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WATCH: 13-Year-Old Pelaez Becomes Youngest 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier

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.

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Anon
4 years ago

Her turns are breathtaking.

Swimmy swim
4 years ago

Wow she’s got some long arms! Great platform to build strength and some speed on

BronzedAussie
4 years ago

Australians are unable to trial at 13 years old. Apparently the minimum age for a swimmer in the olympics is 14 now

Awsi Dooger
4 years ago

Superior camerawork and commentary than the ISL

Brad
4 years ago

Yikes, thats super early. Hope she can continue to experience progress for the next 5 years until she graduates.

RenéDescartes
Reply to  Brad
4 years ago

Huh?

The Underminer
Reply to  Brad
4 years ago

Dude… She’s 13. It’s not like she’s peaked or anything lol

Swimmy
Reply to  Brad
4 years ago

There are former olympians that made their trials cuts at 12 years old (Dana Vollmer) I think this bodes well for Erika

Daniel Smith
4 years ago

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.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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