12-year old 7th-grader Regan Smith has re-broken two of her own National Age Group Records during prelims of the Minnesota AA High School State Championship meet. First, she swam a 55.22 in the 100 yard fly, and then she went a 54.62 in the 100 back later in the meet, both of which broke her own record-setting swims from her regional championship meet last weekend.
Smith, taking advantage of a rule allowing middle school students to compete in high school sports in Minnesota, is swimming very well at her State Championship meet. In the 100 fly, she shaved two-tenths off of the 55.42 done last week.
The comparative splits show that Smith attacked the first 50 at this state meet, and while she didn’t close as well, the strategy paid off:
- Smith Regionals – 25.93/29.49 = 55.42
- Smith State – 25.44/29.78 = 55.22
The 100 backstroke wasw by a much smaller margin, even though she was also aggressive on the first 50 yards:
- Smith Regionals – 26.71/27.98 = 54.69
- Smith State – 26.46/28.16 = 54.62
In her other swims, Smith very nearly broke a third National Age Group Record leading off Lakeville North’s 200 medley relay. She split 25.79 in the 50 backstroke, which just missed Janet Hu’s record of 25.76. Smith also anchored Lakeville North’s second-place qualifying 400 free relay in 52.71.
While the 12-year old’s swims are impressive, she’s only second-seeded in both of her events. After being the defending champ Zoe Avestruz in both events at the regional level, Avestruz swam a 53.99 to be the top seed in the 100 fly heading into finals, and was a 52.74 in the 100 back.
The state of Minnesota doesn’t get a ton of attention, but the past 5-10 years they have really been cranking out some awesome girl swimmers from the age group ranks!
We have some great kids swimming here, especially considering the extreme lack of facilities (especially long course) for kids to train in. The only long course indoor pool in the Twin Cities is the U. All of the teams share space at the few long course outdoor pools in the area, which can’t even begin until Memorial Day. The training situation is difficult at best, but somehow the teams turn out good swimmers.
Just correct in your first paragraph “54.62 in the 100 back” instead of “100 fly”.
And 2 more in the pocket for Regan Smith!
Congrats champion.
For the titles Zoe Avestruz is the big favorite. She was in training suit last week. I presume not this week. So not surprising to see her almost 2 seconds faster in both events. And she’s probably more rested as well.
Suit or no suit, Zoe looked like she was coasting last week in between the underwaters. Let’s hope both Zoe and Regan have huge swims on Friday…maybe a 51 & 53 in the backstroke, respectively?
Does the backstroke count?
Ten years ago, high schools allowed backstrokers to start with their feet out of the water, so USS didn’t recognize them. Not sure if that’s changed.
High school rules don’t allow backstrokers to start with their feet out of the water, at least not anymore.
Anyone care to explain how she’s able to compete?
Per Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) rules, 7th graders are allowed to compete as members of their district’s high school teams.