2021 Spring Cup, Irvine: Han Posts #2 Fastest 400 IM in 11-12 Age Group History

2021 USA SWIMMING 18 & UNDER SPRING CUP – IRVINE

• April 29 – May 2
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center
• Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results Available on Meet Mobile Under “CA ONLY USAS 18-Un Spring Cup at Irvine Nova”

12-year-old Kayla Han of La Mirada Armada highlighted Friday’s finals session of the Spring Cup at Irvine, posting the 2nd fastest 400 IM ever swam by an 11-12 year-old: 4:56.86. This ranks her directly behind three-time Olympian Elizabeth Beisel and crushes Han’s previous lifetime best from November 2020 by 1.5 seconds. Han placed 4th overall.

Han competed in the 200 free B final earlier in the session, posting a time of 2:05.87 for 13th place overall. She took about 1.5 seconds off her previous lifetime best from 2 weeks ago and is now ranked #8 out of the all-time fastest 11-12 year-olds in the event, behind U.S. National Teamer Justina Kozan and Olympic medalist Sippy Woodhead.

Kozan also clocked some lifetime bests on Friday, starting with a tight race with Santa Maria’s Claire Tuggle and Mission Viejo’s Katie Crom in the 200 free ‘A’ final, with Kozan ultimately taking victory with a time of 1:58.10. 

Mission Viejo’s Kozan undercut her lifetime best from the Pro Swim Series earlier this month by .40, remaining well under the Olympic Trial Wave II qualifying time and ranking herself #9 all-time in the 17-18 year-old age group behind Dagny Knutson. Tuggle, a USA Junior National Team member, finished in 2nd place (2:00.57) and Crom took 3rd place (2:01.76). Tuggle’s best time, 1:58.21 from 2019 Summer Nationals, is also under the Wave II.

Kozan ended the finals session with another win, this time in the 400 IM where she finished with a time of 4:42.05, 12 seconds ahead of the field. She finished the race with a blistering 50 free slit of 29.06, making for a final 100 free split of 1:00.80. Kozan took down her previous best time from the 2019 U.S. Open by about 2 seconds, again remaining under the Wave II cut.

Her teammate Julia Stafford and Nova’s Teagan O’Dell rounded out the 400 IM podium, touching 2nd (4:54.64) and 3rd (4:55.93) respectively. 

.07 decided the men’s 200 freestyle final, where Gabriel Jett of Clovis Swim Club and Patrick Sammon from AquaSol were stroke-for-stroke going into the last 15 meters. Jett claimed victory with a time of 1:49.72, dropping 3 seconds from his lifetime best, obtaining the Wave I cut and missing the Wave II cut by .07.

The top 5 finishers in the women’s 100 fly beat the Olympic Trial Wave I qualifying cut, but Crom was the only one to break 1:00.00 as she touched the wall 1st with a time of 59.70.  She not only secured her first Wave I cut in the event, she nearly got under the Wave II time of 59.59. Her lifetime best time going into this meet was 1:00.72 from 2019.

Gator Swim Club’s Anicka Delgado took 2nd place (1:00.09) ahead of 16-year-old Sydney Lu from Pleasanton Seahawks (1:00.25). This was a new lifetime best by more than 1 second for Delgado and just under a second for Lu, both of whom cracked the Wave I cut for the first time in the event.

On the men’s side, Mission Viejo’s Mohammed Kamal dominated the 100 fly, winning the race with a time of 53.71 and 1.5 second lead over the field. He cracked the Olympic Trial Wave I cut by over one-third of a second. Ronald Dalmacio of Rose Bowl and Dart’s Tate Cutler claimed 2nd and 3rd, respectively, with Dalmacio out touching Cutler by .03 for a time of 55.37.

The final event of the night, the men’s 400 IM, witnessed another new Wave I cut from 1st place finisher Humberto Najera of Mission Viejo who posted a time of 4:24.80. The high school sophomore dropped nearly 8 seconds from his lifetime best from 2019.  This time ranks him #31 out of the all-time fastest 15-16 year-olds in the event, directly above the now-Stanford graduate Abrahm DeVine. 15-year-old Devyn Caples from Pleasanton touched the wall  in 2nd place at 4:28.19.

Other Event Winners and Notable Swims:

• Christopher O’Grady of Rose Bowl claimed 1st in the men’s 100 breast (1:03.42), out touching Nova’s Liyang Sun by .02 and taking nearly a second off his prelims time. O’Grady was just .13 off the Wave I cut. This was a lifetime best for Sun whose previous best was set at 1:05.16 in 2019.
• 15-year-old Nicholas Mahabir of North Bay Aquatics was in the 100 breast ‘A’ final mix too, taking 4th place with a time of 1:04.87 behind Beach Cities’ Evan Yoo who touched the wall 3rd (1:04.20).
• The fastest time in the women’s 100 breast came from Canyon’s Ana Adame who out touched 2nd place finisher Skyler Smith of Peak by .15 for a time of 1:09.37. This was a solid swim for Adame who posted a lifetime best of 1:09.25 in prelims to get under the Wave II Olympic Trial qualifying cut. SST’s Emily Lundgren rounded out the podium in 3rd place (1:11.26).