Most Impressive National Age Group Swimming Records That Still Stand (Women)
Just last week, while competing at the World Junior Championships, Rylee Erisman shattered the National Age Group (NAG) record in the 100-meter freestyle for the 15-16 classification. Actually, she broke it on three occasions, lowering the standard during prelims, semifinals and finals. The record now stands at 52.79, and Erisman ranks as the No. 6 performer in American history – regardless of age.
Erisman’s effort got the wheels turning. What are the most impressive NAG records still on the books? This list is obviously opinion-based, but the standards below are unquestionably superb in nature. This edition focuses on long-course marks, with a short-course version to come in the weeks ahead.
Note: We selected one NAG record per athlete. Multiple swimmers could have been selected across several events.
Age Group (11-12)
Beth Botsford (100-Meter Backstroke: 1:03.08) – 1994
Thirty-one years ago, North Baltimore Aquatic Club standout Beth Botsford produced a mark of 1:03.08 in the 100 backstroke. How fast was that performance? At the 1994 World Champs, it took 1:03.12 to qualify for the final of the 100 back. Two years after setting her still-standing record, Botsford walked away from the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta as the gold medalist in the 100 backstroke, and with another gold in the 400 medley relay.
Age Group (13-14)
Sippy Woodhead (200-Meter Freestyle: 1:58.53) – 1978
At the 1978 World Championships in West Berlin, a 14-year-old Sippy Woodhead clocked a world record of 1:58.53 in the 200 freestyle. The effort handed teen sensation a gold medal by more than a second, with the silver going to East Germany’s Barbara Krause in 1:59.78. In 2022, future Olympian Claire Weinstein equaled the record. At the same meet, Woodhead went 4:07.15 in the 400 freestyle, a record that also remains on the books, and earned the American a silver medal.
Age Group (15-16)
Mary T. Meagher (200-Meter Butterfly: 2:05.96) – 1981
Photo Courtesy: Tony Duffy
For more than four decades, this record has endured. Mary T. Meagher has long been celebrated as an ahead-of-her-time talent, and the fact that this swim remains eye-catching as a 2025 performance speaks to its power. When Meagher clocked 2:05.96, it was good for a world record that stood for almost 19 years. At the recent World Championships in Singapore, it would have earned the bronze medal, an amazing feat considering the advancements in the sport that Meagher was not privvy to.
Missy Franklin (200-Meter Backstroke: 2:05.10) – 2011
The 2011 World Championships in Shanghai is widely recognized as Missy Franklin’s true breakout meet, highlighted by a global title in the 200 backstroke. In the event which became her signature, Franklin raced to an American record of 2:05.10 and set the stage for the Olympic crown she claimed the next summer, in a world record of 2:04.06. Excluding Franklin, only six women in history have been faster than 2:05.10 in the 200 backstroke.
Claire Curzan (100-Meter Butterfly: 56.20) – 2021
The TAC Titans Premier Invitational in 2021 served as a tuneup meet for the United States Olympic Trials in Omaha. Claire Curzan used the meet to blast a 56.20 marker in the 100 butterfly, which broke her own NAG record of 56.61. Two months later, Curzan qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she placed 10th in the 100 fly and earned a gold medal in the 400 medley relay for her prelim contribution.
Age Group (17-18)
Katie Ledecky (800-Meter Freestyle: 8:06.68) – 2016
Katie Ledecky of United States of America reacts after competing in the swimming 400m Freestyle Women Heats during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena in Paris (France), July 27, 2024.
We could have gone in a variety of directions with Katie Ledecky’s entry on this NAG list, but the decision was to highlight her world record in the 800 freestyle from January 2016. With her 19th birthday on the horizon, Ledecky broke her own global record in the 800 free behind a swim of 8:06.68. That time was bettered by the American at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where Ledecky fired off a time of 8:04.79, but it remains the NAG standard in the 17-18 age group – and it’s not going anywhere in the near future.
Regan Smith (200-Meter Backstroke: 2:03.35) – 2019
In the semifinals of the 200 backstroke at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Regan Smith blistered a world record of 2:03.35. The effort erased Missy Franklin’s world record of 2:04.06 and sits comfortably as the NAG record for the 17-18 classification. Smith’s swim is the fourth-fastest performance of all-time and ranks the American as the No. 2 performer in history.
