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2023 NC STATE/GAC INVITATIONAL
Arizon State freshman Ilya Kharun posted some eye-popping times to kick off the 2023 NC State Invitational on Thursday night, firing off one of the fastest 50-yard butterfly splits of all time to go along with a huge personal best in the 50 free.
The 18-year-old Canadian began his evening with an 18.51 split on the Sun Devils’ 200 free relay team that broke the meet record, pool record, and program record with a time of 1:14.64. Jack Dolan (18.90 leadoff), Cam Peel (18.96), and Jonny Kulow (18.27) joined Kharun on the relay.
Kharun then placed 2nd individually in the 50 free with a personal-best 18.93, dropping more than a second off his previous-best 20.16 from December of 2020. The Sandpipers of Nevada product was just about a tenth of a second behind NC State redshirt freshman Quintin McCarty, outdueling Virginia Tech star Youssef Ramadan (18.97) and ASU teammates Jack Dolan (18.99) and Jonny Kulow (19.00) in a fast final.
Kharun saved his best for last with a blazing 43.35 100 fly split on the Sun Devils’ 400 medley relay that demolished the meet (3:04.02) and pool (3:02.80) records with a time of 3:01.60. That split appears to be the third-fastest ever behind only Joseph Schooling (43.34) and Josh Liendo (42.91). Kharun was out in 19.72 and back in 23.63.
Splits Comparison
Kharun’s best flat-start 100 fly (44.88) ranks 3rd in the NCAA this season behind ASU teammate Leon Marchand (44.66) and NC State senior Luke Miller (44.17).
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