2026 Kentucky 12 & Under Short Course Championships
- March 13-15, 2026
- Mary T Meagher Aquatic Center, Louisville, KY
- SCY (25 yards)
- “2026 KYLSC 12&Under Short Course Championship” on Meet Mobile
Among the many major performances at the Kentucky 12 & Under Short Course Championships, it was Lakeside Swim Team’s Michael Li and Sean Northup who truly stole the show in Louisville.
Li, 11, rewrote his personal record book, swimming lifetime bests in each of his individual races during the week, sweeping the backstroke events and posting major time drops in both the 100 and 200 backstroke.
His 100 back marked his first ever performance under the 1:00 barrier, dipping to 59.39, a more than a second improvement over his former best of 1:00.55 from the CSC Winter Invitational in January of 1:00.55. His 200 back saw similar success, shaving nearly three seconds off of his pre-meet fastest time of 2:11.04 from a month earlier at the BAIRD Battle of the Bluegrass Meet to take the win here in 2:08.07.
His largest time drop came in the 200 butterfly, blasting a new best time of 2:10.60 in his winning effort, more than 10 seconds faster than his previous best time from that Battle of the Bluegrass Meet in February, 2:21.15.
He also found himself atop the podium in the 100 fly, breaking the 1:00 mark for the first time, having initially swum 59.49 in the prelims before shaving more than a second off that newly etched career best in finals, taking the win in 58.21.
Northup, 10, went a perfect eight -for-eight in his individual efforts, sweeping all three sprint free races, clocking best times in the 50 free (26.77), 100 free 58.56), and the 200 free (2:07.47). He was also uncontested in his IM races, clocking lifetime bests in the 100 IM (1:06.92) and the 200 IM (2:25.90).
His largest timedrop came in the 100 back, having knocked over two seconds off his former fastest time of 1:08.27 at the CSC Winter Invitational in January to pick up another victory in Louisville in 1:06.19.
Claire Liu, 12, continued the impressive showing for Lakeside, dominating the girls’ meet with eight individual wins of her own, including 100 and 200 wins in the freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke events. She notched best times in the 200 free (1:59.06), 100 back (58.48), 200 back (2:05.82), 100 breast (1:08.29), 200 breast (2:25.51), and 200 fly (2:08.69).
Beaumont Centre Family YMCA’s Joanna Atnip, 9 also swam to several major best times in Louisville, including aa five second drop in her 100 free (1:04.04), a more than three and a half second drop in the 100 fly (1:10.45), and a four and a half second improvement in the 200 IM (2:44.26).
