16-Year-Old Teagan O’Dell Rips 4:39 500 FR, 1:51 200 BK at 2022 Kevin Perry Meet

by Spencer Penland 9

November 09th, 2022 Club, News, Previews & Recaps

2022 Kevin B. Perry Senior Meet

  • November 3-6, 2022
  • La Mirada Splash! Regional Aquatic Center, La Mirada Armada, CA
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Results

La Mirada Armada hosted the 2022 Kevin B. Perry Senior Meet this past weekend, featuring some of the best and brightest young swimmers in California. The meet was highlighted by La Mirada Armada’s Kayla Han shattering the 13-14 girls 400 IM National Age Group Record, which you can read more about here.

Han would go on to post a lifetime best of 16:09.07 to win the women’s 1650 free on Sunday, marking a lifetime best. That swim makes Han the #14 performer all-time in the 13-14 girls age group. She also swam a 1:59.92 200 fly on Sunday, though that swim was off her personal best of 1:57.68.

16-year-old Teagan O’Dell out of Mission Viejo had some head-turning performances as well. She went head-to-head with Han in the final of the women’s 500 free, where she ended up getting touched out. O’Dell established an early lead over Han on the first 100, but Han had taken the lead by the 200 turn. Han began to pull away in the middle of the race, but O’Dell never let her get a full second ahead. At the 450 turn, Han led O’Dell 4:11.99 to 4:12.81, but O’Dell turned it on coming home, splitting a blistering 26.48 on the final 50 to Han’s 27.19. In the end, Han finished in 4:39.18, 0.11 seconds ahead of O’Dell’s 4:39.29. It was a spectacular swim for both girls, marking both swimmers’ first time under 4:40. It was a massive drop for O’Dell, who entered the meet with a best of 4:45.65, then swam a 4:42.63 in prelims before ripping off her finals swim.

O’Dell carried that momentum into the next day, where she swam a personal best of 52.97 in prelims. She went on to finish second in finals, swimming a 53.65, while Irvine Novaquatics’ Maggie Schalow (18) won the race in 52.71, marking a lifetime best for the Virginia recruit. O’Dell also won the women’s 100 breast that day, clocking a 1:01.37 after swimming a 1:01.03 in prelims.

In potentially her best race of the meet, O’Dell roared to victory in the women’s 200 back, throwing down a 1:51.74. She swam a well-split race, going 26.36 on the first 50, then splitting 28.18, 28.68, and 28.52 on the remaining 50s. O’Dell blew away her personal of 1:53.23 with the swim and has now risen to a tie for #11 all-time in the 15-16 girls age group.

Mission Viejo Nadadores 17-year-old Asia Kozan, the younger sister of Justina Kozan, who now swims for USC, had a phenomenal meet as well. The younger Kozan is set to begin her collegiate career at UCSD next fall. She got out to great start at Kevin Perry, swimming a 1:58.20 to win the women’s 200 IM, also marking a massive personal best. Kozan came into the meet with a 2:01.34 and wasted no time shattering that time with a prelims swim of 1:58.65 before swimmer her 1:58.20 in finals. She swam a great race all around, splitting 25.71 on fly, 30.74 on back, 34.00 on breast, and came home in a sizzling 27.75.

Kozan then went on to swim another personal best in prelims of the women’s 400 IM, where she posted a 4:12.28. That swim came in a little over three seconds faster than her previous best, fueled again by great fly (57.30) and free (57.93) splits. She would go slower in finals, taking third in 4:15.28.

Similarly, Kozan posted a personal best in prelims of the 200 free, clocking a 1:45.85. It marked her first time under 1:46 in the event and while she would go on to swim a 1:46.71 in finals, she would still win the event.

On the final day of the meet, Kozan swam a 49.20 en route to winning the women’s 100 free, breaking 50 seconds for the first time in her career. She also went on to take second in the women’s 200 fly, posting a 1:56.93 for yet another personal best. It was Maggie Schalow who won the women’s 200 fly as well after taking the 100 fly earlier in the meet. The UVA recruit swam a 1:56.75, taking 0.10 seconds off her previous best in the event.

North Coast Aquatics 17-year-old Kathryn Hazle, a Cal commit for next fall, was another swimmer who lit it up at the meet. Hazle kicked her meet off with a second-place finish in the women’s 1000 free behind Han, swimming a new lifetime best of 9:49.34. It marked Hazle’s first time under 9:50 in the event.

She went on to swim another personal best the next day in the 500 free, speeding to a 4:45.09 for a third-place finish. Hazle followed that up with a 1:58.71 in the women’s 200 IM final, where she closed the gap on Kozan on the back half of the race, but ultimately touched second by half a second.

In arguably her best race of the meet, Hazle posted a second-place finish in the women’s 400 IM final, roaring to a massive new personal best of 4:07.44. Like Kozan, she was great on the fly (57.64) and free (57.02) legs, but where Hazle really made her mark on the race was the breaststroke leg, where she split a stunning 1:08.45. For context, that would have been the fifth-fastest breast split at the 2022 NCAA Championships in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ finals combined.

Hazle also posted a personal best of 1:47.41 in prelims of the 200 free that day.

On the final day of the meet, Hazle won the ‘C’ final of the women’s 100 free, clocking a new lifetime best of 50.88. She then went on to win the women’s 200 breast in 2:10.88, marking another personal best and her fist time under 2:11 in the event.

16-year-old Daniel Li out of Rose Bowl Aquatics had a number of personal bests as well. Li started out in the 500 free, where he swam a 4:30.99. While he finished fifth in the event, Li’s performance marked a lifetime best by a whopping eight seconds. He then went on to drop two seconds in the 50 free, swimming a 21.17 in prelims. In the 200 free prelims, he posted a personal best of 1:40.94.

Li put up a second-place finish in the men’s 100 breast, swimming a 53.93. 28-year-old Pavel Romanov won the event in 53.34. Li’s time came in just 0.14 seconds off his personal best of 53.79.

On the final day of the meet, Li swam a personal best of 45.81 in prelims of the 100 free. He then went on to win the men’s 200 breast in 1:57.10, marking a personal best for the 16-year-old.

There was a tie in the men’s 100 fly final, where Golden West Swim Club 18-year-old Colin Geer and Coronado Swim Team Elite 17-year-old Logan Noguchi both swam 48.10. They swam virtually the same race as well, with Geer splitting 22.22/25.88 and Noguchi 22.25/25.85.

In the men’s 200 fly, Evolution Racing Club’s David Schmitt (17) pulled ahead of the field on the final 50, speeding to a 1:46.65. Noguchi was next in, swimming a personal best of 1:47.22, while Geer was third in 1:47.54, also a personal best.

Noguchi also won the men’s 100 back, swimming a 48.18. His time came in just ahead of his previous best of 48.36. He would go on to take third in the 200 back, swimming another personal best of 1:47.70.

Another Evolution Racing Club 17-year-old, Humberto Najera, was a top men’s swimmer in the meet. He kicked off his meet by winning the men’s 200 IM in 1:46.74, blowing away his previous best of 1:48.21. Najera swam a well-balanced race, splitting 23.29 on fly, 26.16 on back, 31.73 on breast, and 25.56 on free.

He went on to win the men’s 400 IM, posting a 3:49.40, two seconds off his personal best of 3:47.33. Najera also won the men’s 200 back, swimming a 1:44.33, which was just 0.04 seconds off his personal best.

Alpha Aquatics 17-year-old Tuna Cole was great in the men’s 200 free and 500 free. He won the 200 free, swimming a 1:37.55 after pulling away from the field on the final 50. It was a lifetime best for Cole, taking nearly a second off his previous mark.

Cole also took second in the men’s 500 free, roaring to a new personal best of 4:23.14. It was TSM Aquatics 21-year-old Ivan Puskovitch who won the men’s 500 free, swimming a 4:22.51.

Puskovitch also won the men’s 1000 free in 9:10.96, negative splitting the race. In the men’s 1650 free, Puskovitch won again, swimming a 15:30.56. There was a pair of 15-year-olds who swam very well in the event as well. Pacific Swim 15-year-old Julien Rousseau came in second in the race, swimming a 15:34.54 for a new personal best by 21 seconds. TSM’s Zach Tower, also 15, was third, swimming a 15:41.61, marking a new personal best by 20 seconds.

OTHER EVENT WINNERS

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Pirate
1 year ago

Asia Kozan to UCSD is a huge pickup for the program!

ur mom
1 year ago

*Noguchi

FSR
1 year ago

Yall are still missing a report on the crazy 500 free and 400 IM by Luka Mijatovic this past weekend. He’s been 13 for about 5 months now and is already at 4:29 in the 500 free!

phelps swims 200 breast rio
Reply to  FSR
1 year ago

4:29 in the 500 at 13?? This is on a completely different level. Jesse Vassallo’s 13-14 1500 NAG 15:31 may actually get broken in the near future.

bobthebuilderrocks
Reply to  phelps swims 200 breast rio
1 year ago

I saw it happen, it was absurd. He went a 4:35 in prelims with briefs on

Chas
1 year ago

Han at age 10 was going 5k a practice, 6x/wk, from conversation with her coach at that time.

Chas
Reply to  Chas
1 year ago

Might have been at age 9. I recall she had a good Far Westerns that year.

MCH
Reply to  Chas
1 year ago

Your point is?

Swimmerfromjapananduk
Reply to  MCH
1 year ago

That she trained a ridiculous amount at such a young age