14-Year Old Phenom Leah Hayes Just Misses PBs in 200 IM, 100 Free at Intrasquad

2020 Riptides Time Trial #3

• September 20, 2020
• Vaughan Center, Aurora, Illinois
• Short Course Yards (25 yard) pool
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Riptides Time Trial #3”

After clocking a lifetime best in the 200 IM in her last meet in late August, 14-year old Leah Hayes of the Fox Valley Park District Riptides swam her encore on Sunday, just missing best times in all 3 races she swam.

She opened up the meet in the 100 free, beating all comers (male and female) in the mixed-gender event. She swam a 50.19, which just-missed her lifetime best of 49.83 set in August.

She followed that with a 1:58.44 in the 200 IM (best time: 1:57.88) and a 2:08.83 in the 200 fly (best time: 2:06.69).

Hayes was the highlight of the meet, though there were some big drops for a handful of her teammates. That was especially true in the 500 free, where 5 of the top 6 finishers swam lifetime bests, led by a 5:16.69 from Trevor Maier. Alex Claessens dropped almost 12 seconds to swim 5:30.57, and Ina Limbu dropped more than 36 seconds to swim a 6:13.

Maier would later add another best time in the 1000 free, dropping 52 seconds to swim 10:58.37.

The other top performer on the boys’ side of the pool was 16-year old Nathaniel Tunggal, an uncommitted high school senior. He swam new best times in both the 200 breast (2:14.38) and 50 free (22.54), and very-nearly added another in the 200 fly, swimming 1:55.96. A versatile swimmer, Tunggal’s best race is the 200 IM, though he swims both the breaststroke and butterfly races well (including 58.2 in the 100).