Piper Enge is an American breaststroker. As a junior swimmer, she excelled in both SCY and LCM, medalling at Jr. Pan Pacs, World Jrs., Summer Jr. Nationals, and Winter Junior Nationals. Competing in her home state of Washington, she became the first high school girl under 1:00 in the 100 breast.
Junior/High School Swimming
2021 USA Swimming Futures Championships (Santa Clarita, California)
Enge took second place at 1:11.75 after hitting a lifetime best of 1:11.50 in prelims, ranking No. 16 in the 15-16 NAG for the season. She also took 2nd in the 200 breast with a 2:34.80. Enge dropped 3.84s from her lifetime best, which sat at 2:38.65.
2021 WIAA 3A State Championships (Federal Way, Washington)
Enge shattered both the state and meet records en route to victory in the 100 breaststroke, while also winning the 200 IM in a meet record. In the 100 breast, Enge split 28.37/32.07 to dominate the field and win the race by 2 seconds with a 1:00.44, breaking the State Record of 1:01.33 set by Carolyn McCann in 2013 and the seven-year-old meet record of 1:01.80 previously held by Kim Williams. In the 200 IM, Enge clocked a 1:59.92 to erase Williams’ previous mark of 2:00.35. She also split 49.50 to anchor Mercer Island to a 2nd place finish in the 400 free relay.
2021 Winter Junior National Championships–West (Austin, Texas)
Just about a month after her Steller HS state meet, Enge continued her meteoric rise. Enge led the 100 breast prelims with a 59.83 but scratched the final. That made her #16 in the 15-16 NAG. In the 200 breast, she led the prelims with 2:11.23, a 4.10-second drop to make her the #11 performer in the 15-year-old NAG and #37 in the 15-16 NAG. In the final Enge went out fast and had over a one-second lead at the halfway point. But Emma Weber reeled her in on the back half and eventually got her hands on the wall first, winning 2:09.04 to Enge’s 2:09.09. Enge moved up to the #3 15-year-old performer all-time, behind only Caitlin Leverenz (2:08.11) and Alex Walsh (2:08.85). It also made her #8 all-time in the 15-16 age group, despite waking up that morning 2.5 seconds outside the all-time top 100. Enge was also 8th in the 200 IM with a 1:58.44.
2022 Mel Zajac Jr. International Meet (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Enge wasn’t representing the U.S. Junior National Team because she was selected to swim at Junior Pan Pacs. Swimming for Bellevue Club Swim Team, Enge, still 15, swept the women’s 50, 100, and 200 breast, clocking respective times of 32.17, 1:08.84, and 2:29.12. Her swim in the 200 breast marked a new lifetime best, knocking more than three seconds off her prior PB. That swim moved her to 18th all-time in the 15-16 NAG and 11th among 15-year-olds. She also clocked a new PB of 2:17.39 in the 200 IM.
2022 USA Swimming Futures Championships (Santa Clara, California)
Enge posted a dominant victory in the women’s 100 breast, swimming a 1:09.77. She also won the 200 breast and IM by over a second with times of 2:30.90 and 2:17.45 respectively. Enge also showed some sprint free chops with a 26.74 50 free and a 57.62 100 free.
2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Enge comfortably led the 100 breast prelims with a 1:08.31, the lone sub-1:09 of the morning. She was just off that form in the final with a 1:08.58. Enge went out in 32.55, just .2 slower than her pace this morning, but she came back with the same second-50 split of 36.03 to earn the win.
In the 200 Breast, Enge qualified for the final 2nd with a 2:28.65, a drop of about half a second from her best. She found a further .72 seconds in the final. Enge and Japan’s Kotomi Kato and Yuri Matsumoto each held the lead at some point. Kato went out first in 33.98 and led by about four-tenths at the 50. Enge took over at the 100 wall thanks to a second 50 of 37.1. Matsumoto’s 37.6 was the fastest third 50, which propelled her to the front of the pack. The last 50 could have gone either way, but it was Kato who took control and Enge who ended up 3rd with a 2:27.93.
In the same session of the 200 breast, Enge split a 1:09.30 on breast to help the team of Maggie Wanezak (1:00.66), her, Alex Shackell (58.45), and Erin Gemmell (53.73) to the gold and a new in 4:02.14.
2022 WIAA 3A State Championships (Federal Way, Washington)
The morning of the meet, she injured her quad but Enge still led Mercer Island to a Washington 3A title as they won all but 3 events. Enge opened by leading a Mercer Island 1-2 in the 200 IM with 1:58.94 after posting a new PB of 1:58.13 in prelims. She then anchored the victorious 200 free relay in 22.83, exactly matching what she did leading off the same relay in prelims. That prelims 22.83 was a best time. Just minutes later, Enge took the 100 breast with a season-best 1:00.69. Finally, just another few minutes later, Enge led off the winning 400 free relay in 50.12.
2022 Winter Junior National Championships–West (Austin, Texas)
A few weeks before the meet, Enge injured her quad, leaving her mostly pulling, which ended up improving her arm strength. On night 2, Enge ended up in 6th in the 200 IM; her 1:58.83 was just off her PB. In the 100 breast final, Enge turned 3rd at the 50 in 28.26 but powered home in 31.35 to finish second in 59.61, only behind Lydia Jacoby’s 57.76. That time marked a new PB. In the 200 breast, Enge was off her own best time this morning, but still qualified in 2nd with a 2:11.75. In the final, Enge was 3rd with a 2:10.31.
2023 Northwest Spring Sectionals (Federal Way, Washington)
On day one, Enge opened with a 22.45 anchor on the winning 200 medley relay followed soon after by a speedy 49.43 for a new PB in the 100 free. At the end of that session, Enge popped a season-best 2:09.88 to dominate the 200 breast. Enge and her teammate Alexa McDevitt battled it out in the 200 free. Enge was out a touch faster than McDevitt, splitting 51.93 on the first 100 to McDevitt’s 52.26. McDevitt slightly out-split Enge on both of the final 50s, but it wasn’t quite enough. At the finish, Enge touched in 1:46.67, just ahead of McDevitt’s 1:46.72. Enge’s swim destroyed her PB of 1:49.73 set three months prior. She continued her sprint-free strides by anchoring Bellevue’s 400 free relay with a speedy 48.99.
Enge won the 100 breast in a sizzling 59.12. It was a massive swim, taking nearly half a second off her personal best of 59.61. Enge’s swim lands her 6th all-time in the 15-16 girls NAG. On the final day, Enge clocked a 1:57.72 to win the race. The performance marks another personal best for Enge, taking about half a second off her previous mark of 1:58.13. She was great all around tonight, splitting 25.92/30.63/33.25/27.92.
2023 Summer Junior National Championships (Irvine, California)
In the 100 breast prelims, Enge shaved .3 off her best time to win the last heat in 1:08.09.In the final, Enge led the field from start to finish. She was out in 31.72, about four-tenths faster than this morning. Her back half of 36.26 was about three-tenths slower, but she still improved her PB to 1:07.98, her first sub-1:08 swim.
Enge cruises to a prelims leading time of 2:28.34 in the 200 breast, as one of just 3 girls sub-2:30. It looked like a routine race at the outset, as Enge took the race out, leading by a tenth at the 50 and by three-tenths at the 100. Addie Robillard had other plans. She out split Enge by .8 seconds on the third 50, 38.08 to 38.9, and moved ahead by half a second with 50 meters to go. Robillard held on, getting another .16 advantage on the last 50 to win, 2:27.50 to 2:28.13.
Enge also clocked a small PB of 2:15.66 in the 200 IM for 9th.
2023 World Aquatics Junior Championships (Netanya, Israel)
On day 1, Enge was one of 4 girls in the 50 breast under the 31.55 that it took to win this event in 2022. Her PB of 31.18 was enough to move her through prelims in 4th. In the semifinals that night, Enge maintained seed with a tiny drop of .03 seconds to 31.15. In prelims and semis, Eneli Jefimova, Monique Wieruszowski, and Alexanne Lepage finished ahead of Enge in the order listed. In the final, Enge got the better of Lepage and took home the bronze behind Jefimova (30.42) and Wieruszowski (30.68) with a 30.74, shaving .41 seconds off her best time and dipping under 31 seconds for the first time.
After her stellar 50, Enge moved onto the 100 the next day and dropped a best time of 1:07.85 in prelims for 3rd overall. In semis, she was just .02 of her prelims time to qualify for the final 4th. There, Enge dropped further .56 seconds off her best with a 1:07.29. Enge missed the podium by just .04 seconds.
In the 200 breast, Enge finished 12th, missing the final with a time of 2:31.48. The American 400 medley relay was DQed in the final on the butterfly takeover after Enge clocked a solid 1:07.69 that moved the US into the lead.
2023 WIAA 3A State Championships (Federal Way, Washington)
Enge led Mercer Island to another team title on the back of her 2 individual state titles swam in record fashion. She opened her meet with a 1:58.23 200 IM, about half a second off her PB. In the 100 breast, Enge opened with a blistering 27.79 at the 50, coming home with a 31.16 for a 58.95, marking her first time under 59 seconds and marking the first time the record was brought below the 1:00 barrier. Enge anchored the 400 free in 49.01 to overtake Lakeside School on the final 25 yards. Mercer Island was 2nd in the 200 medley relay as Enge split a 27.58
College Swimming
Enge was ranked 8th in our “Way Too Early” ranking of the class of 2024 after sophomore year as the only sub-1:00 100 breaststroker and sub-2:10 200 breaststroker and the fastest sophomore breaststroker since Alex Walsh. She fell to #10 in our junior year re-rank.
In October 2022, Enge committed to swim for the Texas Longhorns.
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National/International Swimming
2022 Pro Swim Series–Westmont (Westmont, Illinois)
Enge recorded a time of 1:08.56 to lower her previous best time of 1:11.50 by nearly three seconds and move into 10th all-time in the 15-16 age group and 5th all-time for 15-year-olds. That swim was good for the third seed into finals behind Lilly King and Annie LAzor and ahead of Lydia Jacoby. In the final, Enge was 4th behind those 3 and improved to 1:08.12, #7 in the 15-16 age group. She also had a big drop in the 200 breast, placing 5th in the final with a 2:32.20 after shaving 2.01 seconds off her PB with 2:32.79 in prelims.
2022 U.S. International Team Trials (Greensboro, North Carolina)
In the 200 breast, Enge just missed the B final with a 2:32.90 for 17th. She added to a 2:33.12 for 20th in the C final. In the 50 breast, Enge made the B final with a personal-best 31.77. There, she placed 10th in a 31.81. In the 100 breast, Enge was just off her best form in the B final with a 1:08.95 for 11th. That 100 breast performance was good enough to qualify to represent the USA at Junior Pan Pacific Championships. Enge was also 2:18.25 in the 200 IM for 19th.
2023 Pro Swim Series–Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo, California)
Enge was 3rd in the 100 breast prelims with a 1:08.81. She remained 3rd in the final with a 1:09.05 behind Lilly King and Kaitlyn Dobler. Enge was 4th in the 50 breast with a new PB of 31.66. In the 200 breast, Enge was 5th with a 2:31.00.
2023 U.S. International Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Enge opened with the meet with the 200 breast where she advanced 7th out of prelims with a best time of 2:27.86, netting her an Olympic Trials cut. In the A final, she ended up 8th in 2:29.41. In the 50 breast, Enge posted a PB of 31.51 to qualify 10th out of prelims. She topped the B final with a 31.19, shaving .32 off her prelims PB. The following morning, Enge was off her best form with a 1:09.55 to barely qualify for the B final in 16th. She was a little better in the B final where she placed 13th in 1:09.01. Her PB would have placed her 7th overall. Enge wrapped her meet with a 27th-place finish in the 200 IM in a new PB of 2:15.89.
Enge was named to the U.S. roster for the 2023 World Aquatics Junior Championships in all three breast events.
2024 World Aquatics Championships (Doha, Qatar)
Enge was one of just 5 women announced for the small 18-athlete U.S. roster for the ad hoc World Championship in Doha. She was selected for the 50 and 100 breast.
–This biography was originally developed by Lucas Caswell
