Kathy Kuipers Tough as Nails Memorial Invite
- October 24-25, 2020
- Rockwall ISD Aquatic Center, Rockwall, Texas
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “Kathy Kuipers Tough as Nails Memorial Intersq”
RACE, based out of Rockwall, Texas, held an intrasquad meet over the weekend named after Kathy Kuipers. Kuipers was a former member of the RACE Masters team and volunteered as an official at every RACE swim meet.
In the pool, and among the biggest performances, was a 1:58.54 in the 200 yard fly swum by 15-year old Ava Whitaker. The race was swum as a mixed-gender event, though the boys’ lanes and girls’ lanes were separated by an empty lane.
For Whitaker, that knocks 4 seconds off her previous lifetime best of 2:02.31, and ties her for the 8th-best time in the country nationally in the event this season. She’s ranked 2nd nationally among swimmers under the age of 18, only behind another 15-year old Tess Howley from the Long Island Aquatic Club who has already been 1:55.0 this season.
The time also breaks a RACE team record, making her the first female swimmer in club history under 2 minutes in the event. The old team record was actually set about a month ago by fellow 15-16 Laci Black, who swam 2:00.18.
Race Video:
Whitaker also swam lifetime bests in the 400 IM (4:29.42 – 4.15 second drop), 200 IM (2:04.62 – 2.99 second drop), and 100 fly (54.04 – .93 second drop).
Other Standout Results:
- The top 6 swimmers in the 100 yard breaststroke swam lifetime bests. That includes the boys’ winner Will McKinney, who posted a 58.56 to knock 6-tenths of a second off his previous record. McKinney is a Boston College commit. The top female swimmer, Kat Putchinski, dropped 2.43 seconds to swim 1:07.13.
- McKinney, who won all 4 races that he entered, also swam a best time of 51.80 in the 100 yard fly. That’s more than a 2-second improvement from his previous lifetime best.
- Lucius Yu-Kisselbach, another senior who is committed to Boston College, won the boys’1 00 free in 57.67. That was the lone lifetime best among 3 event wins for him that also swam times of 1:54.00 in the 200 fly and 4:35.06 in the 500 free. In the girls’ field, 16-year old Karly Merriott swam a best time of 53.47 and 14-year old Abby Hood swam a lifetime best of 54.00.
- Merriott later in the same session added a best time of 4:56.17 in the 500 free.