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 KnutsonTuggle, 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).

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Pacific Whirl
3 years ago

How can Kozan come home in a mind-bogging 29.06? Only Ye Shiwen in 2012 is faster than that in a women’s 4IM race. Now Kozan is faster than Lochte too in the last 50 meters. And she is only 17.

Yozhik
Reply to  Pacific Whirl
3 years ago

You see,the younger the better. Ye was 16 in London. It looks like Kozan missed her chance already 😀

SwimmerNotSwammer
Reply to  Pacific Whirl
3 years ago

I saw it on meet mobile and I leterally thought it was an error. Insane, especially from a non-distance swimmer.

SwimmerNotSwammer
Reply to  Pacific Whirl
3 years ago

Also can we talk about how Ye Shiwen didn’t even do pullouts in 2012

About Annika Johnson

Annika Johnson

Annika came into the sport competitively at age eight, following in the footsteps of her twin sister and older brother. The sibling rivalry was further fueled when all three began focusing on distance freestyle, forcing the family to buy two lap counters. Annika is a three-time Futures finalist in the 200 …

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