2021 KEVIN B. PERRY INVITE
- November 4-7, 2021
- Splash! La Mirada Regional Aquatics Center, La Mirada, California/
- Short Course Yards, Prelims/Finals
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2021 CA Kevin B Perry Senior Meet @RMDA v1” (search “Perry”)
15-year old Teagan O’Dell finished her meet with two more lifetime bests and another win, while a pair of Mission Viejo teammates battled in the girls’ 100 free final on the final day of the Kevin Perry Invite.
O’Dell’s 3rd and final win of the meet came in the 200 yard breaststroke, where she swam a 2:11.25.
She used a backhalf split of 1:08.25, including a 34.45 final 50, to run down veteran 34-year old Danielle Hermann for the victory. O’Dell’s best time coming into the meet was a 2:14.89 from the 2019 Speedo Winter Junior Championships.
While that was O’Dell’s only event final of the day, it wasn’t her only lifetime best: she was the top qualifier in prelims of the 100 free in 49.49 before scratching the final. That knocked about half-a-second off her previous lifetime best.
In her absence, the 100 free final came down to a battle between a pair of Mission Viejo and U.S. National Junior Team teammates Katie Crom and Justina Kozan.
Crom jumped out to a half-second lead at the 50 yard mark, and while Kozan came back a little on the back-half, Crom still held on for the win in 49.39. Kozan was 2nd in 49.78.
Crom on Sunday announced her commitment to the University of Michigan; she was one of the top remaining uncommitted swimmers in the high school class of 2022. Kozan is headed to USC next fall.
Kozan later won the 200 fly in 1:57.99 for her 4th win of the meet. She’s been 1:54.75 in that event.
One of the other female stars at the meet, 17-year old Macky Hodges, is also a USC commit, and she too added another win to her resume from the meet. She swam 1:56.96 in the 200 backstroke, which is a best time by about seven-tenths of a second. She swept the backstroke events after winning the 100 earlier in the meet in 54.32.
Hodges’ best events have been primarily the middle distance freestyles – she swam the 200 at the US Olympic Trials (Wave 2) in June, and is the defending CIF Southern Section Division 1 Champion in the 500 free. This week, though, she really showed an expanded versatility into the backstroke events that will serve her well as she moves into the rest of her junior and senior high school seasons and on into college in fall 2023.
The top performance on Sunday on the boys’ side came from Junior National Teamer Nick Simons, who dominated the 200 backstroke in 1:43.59. After swimming a best time two win the 100 back earlier in the meet in 47.40, he just-missed his best time of 1:42.94 in this race. He swam the event much closer to even-split (51.13/52.46) than he did when he swam his best time last December.
Other Day 4 Highlights:
- 14-year old Bella Brito finished 4th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:14.63, which is a new lifetime best for her by three seconds. That swim ranks her 41st all-time in the 13-14 age group and 1st nationally among 13-14s this season.
- 23-year old Swiss swimmer Manuel Leuthard, who is currently training in Southern California, won the men’s 100 free in 43.90. That was his 3rd win of the meet after earlier wins in the 50 free (20.39) and 100 fly (48.25). 16-year old Cal commit Samuel Quarles was the top junior finisher in 44.67, which cuts four-tenths off his previous lifetime best from March. Rex Maurer, who won the 500 free on Friday, was 3rd in the 100 free in 44.94.
- 15-year old Rose Bowl Aquatics swimmer Daniel Li won the boys’ 200 breaststroke by more than a second with a time of 2:00.23. That’s his first win of the meet and is a lifetime best for him by more than four seconds. He has swum lifetime bests in this race now in 8 consecutive meets. His best time going into the pandemic was a 2:16, he came out with a 2:06 in May, and swam 2:04 two weeks ago.
- Northwestern commit Tona Zinn won the boys’ 200 fly in 1:46.17. That’s his 2nd win of the meet.
