Teagan O’Dell Swims Top 15-Year Old 100 Breast in the Country by 2+ Seconds

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”)

US Junior National Teamer Justina Kozan won a pair of races, and 15-year old Teagan O’Dell swam two more lifetime bests on Saturday at the Kevin B. Perry Invite.

The 17-year old Mission Viejo product Kozan won the 400 IM in 4:09.16 and the 200 free in 1:46.86 on Saturday night. That makes three total wins in the meet for her so far, with the 100 free and 200 fly still to come on Sunday.

The 15-year old O’Dell continues to lift her stock this week. On Saturday, she won the 100 fly in 53.55 and finished 2nd in the 100 breast in 1:01.34 (after a 1:01.01 in prelims). Both swims are new lifetime bests by a wide margin: her previous best time in the 100 fly was a 56.22 from December, and her previous best time in the 100 breast was 1:02.38 from February 2020 – just before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in America.

The 100 breast time ranks her 55th all-time among 15-16s, even just barely into her time in the age group.

Along with a win in the 50 free in 22.61, and a top swim in prelims of the 500 free of 4:45.65 before scratching the final, O’Dell she is four-for-four in lifetime bests. What’s more, she ranks #1 in the 50 free, #2 in the 500 free (behind Olympian Katie Grimes), #2 in the 100 fly, and #1 time in the 100 breast (by more than two seconds) among 15-year olds this season.

O’Dell broke the 13-14 National AGe Group Record in the 200 IM earlier this year, a record held by legendary Olympian Missy Franklin, and is now on a tear in a new age group as well.

Other Notable Saturday Results:

• After big time drops in the 500 and 1000 freestyles earlier in the meet, Rex Maurer ran out of gas on a 400 IM/200 free double. He did swim a lifetime best of 3:57.20 in the 400 IM, knocking a total of 11.1 seconds off his previous best, but was just 9th in the 200 free, arguably his best event, in 1:38.11, splitting 46.8/51.2. His high school and club teammate Zach Larrick won the race in 1:37.56, just six-tenths away from his best time.
• Pavel Romanov, a 27-year old former Alabama standout from Russia, won the 100 breaststrok in 55.08. The 2nd-place finisher, and top junior competitor, was Matthew Lou from Irvine Novaquatics in 55.08 – just missing his best time from the CIF-SS Championships in the spring. Of note, 15-year old Daniel Li finished 4th in 55.96, which is a best time by over half-a-second.
• Recent USC commit Macky Hodges won the girls’ 100 back in 54.32, knocking out a 54.98 lifetime best coming into the meet. Hodges, primarily a 100/200 freestyler, appears headed for a breakout season in the backstroke races: 4 of her 5 best times in the 100 yard backstroke, including her three fastest, have all come since September 18.
• Nick Simons of the Lake Oswego Swim Club, one of the few swimmers from outside of the LSC at the meet, won the 100 backstroke in 47.40. That improves his previous best time of 47.87 from December 2020. Simons is a University of Tennessee commit for fall 2022, where he’s the 17th-ranked recruit overall and one of the top backstrokers in the class. He’s been best times in the 400 IM, 200 IM, 500 free, and now 100 back this week, with his primary race, the 200 back, still to come on Sunday.