2021 CA Speedo Grand Challenge
- May 28-31, 2021
- Woollett Aquatic Center, Irvine, CA
- LCM (50m)
- Results on MeetMobile
At last night’s final of the Speedo Grand Challenge meet in Irvine, La Mirada Armada 12-year-old Kayla Han broke the 11-12 girls National Age Group Record in the 400 freestyle. Taking 4th, Han swam a 4:17.65, shedding 2.87 seconds from her previous best of 4:20.52. The swim broke the previous 11-12 NAG of 4:18.41, which was held by Claire Tuggle. Tuggle, now 16, coincidentally won the race last night in 4:10.71.
Here is a split comparison between Han’s record-breaking swim last night, and Tuggle’s previous NAG in the event:
| Split | Kayla Han May 2021 | Claire Tuggle June 2017 |
| 1st 50 | 29.98 | 29.33 |
| 2nd 50 | 32.83 | 33.17 |
| 3rd 50 | 32.36 | 33.12 |
| 4th 50 | 33.04 | 33.32 |
| 5th 50 | 32.46 | 32.63 |
| 6th 50 | 32.78 | 32.68 |
| 7th 50 | 32.48 | 32.91 |
| 8th 50 | 31.72 | 31.25 |
| Final Time | 4:17.65 | 4:18.41 |
The biggest difference between the two swims is that Han had just one split of 33 seconds, and it was low – 33.04. On the other hand, Tuggle had 3 consecutive splits of 33, and all 3 were slower than Han’s.
Han’s swim was just 0.76 seconds away from the Olympic Trials Wave I cut of 4:16.89, which would have made her the youngest swimmer to qualify for the meet.
Need to wait one or two more years to see, need some heights for fast swimming.
Didn’t Tuggle take that record from Woodhead?
Kayla Han 4:50.7 400 IM youngest qualifier.
Congrats!
Awesome swim, she’s very versatile. Hoping for a future of fast swimming
*without wearing a tech suit
She’s never worn a tech suit.
Well it’s a tech suit, not a knee skin
Would be fun if she swam it again and went for the Wave 1 cut this weekend!
on a less upbeat note, it’s hard not to notice how little Claire improved in 4 years. I don’t think 400 free is her best event, I wish her big drops. Regardless, downvotes are deserved
Let’s see how UVA goes. It will be exciting to see her improvements.