Katie Kubiak Adds Two World Records on Night 2 of Paraswimming Championships
Katie Kubiak added two more world records on Saturday, the second night of the three-day U.S. Paralympics Swimming National Championships.
Kubiak went 1:32.72 in the women’s S4 100 backstroke. That is 10 seconds quicker than the mark set in 2011 by Dutch swimmer Lisette Teunissen (1:43.91). Kubiak also won the S4 50 free in a time of 36.44 seconds, which chops .46 seconds off the 2022 world record set by Tanja Scholz of Germany.
That’s three world records in two days for Kubiak, a 22-year-old from Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
“It’s been a very surreal meet so far – I started working with a coach and we’ve been focusing on the weak aspects of my races, so being able to see those areas be stronger yesterday and today has been promising,” Kubiak told USA Paraswimming. “It gives me a lot of confidence going into world championships, which is my first international competition, knowing that I’m still making improvements when I’m competing and that I’m doing the right things to keep improving and staying at the level I want to be at.”
Koehn Boyd added his second world record of the meet, the 16-year-old from Minnesota clocking in at 2:05.50 in the S10 200 butterfly. That’s more than a second quicker than Stefano Raimondo’s world mark, the Italian having gong 2:06.66 in 2023. Boyd later won the S10 50 free by going 24.96.
“I came into this weekend hoping to drop time and do my best, and I never thought something like a world record was within reach, so I’m incredibly honored to represent this community and Team USA,” Boyd said. “Ahead of world championships in Singapore, I’m going to keep training mentally and physically, and keep my eye on the prize which is to hopefully make it to the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.”
All races at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center in Boise are multi-class, with winners determined by World Para Swimming Points. The meet will help determine the U.S. squad for this summer’s World Aquatics Championships, and it wraps up on Sunday.
In other action Saturday night, Ellie Marks won the S6 100 back with a time of 1:25.02. Cara Pennington was the quickest S9 swimmer in the 100 back, going 1:17.58, and Taylor Winnett added another win in the S10 100 back.
Noah Jaffe’s time of 1:13.85 prevailed in the men’s S8 100 back, and he also won the S8 50 free in 27.42.
Josie Dolan was the quickest of seven SB9 swimmers in the women’s 100 breaststroke in 1:30.26. Olivia Chambers set a time of 1:20.35 as the only SB13 swimmer in that event.
In the 50 freestyle, McKenzie Coan went 34.22 to win the three-person S7 race. Liz Smith prevailed in the S9 50 free, with a time of 30.14 seconds.
