12-Year-Old Kayla Han Set to Make Olympic Trials Debut on Saturday in 400 IM
The United States Olympic Trials‘ pre-teen qualifier, Kayla Han, will make her debut in Omaha on Saturday. The rising age-group standout will contest the 400-meter individual medley at the CHI Health Center.
At the Speedo Grand Challenge last weekend, Han clocked a time of 4:50.70 in the 400-meter individual medley. That effort by the 12-year-old dipped under the qualifying standard of 4:51.79 and granted Han a ticket to Wave I of the Olympic Trials in Omaha.
In addition to qualifying Han for the Olympic Trials, the performance broke Elizabeth Beisel’s National Age Group record in the 11-12 category. Beisel, a three-time Olympian and the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 400 individual medley, set the previous record of 4:55.35 in 2005.
Han’s record in the 400 IM was her second of the weekend. On Friday night, she set an NAG record in the 400 freestyle with a time of 4:17.65. That time took nearly a second off Claire Tuggle’s previous record of 4:18.41, which was set in 2017.
Han was first featured in Swimming World Magazine in June 2019, as part of the magazine’s monthly Up-and-Comers series. At the time of that feature, Han was coming off a pair of NAG records in the 10-and-under age group.