Kaii Winkler becomes first 15-16 year-old to break 42 seconds in 100 freestyle
Young and exciting swimmer Kaii Winkler became the first 15-16 year-old to break 42 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. The 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships were held from March 16 to 19 at the Academic Village in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
The 16-year-old Kaii Winkler clocked the first sub-42 100-yard freestyle in the 15-16 age group on the last night of the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships. Kaii clocked a time of 41.96 in the 100-yard freestyle. The young swimmer lowered his own national age group (NAG) record by two-tenths to clock a time of 41.96, as per SwimSwam.
He clocked his previous best time of 42.21 at the Winter Juniors - East during December 2022. Kaii also broke Ryan Hoffer's record in November 2022 during the 2022 Florida High School State Championships.
The young swimmer clocked a time of 42.52 to take three-tenths off Ryan's time, according to SwimSwam. The split comparison of Kaii Winkler's at the 2023 Florida Gold Coast SCY Senior Championships, 2022 Speedo Winter Juniors - East and 2022 Florida 1A High School State as revealed on SwimSwam is attached below.
The list of all-time top performers in the boys 100-yard freestyle, U.S. 15-16 Age Group was revealed by SwimSwam as follows:
- Kaii Winkler - 41.96 (2023)
- Maximus Williamson - 42.49 (2022)
- Thomas Heilman - 42.61 (2023)
- Ryan Hoffer - 42.67 (2014)
- Jack Alexy - 42.87 (2019)
Kaii Winkler clocks personal best time in the 200-yard freestyle
Kaii Winkler had a successful campaign at the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships. He clocked a time of 1:33.28 in the 200-yard freestyle event during the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships.
The young swimmer surpassed Drew Kibler to become the second fastest swimmer off all time in the boys’ 15-16 U.S. age group. Winkler is also just 0.21 seconds off Maximus Williamson's national age group record.
The record time held by Maximus Williamson is 1:33.07. Prior to the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships. Kaii's personal best time was 1:33.36. He clocked this time of 1:33.36 at the 2022 Winter Juniors. This helped him earn the No. 3 spot in the all-time rankings in his age group.
The comparative splits of Winkler's performance in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships, 2022 Winter Juniors - East and Maximus Williamson's 2022 Speedo Winter Junior West, according to SwimSwam is attached below:
The all-time performers in the boys 200-yard freestyle, U.S. 15-16 Age Group as revealed on Swimswam are attached below:
- Maximus Williamson, Lakeside Aquatic Club — 1:33.07 (2022)
- Kaii Winkler, Eagle Aquatics — 1:33.28 (2023)
- Drew Kibler, Carmel Swim Club — 1:33.30 (2017)
- Daniel Diehl, Cumberland YMCA — 1:33.68 (2022)
- Jack Walker, SwimMAC Carolina — 1:33.73 (2016
At the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Senior Championships, Kaii Winkler recorded his personal best times in the 100-yard butterfly (46.94), 50-yard freestyle (19.44), and 500-yard freestyle (4:23.85). But his time in the 500-yard freestyle witnessed a 16-second drop, as his previous best time was 4:40.18 from 2021.