33.70 Emma Weyant United States 2024 NCAAs 24.06 27 4:33.72 Bailey Hartman United States 2022 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West 23.07 28 4:33.74 Emma Nordin United States 2020 Pac-12s 23.78 29 4:33.86 Anna Peplowski United States 2025 Big Tens 21.85 30 4:33.97 Amber McDermott United States 2014 NCAAs 24.37 31 4:34.13 Allison Schmitt United States 2010 NCAAs 22.48 32 4:34.27 Rachel Stege United States 2024 UGA Invite 23.67 32 4:34.27 Ella Jansen Canada 2025 SECs 23.23 34 4:34.28 G Ryan United States 2016 UGA Invite 23.6 35 4:34.30 Lauren Pitzer United States 2019 Pac-12s 22.02 36 4:34.34 Alyssa Anderson United States 2011 NCAAs 23.93 37 4:34.42 Stephanie Peacock United States 2012 Ohio State Invitational 24.44 38 4:34.47 Ashley Neidigh United States 2017 Winter Nationals 25.15 39 4:34.48 Haley Anderson United States 2012 NCAAs 24.29 40 4:34.49 Shannon Vreeland United States 2012 NCAAs 22.66 41 4:34.51 Cavan Gormsen United States 2025 NCAAs 23.04 41 4:34.51 Julie Brousseau Canada 2025 SECs 24.19 43 4:34.54 Elizabeth Beisel United States 2012 Ohio State Invitational 24.67 44 4:34.56 Meredith Budner United States 2011 NCAAs 24.38 45 4:34.60 Rylee Erisman United States 2025 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – East 21.61 46 4:34.63 Mallory Comerford United States 2019 ACCs 21.49 46 4:34.63 Rose Bi China 2016 UGA Invite 23.93 48 4:34.77 Hannah Bellard United States 2024 Georgia Tech Invitational 24.17 48 4:34.77 Becca Mann United States 2015 American Short Course Championships 25.65 50 4:34.86 Katie Drabot United States 2018 NCAAs 22.38 50 4:34.86 Haley Lips United States 2016 NCAAs 24.13 52 4:34.89 Madi Mintenko United States 2025 CHSAA Girls 5A State Championship 22.06

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