High School

High school phenom, No. 1 boys swimmer Maximus Williamson smashes multiple national records at Texas UIL state meet

Keller senior Maximus Williamson, an Olympic hopeful, previously broke a 20-year-old mark set by Michael Phelps

Levi Payton

Keller senior Maximus Williamson, a Virginia signee and the No. 1 boys swimming recruit in the nation, broke multiple national records at the Texas UIL state swim meet Feb. 21.
Keller senior Maximus Williamson, a Virginia signee and the No. 1 boys swimming recruit in the nation, broke multiple national records at the Texas UIL state swim meet Feb. 21. / Keller Swim and Dive

One of the best amateur swimmers in Texas history just got some more hardware for the medal case. And true to form, he did it in grand fashion.

Maximus Williamson, a senior at Keller High School, shattered national records in the Boys 200 Free, Boys 100 Free and Boys 50 Free on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Texas UIL 6A state championships. He also set a new national school mark in the 400 Free Relay along with teammates Cooper Lucas, Maxwell Stanislaus and River Paulk, swimming a time of 2:53.80.

A Virginia commit, Williamson - the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class - set new national marks in the 17-18 National Age Group (NAG) with his times in those events.

The 6-foot-3 star set new national marks in the 17-18 National Age Group (NAG) with his times in those events, as he swam the 50 Free in 19.08 – breaking the National Public Schools mark of 19.20 - 100 Free in 41.54 and 200 Free in 1:30.46.

His 200 Free had everyone talking. Williamson originally broke the national high school record set by Florida’s Kaii Winkler with a time of 1:32.63 during preliminaries on Friday morning and then returned Saturday to smash his own mark by more than two seconds.

On Friday his splits in his 1:32.63 swim were 21.04; 23.24; 23.97 and 24.36, while Saturday’s record-breaking swim saw him split 20.59; 22.74; 23.24; 23.89. His 1:30.46 would’ve been good enough to finish fourth at the NCAA’s last year, trailing only Olympians Luke Hobson, Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano.

Jack LeVant previously held the Texas state record in the 200 Free, swimming 1:33.57 in 2018. Williamson now owns state records in the 200 Free, 200 IM (1:40.81), 50 Free, 100 Backstroke (46.29) and 100 Free.

After setting the record in the 100 free at 41.84 as a junior, he smashed it on Saturday with a time of 41.54. The NAG record for the 100 free is 41.23, set by Ryan Hoffer in 2015.

It’s not the first time the phenom has done the unthinkable. He owns four NAG records in the 15-16 age group, including shattering a 20-year-old record set by Michael Phelps in the 400 IM by more than two seconds – completing the task in 3:39.83 on Dec. 9, 2022, at the Winter Junior Championships – West in Austin, Texas.

He also set a pair of Texas state records at the 2024 UIL state meet, swimming the 200 IM in 1:40.81 and the 400 Free Relay - with teammates Cooper Lucas, Maxwell Stanislaus and River Paulk - in 2:53.80.

He holds multiple junior world records, including the 400 relay in 3:15.49 along with Daniel Diehl, Hudson Williams and Jason Zhao, which they set at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Netanya, Israel.

Williamson also holds NAG records in the 15-16 age group for the 200 Back in 1:40.88 and the 400 IM in 3:39.83 - both set at the 2022 Winter JR Championships - West in Austin.

His 19.08 split in the 200 Free broke the previous National Public Schools Record of 19.20, set by Aiden Hayes (Norman North, Norman, Oklahoma), at the Oklahoma State High School State Championships in 2021. Team combined to swim a 1:20.06 after swimming a 1:19.21 to set the national high school record last season.

He’s also made his mark on the international stage. Williamson has won six times at the World Junior Championships and once more at the Junior Pan Pac Championships. He most recently participated in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials and has aspirations of Olympic gold in his future.

Williamson spent his freshman season at Southlake Carroll, where he won a 6A championship in the 200 IM and the 100 Backstroke.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

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