BERLIN — After a stellar collegiate senior season, former LSU swimmer Hannes Heyl is showcasing his talents on the international long-course stage where the German delivered one of the fastest times in the world this weekend at his country’s World Championship Trials in Berlin.
Heyl raced to second-place in the men’s 50-meter butterfly Friday with a blistering mark of 23.57 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in the world this season. The Grosslehna, Germany, native was just one tenth of a second off the winning time of 23.47 recorded by Steffen Deibler — the short-course world record-holder in the event — and just 14 one-hundredths of a second off the German national record.
The nine-time NCAA All-American also competed in the final of the 100m fly Sunday, taking fourth with a 53.18 clocking, a time currently in the world’s top 50.
Heyl’s effort in the 50m fly marks the second time in the past six months that a current or former LSU swimmer has claimed a top-10 time in the world. Former Lady Tiger All-American and Southeastern Conference champion Jane Trepp posted the world’s eighth-fastest short-course meters mark in the 100m individual medley (59.77) at the 2010 FINA World Championships in December.
Trepp also recently swam a long-course top-50 time in the world, registering a mark of 25.82 in the 50m freestyle at the Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine, Calif., as she prepares for the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China, next month.