Han Does it Again With #2 All-Time 11-12 200 Fly: 2:18.94 at Spring Cup, Irvine

2021 USA SWIMMING 18 & UNDER SPRING CUP – IRVINE

• April 29 – May 2
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center
• Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results Available on Meet Mobile Under “CA ONLY USAS 18-Un Spring Cup at Irvine Nova”
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap

Lifetime bests continued to fall on night 3 of the 18&Under Spring Cup at Irvine as swimmers chased Olympic Trial Wave I and Wave II cuts. Multiple swimmers secured first-time Olympic Trial Wave I cuts in their events tonight and a few earned top spots on the lists of the all-time fastest age group swims in their events.

Team Scores After Day 3:

1. Mission Viejo Nadadores: 462
2. Irvine Novaquatics: 286
3. Rose Bowl Aquatics: 177
4. Clovis Swim Club: 153
5. Pleasanton Seahawks: 152

12-year-old Kayla Han of La Mirada Armada placed 10th in the 200 fly with a time of 2:18.94, ranking herself 2nd out of the all-time fastest 1-12 year-olds in the event. Her previous lifetime best, 2:20.58, was from the 2020  U.S. Open in November. Cassidy Bayer currently holds the 11-12 National Age Group Record at 2:15.02. Han is on the cusp of multiple of 11-12 NAG records including in the 400 IM,  but she has less than two months left in this age group.

Han ended the meet with a lifetime best 400 free time of 4:20.52, crushing her previous lifetime best from August 2020 by nearly 4 seconds to claim 3rd place. this time ranks her 3rd out of the all-time fastest 11-12 year-olds in the event behind NAG record-holder Claire Tuggle and Dee Brown. Han was 3.5 seconds off the Wave I cut.

Santa Maria Swim Club’s Claire Tuggle also had great swims tonight, posting a lifetime best 200 breast time of 2:33.45. She took nearly .80 off her previous best from 2018, and narrowly missed the Olympic Trial Wave I cut by .16.

Tuggle later claimed 2nd place in the 400 freestyle behind Mission Viejo’s Katie Crom who won the event with a time of  4:11.86. The two were neck-and-neck for most of the race, and Tuggle had a narrow lead of .11 as they headed into the final 100.

This was a new lifetime best for Crom by almost a full second, and ties her with Andie Taylor for #57 out of the all-time fastest 17-18 year-olds in the event. Tuggle touched the wall at 4:12.41, which was not a personal best but still got under the Olympic Trial Wave II cut. Tuggle’s 4:07.85 from 2019 Summer nationals ranks her 5th all-time  in the 15-16 age group above 2019 Pan American Games bronze medalist Becca Mann.

Teagan O’Dell of Nova 0ut touched U.S. National Teamer Justina Kozan from Mission Viejo in the 100 back by .06 to snag 1st place with a time of 1:02.40. This was a new lifetime best by about 1.5 seconds for 14-year-old O’Dell whose previous best was from January. She is now ranked #30 out of the all-time fastest 13-14 year-olds in the event behind 2019 Pan American GAmes gold medalist Kendyl Stewart.

This was a solid swim for Kozan too who posted a lifetime best of 1:02.46 to snag a new Olympic Trial Wave I cut alongside O’Dell. Kozan’s previous best was 1:03.63 from the Pro Swim Series 3 weeks ago. 16-year-old  Macky Hodges from Mission Viejo took 3rd place (1:03.25).

Kozan started off the night by winning the 200 fly final (2:13.34) and was the only swimmer to crack the Wave I cut, although she already obtained a Wave II cut in the event last March with a 2:11.89.

Clovis Swim Club’s Gabriel Jett won two events during Saturday’s finals session, starting with the first event of the night, the 200 fly, with a time of 2:00.36. He was the only swimmer under the Wave I cut, but his lifetime best of 1:57.82 from the Pro Swim Series 3 weeks ago is a Wave II cut.  Tate Cutler of DART took 2nd place (2:01.40) and 16-year-old Humberto Najera of Mission Viejo claimed 3rd (2:04.27).

Jett created a victory sandwich by dominating the last event, the 400 free, and touching the wall first with a time of 3:55.36 and a 1.5 second lead over the field. He took 3 seconds off his lifetime best from November of 2019 to crack the Olympic Trial Wave I cut for the first time. 16-year-old Rex Maurer of Rose Bowl joined him under the Wave I cut, dropping .22 from his 3-week-old personal best which was already under Wave I. Maurer is now ranked #58 all-time, tied with former Cal Berkely school record-holder Adam Hinshaw.

Three women in the 50 free final beat the Wave I cut and the charge was lead by Gator Swim Club’s Anicka Delgado (25.78), who out touched 2nd place finisher Kailyn Winter from Quicksilver Swimming by .03 for 1st place. Winter’s teammate, Ella Mazurek claimed 3rd with a time of 25.97. Delgado dropped .03 from her previous lifetime best from 2017.

Other Event Winners and Notable Swims:

• In the 100 back, Kyle Brill of CANY posted a 56.91, to win the race, coming within .32 of the Wave I cut. Sierra Marlins Swim Team’s Kaikea Crews snagged 2nd (57.28), and Rose Bowl’s Ronald Dalmacio took 3rd place (57.51).
• John Donovan of Wolverine Aquatics came close to a Wave I cut in the 50 free, winning the event with a time of 23.44, just one-fourth of a second off the Wave I qualifying time.  Simon Lins from Piedmont Swim Team and Rancho San Dieguito’s Mateo Parker took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, with time of 23.59 and 23.87.
• Beach Cities’ Evan Yoo dominated the 200 breast with a time of 2:18.74, finishing with a 1.4 second lead over the field. He was about one second off the Wave I cut. 15-year-old Nicholas Mahabir from North Bay Aquatics and Nova’s Parker Macy had a tight race for 2nd place, with Mahabir out touching Macy by .62 for a time of 2:20.10. 
• Sol Swim Team’s Emily Lundgren and 15-year-old Ashlyn Hernandez from Pacific Swim rounded out the 200 breaststroke podium with times of 2:33.99 and 2:34.79, respectively. This was a a 1.64 second time drop for Lundgren, who swum her previous best one month ago, while Hernandez demolished her previous best form 2019 by nearly 13 seconds.
• 15-year-old Bailey Hartman of Crow Canyon Country Club 2:15.86 snagged 2nd in the women’s 200 fly and Rancho San Dieguito’s Mia Kragh claimed 3rd 2:16.74. This was only Hartman’s second time under 2:20.00 in this event (the first was this morning’s prelims) as her best time going into this meet was set at 2:21.27 from 2019. Kragh dropped even more time from her lifetime best going into this meet, 2:23.51 from 2019.
• Mason Carlton of Quicksilver Swimming placed 3rd in the 400 free with a time of 4:02.20, less than a second off his lifetime best from November.