Disclaimer: Dolfin Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Dolfin Swim is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
14-year-old Sandpiper of Nevada Katie Grimes had an incredible 400 IM last week, moving to #3 all-time in the 13-14 age group.
Grimes went 4:09.27, moving to within a second of a 16-year-old National Age Group record. That record is held by an age group legend: Katie Hoff, who made the U.S. Olympic team at age 15 and ultimately won three Olympic medals and seven World Championships golds in her career.
The swim for Grimes was a massive time drop. Her previous best time had been a 4:14.67, set as a 13-year-old in December of 2019. Coming out of a pandemic-restricted summer, Grimes crushed more than five seconds off her best time. She leapfrogged a number of really notable names in the all-time 13-14 ranks with that swim:
Top 400y IMers all-time, USA Swimming 13-14 ranks
- Katie Hoff (2004) – 4:08.44
- Grace Sheble (2017) – 4:09.00
- Katie Grimes (2020) – 4:09.27
- Becca Mann (2012) – 4:10.29
- Charlotte Hook (2018) – 4:11.00
- Ella Eastin (2011) – 4:11.61
- Courtney Harnish (2014) – 4:11.93
- Jessica Kennedy [Schmitt] (2006) – 4:12.31
- Brooke Zettel (2018) – 4:12.39
- Lucy Bell (2019) – 4:12.42
A few other names further back on that list: Missy Franklin (12th – 4:12.83), Mariah Denigan (17th – 4:13.72), Taylor Ruck (19th – 4:13.96), Natalie Coughlin (21st – 4:14.08), Ella Nelson (22nd – 4:14.28), Maya DiRado (23rd – 4:14.47), Ariana Kukors (26th – 4:14.94), and Regan Smith (34th – 4:15.80).
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