Evan Wilkerson Hopped Off A Plane In SoCal And Set A Pair Of World Records

Evan Wilkerson admitted his confidence was shaken as soon as he arrived in Southern California for the Para Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in late August.

He certainly didn’t expect to break a world record twice in the same day.

A 2024 U.S. Paralympian, Wilkerson, who has a visual impairment, long figured the men’s 100-meter backstroke S11 offered his best chance at breaking a world record. He’s been chasing it since taking up Para swimming as a kid.

The 19-year-old college sophomore knew he was getting closer earlier this summer. After posting some fast times at the Jimi Flowers Classic in July, he wondered if he could swim even faster at the Para Pan Pacific Championships a few weeks later in Walnut, California.

“And then you get to Southern California, and the heat hits you like a wall,” said Wilkerson, a native of Wake Forest, North Carolina. “We were swimming outside. The pool was hot, and I was like, ‘I really just don’t know.’ I did have very much a crisis of confidence for the first couple of days.”

Wilkerson had never raced at an outdoor meet. As much as he wasn’t looking forward to it, he started to regain his confidence after he swam a few practice laps before the start of the international meet and discovered that the heat wasn’t affecting his times in the pool.

He also felt well prepared, thanks to the hard work that he had been putting in over the past few months at his new home at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has been living and training there as he prepares for the Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028.

Hoping to simply make the finals at Para Pan Pacs, Wilkerson surprised himself on the final day of competition when he broke the 100 backstroke world record with a time of 1 minute, 4.84 seconds in the prelims. But he wasn’t done yet.

“I was like, ‘OK, I didn’t really think this was going to be possible, at least in the morning’” Wilkerson said. “And then coming back at night, I was like, ‘I’ve done it. I’ve hit this record. Let’s see how fast I can actually go.’ And so my whole thought process for the night was take it out fast, come back faster.”

Later that day, Wilkerson shaved more than two seconds off his world record by touching the wall in 1:02.62 during the finals.

“This whole process of getting to a world record has not been a solo attempt. There have been so many people who gotten me to this point, whether that’s one of my college teammates who … just kept hounding me about my underwaters until I finally got good underwaters. Coaches over the years, parents, other teammates, all of that has played a big role into where I am today.”

Wilkerson has been living at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center since May.

After finishing his freshman year at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, Wilkerson intended to return this fall. However, when an opportunity arose to train in Colorado Springs, he couldn’t say no.

Wilkerson now splits him time between online classes through Liberty University and practicing six days a week at the training center. Since he’s part of a small group of Para swimmers who are working in the pool there, he’s been able to focus on his technique while getting plenty of individualized coaching.

He also has access to sports psychologists, sports scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, and amazing food at the training center.

“All of that has really gotten it to where I get to put 100 percent into swimming, and then the rest I can handle outside of swimming,” Wilkerson said.

It also helps that he’s training everyday with other world-class swimmers. They practice nine times a week, usually twice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Every single practice, I swim in the lane right next to the lane that Noah Jaffe swims in,” Wilkerson said of Jaffe, who won a silver medal and a bronze at the Paris Paralympics. “He is, of course, one of the best male U.S. swimmers, and I’m also very competitive. I don’t want to get left behind.”

Being as competitive as he is, Wilkerson said he feels the need to keep up with Jaffe in practice, even on those days when Wilkerson doesn’t feel up to it. With LA28 less than two years away, he has been approaching his training as if the Games are right around the corner.

“If I have learned anything in training and looking forward to these major competitions, it’s time passes faster than you think,” Wilkerson said. “So, you really want to have some urgency and some speed and really just working for the next couple of years like L.A. is in one month, two months. (You need) that sort of mindset because eventually L.A. is going to be in a month, and you don’t want to be in that position looking back going, ‘Man, I could have trained harder.’”

Wilkerson intends to stay at the training center in Colorado Springs through the Los Angeles Games. He has also set a new goal for himself now that the men’s 100 backstroke S11 world record is his.

“I already have a goal in mind. I’m very very goal oriented. I think like less than 12 hours after breaking that record, I already had my next goal time,” Wilkerson said. “So, I’m an S11. The next class is S12. I just went 1:02.62. The S12 world record is 59.02. My thought was what if I can make the S11 record faster than the S12 record.”

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaSwimming.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.