Swimming

Kaii Winkler Breaks US 15-16 Age Group Record in the 100 Free, Moves to #5 in the World

March 2, 2023

2023 PRO SWIM SERIES – FORT LAUDERDALE

March 1-4, 2023
Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Center, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Long Course Meters (50 meters)
Prelims/Finals
- `Prelims: 9:00 AM (EST)
- Finals: 5:00 PM Wednesday, 6:00 PM (EST) Thursday-Saturday
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American 16-year-old Kaii Winkler leveled-up on Saturday morning at the Pro Swim Series stop in Fort Lauderdale when he became the youngest American ever under 49 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle.

Winkler’s swim broke the US 15-16 National Age Group Record in the 100-meter free that was previously set by Thomas Heilman at the 2022 Junior Pan Pac Championships. Winkler’s previous best of 49.45 from December’s US Open ranked him 4th all-time in the age group.

All-Time US 15-16 Rankings:

RANK	TIME	SWIMMER	MEET
1	48.81	Kaii Winkler	2023 PSS – Ft Lauderdale
2	49.06	Thomas Heilman	2022 Jr Pan Pacs
3	49.28	Caeleb Dressel	2013 Summer Nationals
4	49.40	Destin Lasco	2018 Summer Nationals
5	49.67	Jack Alexy	2019 Summer Nationals

Splits Comparison:

SPLITS	Kaii Winkler – New NAG Record	THOMAS HEILMAN – #2 all-time	Caeleb Dressel – #3 all-time	Kaii Winkler – Previous PB	KAII WINKLER – 2022 INTERNATIONAL TEAM TRIALS
50m	23.55	23.61	23.15	23.71	23.85
100m	25.26	25.45	26.13	25.74	25.83
FINAL TIME	48.81	49.06	49.28	49.45	49.68

What’s really interesting about this list is that the top three times in age group history have all been done in prelims heats – besides Winkler, Heilman at the Junior Pan Pacs, and Dressel at the Junior National Championships both swam their best times in prelims.

Winkler’s swim was 3rd-best in the heats on Thursday morning and made him the top-seeded junior-aged swimmer by a whopping 34 spots. Canadian Aidan Norman was 37th in prelims in 51.47.

Winkler’s time is a US age group record for 15-16s, and while nobody keeps official global age records at that level, among other notable times around the world are Flynn Southam‘s Australian Record for 16-year-olds of 48.60, and David Popovici‘s global standard of 47.30 from a few months before his 17th birthday.

With the 2023 World Championship Trials and Paris 2024 Olympic Trials looming, Winkler is creeping into territory where he might get selected for one of the major international teams. That swim not only made him the top-finishing American in prelims of the 100 free, but the top American in the long course 100 free in the 2022-2023 season so far – though much of his main competition has yet to race this season.

He also ranks 5th in the world globally this season.