Way back in June of 2000, I was lucky enough to witness Tom Malchow (1:55.18) break Denis Pankratov's 200 Butterfly LCM World Record (1:55.22) at the Charlotte UltraSwim. It's pretty rare to see a WR get set at an in-season Grand Prix meet like this. Usually, these swims only occur at Olympic/World Trials or the Olympics/World Championships when swimmers are fully tapered, rested and shaved.

Malchow stayed well after the meet was over to sign autographs for everybody, while simultaneously conducting multiple media interviews. Malchow, who won the silver medal in the Men's 200 Fly at the 1996 Olympics behind Pankratov, went on to win gold in this event at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

In March of 2001, a 15-year-old named Michael Phelps (1:54.92) broke Malchow's WR set in Charlotte and wouldn't relinquish it until July of 2019 (Phelps would re-break his own record seven more times after this, as well). I really like that this autographed pass (basically a ticket for the event) represents a very rare, unexpected moment in swimming history. Malchow's status as the last man to hold the 200 Butterfly WR - Phelps' signature event - before Phelps dominated it for the next 18 years only adds to the uniqueness.