Claire Tuggle Delights With 4:11 400 LCM Free In Ireland

2018 Irish Open Swimming Championships

  • Wednesday, April 4th – Sunday, April 8th
  • National Aquatic Centre, Dublin
  • LCM
  • Selection for European Senior & Junior Championships; World Youth Olympic Games
  • Psych Sheets
  • SwimSwam Preview
  • Results

The 5-day Irish Open Swimming Championships kicked off in Dublin tonight, with national talent taking on a young contingency from America, including 13-year-old Claire Tuggle.

Tuggle wasted no time making a name for herself at her first overseas international competition, as the teen captured the gold medal in the women’s 14&O 400m freestyle event. After establishing herself as the top seed with a solid morning swim of 4:16.12, Tuggle grabbed the gold medal with a super impressive 4:11.37.

Splitting 1:00.63/1:04.18/1:03.67/1:02.89, Tuggle crushed her old personal best of 4:15.45 set at the 2017 NCSA Summer Championships. She led a 1-2 punch tonight, with fellow American teen Ashley Strouse earning silver in 4:17.22.

With her race tonight, Tuggle’s 4:11.37 now checks-in as the 4th fastest time ever by an American 13-14 year old, just about 2 seconds off of what Katie Ledecky was at that age.

American Women 13-14 All-Time 400m Freestyle Times (Top 5)

  1. Sippy Brennan, 4:07.15, 1978
  2. Becca Mann, 4:08.65, 2012
  3. Katie Ledecky, 4:09.30, 2012
  4. Claire Tuggle, 4:11.37, 2018
  5. Maddie Homovich, 4:12.30

America’s William Davis took the men’s 50m butterfly in 23.65, while fellow stars n’ stripes teammate Willie Davis touched right behind in 23.70. The men’s performances position them just outside the top 10 times in the world this season.

Other highlights of night 1 include Ireland’s Darragh Greene reaping a new Irish National Record in the 10om breaststroke final, taking the race in a smooth 1:00.21. That overtook the previous NR of 1:00.58 held by Alex Murphy since 2017.

For his part, Murphy was disqualified in the event for an illegal turn. Ireland is still seeking its first-ever man under the minute mark in the event.

Mona McSharry was tonight’s 100m breast winner for the women, taking the race in 1:07.80 to represent the only swimmer under the 1:08 threshold. Splitting 31.79/36.01, McSharry most likely secures her roster spot for the 2018 European Championships taking place in Glasgow later this year.

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bobo gigi
6 years ago

Claire Tuggle’s race is at 21 min 45 in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M91fHThPFA

Swimnerd
6 years ago

What’s the word on the 4×100 splits

Taa
Reply to  Swimnerd
6 years ago

They are in meet mobile. US girls split a bunch of 56 highs. guys a couple under 51, nothing spectacular.

Bayliss
6 years ago

im young so I am always blown away when I hear about anything that happened in the 1970s and 1980s. I’m glad i grew up in the technical, sprint focused era of swimming but it insane to hear about the workouts that were done in the olden day’s. A NAG that is 40 years old is beyond ridiculous. I can’t see any of the records from today lasting 40 years. Maybe the women’s 200 fly will last til 2049 idk.

PVSFree
6 years ago

They’re twins. One usually goes by Isaac and the other goes by Willie (or William?) but for whatever reason they decided to confuse the heck out of the entire swim community and both go by Will for NCSAs and this meet. They will both be swimming at the University of Florida next year

Taa
6 years ago

56.95 100fr relay split. Looks ready to break 2:00 in the 2free

Patrick
6 years ago

Seems strange that it’s listed as a 14&over event if they let 13 year olds swim in it.

Hswimmer
Reply to  Patrick
6 years ago

She turned 14 right before or during the meet or something

KeithM
Reply to  Hswimmer
6 years ago

Her birthday is in July.

Yozhik
6 years ago

With this result Claire Tuggle becomes #2 American in 400free this season. Sure we haven’t seen Ledeky and Smith in action yet, but still #2 in April sounds well for 13yo. She will be under 4:10 at Nationals and a strong contender for the bronze medal.

Asterisk
6 years ago

How is a 13 year-old winning the gold in the 14&over race?

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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