Claire Tuggle Moves to #4 All-Time With 4:44.91 in 400 IM At Juniors

2018 SPEEDO JUNIOR NATIONALS

• Tuesday, July 31 – Saturday, August 4, 2018
• William Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, CA
• Prelims 9 AM / Finals 6 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
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14-year-old Claire Tuggle has moved into the top 5 in USA Swimming 13-14 age group history with a 4:44.91 in the 400 meter IM.

Tuggle won the Junior National title by about a tenth over a field of swimmers between one and three years older than her. Tuggle is better-known as a freestyler, holding 3 long course freestyle National Age Group (NAG) records, but she’s also proving to be a great IMer – she holds the short course 200 IM NAG record for 11-12s and continues to improve in those IM events.

USA Swimming history is very impressive in this event. The overall world junior record – for girls between 14 and 17 – technically still stands at 4:39.01 (though we still list 4:35.69 as the record even though it wasn’t ratified, and even though Ye Shiwen was 4:28 before world junior records were compiled). USA Swimming’s historical rankings have two 13-14 girls within a second of that official record.

This is an event Tuggle didn’t get to swim at senior Nationals last week, though she swam the 200 IM (2:18.11) and several freestyle races.

Here’s where Tuggle fits into the all-time 13-14 lists:

Top 400m IMers, USA Swimming 13-14 age group

1. Becca Mann (2012) – 4:39.76
2. Katie Hoff (2004) – 4:39.82
3. Elizabeth Beisel (2007) – 4:44.87
4. Claire Tuggle (2018) – 4:44.91
5. Mariah Denigan (2018) – 4:45.41

Note: USA Swimming’s rankings show Tuggle 5th with Mya Slones ahead of her, but that time appears to be an incorrect entry to the database.