Wildcat Swimmer Breaks Olympian's Record at Big Ten Championships

The Northwestern sophomore toppled a six-time Olympic medalist in the record books on Thursday.

Brookfield Central/East co-op's Stuart Seymour competes in the 100-yard butterfly during the WIAA Division 1 boys state swimming and diving championships at Waukesha South, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023. Seymour won the event with a time of 47.62. D1 State Bswim 2634 | Scott Ash / Now News Group / USA TODAY NETWORK

Setting a school record at a Big Ten university is a big deal. It's even harder to imagine the skill required to break an Olympic gold medalists' record.

Northwestern sophomore swimmer Stuart Seymour did just that on Thursday. During the Prelims round at the Big Ten Championships, Seymour finished the 50-yard freestyle in 19.22 seconds, breaking a 20-year program record.

Seymour later placed eighth in the Finals, just 0.04 seconds shy of his record-setting time.

The Northwestern 50-yard freestyle record was previously held by Matt Grevers, who had a time of 19.35 seconds in 2005. Grevers was a 27-time All-American in Evanston and won three individual NCAA Championships, along with one national relay title.

🚨 Stuart Seymour sets the SCHOOL RECORD in the 50 Freestyle! Seymour’s 19.22 bests six-time Olympic medalist Matt Grevers’ time of 19.35 🟣⚪️#B1GSD #GoCats #LevelUp pic.twitter.com/bcyigFw4z4

— Northwestern Swimming & Diving (@NUSwimDive) February 27, 2025

Grevers had an incredibly prestigious professional career upon graduating from Northwestern in 2007. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Grevers won gold medals as part of the American 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the 4x100-meter medley relay. He also had an individual silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

Four years later at the 2012 London Olympics, Grevers improved his 100-meter backstroke performance by winning the gold medal and setting a new Olympic record, since broken by the United States' Ryan Murphy in 2016. Grevers won his fourth gold overall as part of the 4x100-meter medley relay and earned silver with the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, bringing his total medal count to six.

Grevers was inducted into the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

Even after Seymour became the new 50-yard freestyle king, Grevers still has his name all over the Northwestern record books. The Olympian owns four individual marks and was a part of three program-record relays.