2020 SENIOR LONG COURSE SECTIONAL QUALIFIER
- February 6th-8th, 2020
- LCM (50m) pool
- Plantation, Florida
- Results on Meet Mobile “2020 Senior Long Course Sectional Qualifier”
Eagle Aquatics’ 13-year-old Erika Pelaez competed at the 2020 Sectionals Qualifier in Plantation, Florida this past weekend, becoming the youngest American swimmer to have qualified for the 2020 Olympic Trials. Pelaez made multiple cuts, qualifying in both the 100 meter free and 100 meter back. You can watch a video of her races below, courtesy of Eugenia Pelaez on YouTube.
WOMEN’S 100 BACK
WOMEN’S 100 FREE
Palaez dropped over a second in the 100 free, hitting a 56.03 to swim 2 tenths below the Olympic Trials Cut (56.29). In the 100 back, she also swam a best time by over a second. Her 1:02.65 was a few hundredths faster than the Olympic Trials Cut (1:02.69). While there are 2 other swimmers who made Trials cuts at age 13, Katie Grimes and Jillian Cox, Palaez is the youngest. Grimes and Cox have since turned 14, while Palaez will still be 13 years old when Olympic Trials rolls around.
As far as we can tell, this is the fastest 100 free ever swum by a 13 year old. The fastest 100 free on record for a 13 year old prior to Palaez’s swim was a 56.14 done by Olympic Champion Missy Johnson (formerly Missy Franklin) at the 2008 Olympic Trials. Johnson still holds the 13-14 National Age Group Record, which stands at a 54.03 from 2009.
Her turns are breathtaking.
Wow she’s got some long arms! Great platform to build strength and some speed on
Australians are unable to trial at 13 years old. Apparently the minimum age for a swimmer in the olympics is 14 now
Superior camerawork and commentary than the ISL
Yikes, thats super early. Hope she can continue to experience progress for the next 5 years until she graduates.
Huh?
Dude… She’s 13. It’s not like she’s peaked or anything lol
There are former olympians that made their trials cuts at 12 years old (Dana Vollmer) I think this bodes well for Erika
Good for her! From the sound of her parents voices maybe a trip to Omaha is not out of the question? She will get a great experience, swim hard, meet all the current and former Olympians and return faster and inspired in four years! I do not see a downside here. SWIMSWAM should chat with her too, with her parents permission.