arena Swim of the Week: Audrey Derivaux Hits 15:45 Mile To Rank #5 All-Time In 15-16 Age Group

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Age group phenom and multi-time World Junior champion Audrey Derivaux kicked off 2026 in style on Sunday at the South Jersey Aquatic Club (SJAC) Distance Challenge in Voorhees, N.J., recording one of the fastest 1650 freestyle performances ever in the girls’ 15-16 age group.

The 16-year-old Jersey Wahoos product dropped a time of 15:45.97 in the event, dropping more than 20 seconds off her previous best time of 16:06.70, set at the same meet last year, and climbing up to 5th all-time in the girls’ 15-16 age group.

Split Comparison

Previously ranked 36th all-time, Derivaux becomes the 19th 15-16 swimmer to break 16 minutes and just the 10th to go sub-15:50.

The four swimmers ranked ahead of her all own lofty resumes, led by the greatest female swimmer ever, Katie Ledecky, along with Olympic silver and four-time World Championship medalist Katie Grimes, former world record holder in the LC 1500 free (LC), Kate Ziegler, and former age group standout and accomplished open water swimmer Becca Mann.

The swimmer Derivaux now sits directly ahead of in the rankings is Tiffany Cohen, a double Olympic champion in the women’s 400 and 800 free at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, who set the NAG Record at 15:46.54 back in 1983. The swim also stood as the American Record for six years before it was broken by Janet Evans, while it stood as the NAG for 22 years before Ziegler took it down in 2005.

All-Time Rankings, Girls’ 15-16 1650 Freestyle (SCY)

1. Katie Ledecky (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 15:15.17 – 2013
2. Katie Grimes (Sandpipers of Nevada), 15:26.17 – 2022
3. Kate Ziegler (The Fish), 15:40.89 – 2005
4. Becca Mann (Clearwater Aquatic Team), 15:45.33 – 2013
5. Audrey Derivaux (Jersey Wahoos), 15:45.97 – 2026
6. Tiffany Cohen (Mission Viejo Nadadores), 15:46.54 – 1983
7. Erica Sullivan (Sandpipers of Nevada), 15:47.39 – 2016
8. Paige McKenna (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 15:48.07 – 2019
9. Bella Sims (Sandpipers of Nevada), 15:48.70 – 2021
10. Kim Linehan (Texas Longhorn Aquatic Club), 15:49.10 – 1979

Derivaux also got an official split at the 1000-yard mark of the race, presumably to the feet given her splits, and her time of 9:31.65 moves her up to 11th all-time in 15-16 history. Her previous best time stood at 9:40.62, set at the same meet last year on the way to her 1650 time.

All-Time Rankings, Girls’ 15-16 1000 Freestyle (SCY)

1. Katie Ledecky (Nation’s Capital Swim Club), 9:14.22 – 2013
2. Claire Weinstein (Sandpipers of Nevada), 9:17.85 – 2023
3. Kate Ziegler (The Fish), 9:25.51 – 2005
4. Katie Grimes (Sandpipers of Nevada), 9:26.10 – 2022
5. Katie Hoff (North Baltimore Aquatic Club), 9:27.56 – 2006
6. Erica Sullivan (Sandpipers of Nevada), 9:29.91 – 2016
7. Kayla Han (La Mirada Armada), 9:30.10 – 2024
8. Jane Skillman (Peddie School), 9:30.34 – 1990
9. Tiffany Cohen (Mission Viejo Nadadores), 9:30.65 – 1983
10. Bella Sims (Sandpipers of Nevada), 9:31.16 – 2021
11. Audrey Derivaux (Jersey Wahoos), 9:31.65 – 2026

Incredibly, she also swam the fastest 500 free of her career during the mile, though the split won’t count as an official time. Derivaux turned in 4:43.73 at the 500, undercutting lifetime best of 4:44.10 set in March 2024. She only raced the 500 once in 2025, clocking 4:44.43 back in March.

With Rylee Erisman reclassifying to the girls’ high school class of 2026, Emily Wolf (4:41.98) and Alyssa Ton (4:43.39) are the only swimmers in the class of 2027 who have been faster in the 500 than Derivaux’s 4:43.73 opening split.

Committed to Texas, Derivaux is the top-ranked recruit in the girls’ high school class of 2027, and she previously ranked 2nd in the class in the 1650 free behind North Carolina Aquatic Club’s Daisy Collins (16:02.94), but with this swim, she rockets to the top of the class by a massive margin.

In addition to that, Derivaux is also now faster than every swimmer in the girls’ high school class of 2026, with CSP Tideriders’ Sydney Schoeck owning the top time at 15:52.26.

For additional reference, Derivaux’s swim would’ve placed 4th at the 2025 Women’s NCAA Championships.

Incredibly versatile, Derivaux is the reigning World Junior champion in the girls’ 200 back, 200 fly and 200 IM, and she also won silver in the 100 fly and placed 4th in the 400 IM at the championships last August.

As for the distance events in long course, she’s only raced the 1500 free once in the big pool, done back when she was 11 in 2021 (18:24.26).

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