Records are made to be broken — but some of them take longer to break than others.
On Friday, 13-year-old swimmer Gabi Brito broke a pair of age-specific records in the 50-meter freestyle, one of which was held by a 12-time Olympic medalist.
In the prelims, Brito became the first swimmer in Southern California Swimming LSC at her age to break the 26-second mark in the event. The fastest swim of the 50-meter freestyle had been held for over 40 years, set by Dara Torres in 1982. Brito’s time of 25.97 was .07 seconds faster than the legend’s.
Brito officially became the fastest 13-year-old later in the day when she placed third in the Speedo Grand Challenge. She broke the 13U record with a 25.71-second race, finishing third to only USC graduate Caroline Famous (25.58) and seven-time Olympic medalist Simone Manuel (24.69), according to SwimSwam.
Her time breaks the record of Kate Douglass, who established the mark for 13-year-olds at 25.80 in 2015. According to the outlet, Brito’s time is only .02 seconds shy of the U.S. Olympic Trials cut.
Brito also raced in the 100 fly, 200 back and 100 freestyle over the weekend, according to SwimSwam. Her older sister, Bella Brito, is committed to USC as a member of the high school class of 2025.
Gabi Brito still has time before selecting a college — let her get to high school first! — but with her astonishing run, she has already etched her name in the record books.
