13-Year Old Maggie Wanezek Becomes Youngest* Swimmer Under 29 in 50 LCM Back

2019 BLOOMINGTON PRO SWIM SERIES

While USA Swimming doesn’t formally keep age records or rankings for 50 meter stroke events after the age of 12, and while the country is slowly coming around to the validity of these events for older sprinters, by the best record-keeping available, it appears that 13-year old Maggie Wanezek has swum the fastest 50-meter backstroke by a 13-year old female in US history. She swam a 28.99 in prelims of the event at the Pro Swim Series in Bloomington on Friday morning, making her the youngest to go sub-29.

Wanezek’s previous best time in the event is a 29.36, set last summer when she was only 12, which is the official National Age Group Record in that event and age group. The previous-best 50 we could find for a 13-year old is a 29.15, done by Phoebe Bacon in 2016. Bacon is now a member of the U.S. National Team.

Both Bacon and Claire Curzan were 28.5’s when they were 14, so if National Age Group Records were kept in this race, Wanezek wouldn’t be there yet – but she’d be closing-in.

Wanezek has been 1:03.60 in the 100 back (also last summer, when she was still 12), and the fastest time that we could find there for a 13-year old was done by another US National Teamer, Alex Walsh, in 2015, when she swam 1:00.84.

Wanezek trains with the Elmbrook Swim Club in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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