Storylines to Watch For the 2025 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

2025 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 10-13, 2025
• West: Lee & Joe Jamil Texas Swimming Center (Austin, Texas)
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets

With the U.S. Open wrapped up, the water in Austin has just been warmed up for the top junior meet of the season, the 2025 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

Many top ranked recruits for both the women and men will be in attendance, including Kayla Han (girls’ #2, 2026), Sydney Schoeck (girls’ #7, 2026), Alyssa Ton (girls’ #4, 2027), Luke Vatev (boys’ #2, 2027), Rowan Cox (boys’ #3, 2026), Gabriel Manteufel (boys’ #2, 2026) and Shareef Elaydi (boys’ #3, 2027).

As you watch, here are five storylines to watch as the action unfolds.

Can Han Make it Three in a Row, and/or Four for Four?

Kayla Han enters Austin as the top seed in four events (500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, 400 IM). She has won the 1650 free and 400 IM in each of the last two years at this meet and will be looking to win both for the third consecutive year in her final winter junior championship.

Han sits over five seconds ahead of Sydney Schoeck in the 1650 with her top time of 15:56.7, which she set at this meet last year. Before that time, her lifetime best came at the same meet in 2023. The winter juniors stage has treated Han well, and now she has the chance to win her 3rd consecutive 1650.

The 400 IM tells a similar story, holding just under a four-second entry lead over Schoeck (4:04.41 to 4:08.41), having swum her fastest in this race each of the last two years at winter juniors. This season, Han has already clocked her 2nd fastest 400 IM of her career at 4:04.60 at the CA RMDA Legends of Coaching Meet in early November.

In her other two events, the 500 and 1000 freestyles, Han sits as a comfortable favorite. She will open with the 1000, followed by the 500 free, and then close out her slate with the 400 IM and 1650, meaning that, as long as she can manage the fatigue, four-for-four is more than possible.

15-year-old Gabi Brito Could Make Noise in Some Events

Entered in six events in Austin, 15-year-old Gabi Brito could be someone to keep an eye on.

Brito is slated to swim the 50 free, 100 free, 200 IM, 100 fly, 100 back, and 200 back in Austin. Her best chances at wins come in the 100 free, where she sits as the top seed; she’s 2nd in the 50 free, and 3rd in the 100 fly.

In the 100 free, she is nearly eight-tenths of a second faster than anybody else in the event (48.08). Another 15-year-old, Kennedi Southern, is tied for 2nd in the event (48.87). We could see a pair of 15-year-olds atop the podium meet’s end in the 100 free. Last year, Brito finished 13th in 49.42, a massive improvement over the previous year that leapfrogged her into title contention.

The 50 free will be more of a challenge if Brito wants to emerge victorious. Last year, she placed 7th in this event in 22.49, but her best time of 22.30 from the Speedo Sectionals in Oceanside this past February puts her as the 2nd fastest entrant, just behind Adalynn Biegler in 22.16.

Her third serious shot comes in the 100 fly (51.87), where she is just behind Clare Watson (51.75) and Kelsey Zhang (51.78) in 3rd as the only three entrants to be sub 52. She set the best time in Oceanside in February, but has not touched that since. She set a best time in this race last year at 51.89, cracking 52 seconds for the first time.

Brito has yet to claim a winter juniors title, but had a very productive summer, winning the 100 fly and finishing runner-up in both the 50 fly and 100 free at the Speedo Junior National Championship (LCM). So adding a win (or multiple) here would further build her already impressive young resume.

Tight Battles in Men’s Sprint Freestyles

The 50 and 100 free events are already tightly contested, and this meet further cements that.

The top nine entries in the men’s 50 free all come in under 20 seconds, with the top seed, Tyler Porter, boasting the fastest entered time in 19.49. The following four top times are within two-tenths of Porter’s time.

Yury Kuzmenko leads the 100 free in 43.34, with the next eight top entries all entering under 44 seconds as well.

Miles Blackson-Dunbar is just four hundredths off of Porter in the 50 free (19.53), and also 2nd to Kuzmenko in the 100 free by five hundredths (43.39). Blackson-Dunbar is just a faster start or a faster finish away from overtaking either Porter or Kuzmenko for the top spots. Last year, he finished 3rd in each of these events.

Kuzmenko (19.55), Jordan Ragland (19.61), and Maxwell Stanislaus (19.66) each also hold a strong case to reach the podium and potentially overtake that top spot.

Kuzmenko has broken 44 in the 100 free only twice, and each time has been faster than 43.5. The next four top times also come in just two-tenths within Kuzmenko in the 100 free.

Bellevue and Beach Cities Battle in Women’s Relays

In all five of the women’s relays, either Bellevue Club Swim Team or Beach Cities Alpha holds the top seed entering these winter junior championships.

Bellevue holds the pre-meet advantage, taking the top seed in three of the five relays. Bellevue also has a ‘B’ relay in the top five seeds in all five relays as well.

Each team also has high-level relay contributors who could get them over the other in Austin.

For Bellevue, Clare Watson will likely be the butterfly ace, holding the top time in the 100 fly for this meet. Beach Cities counters that with Brito, who is useful on nearly every relay, whether it be freestyle or butterfly.

Bellevue will also likely have the breaststroke advantage, with Gracyn Kehoe seeded 10th in the 100 breast (1:01.72).

In the relays that Beach Cities sits ahead on, the 200 and 400 medley relays (note that times used for entries in the 200 medley were 400 medley relay times), Beach Cities holds just under a second and a half ahead of Bellevue.

These battles should be ones to watch as the meet progresses.

Top Men’s Talents Look For Multiple Event Wins

We mentioned that this meet does feature some of the top-ranked recruits in the country, and many of them are set up for event sweeps on the men’s side.

Luke Vatev comfortably sits atop the 100 and 200 backstroke on the psych sheet. He holds more than a seven-tenths lead over Rowan Cox (47.23) in 100 back, with his top time of 46.52.

Vatev is also a more than second-and-a-half favorite in the 200 back, with his entry time of 1:42.72.

Drew Eubanks (#11, 2026) will be the one to beat in the breaststroke races; the 100 breast is no runaway, with Eubanks holding the top time of 52.84, just ahead of Sam Wolf in 53.07.

The 200 breast, on the other hand, is not as close; Eubanks’ 1:54.82 is over two seconds faster than the rest of the field.

Shareef Elaydi sits in contention in multiple events as well, holding top seeds in the 200 IM (1:44.79) and 200 fly (1:42.80). The 200 IM looks to be his best shot at an event win, with over a second separating him and 2nd seed Rowan Cox (1:45.80).

He still holds a significant lead over the field in the 200 fly, coming in as the lone sub-1:43 second entrant, about three-quarters of a second faster than 2nd seed Micah Davis in (1:43.53), the only other swimmer faster than 1:44.