Kayla Han, one of the top age group swimmers in the country, has returned to La Mirada Armada after spending one year at Carmel Swim Club.
Han, who turned 16 just over one month ago, made the move from La Mirada Armada to Carmel last summer, and spent the year training with the elite squad at Carmel that’s led by coach Chris Plumb and features a strong group of female swimmers, including Paris Olympian Alex Shackell.
Han told SwimSwam she decided to head back to La Mirada after the U.S. Olympic Trials to “refocus” on the 400 IM and distance freestyle events.
“Carmel is a great place with so many great people and I truly enjoyed my year there,” Han said. “However, I decided to move back to La Mirada to refocus on the 4 IM and distance freestyle events.”
La Mirada Armada head coach Richard Shipherd reiterated that sentiment, telling SwimSwam that the training program at Carmel wasn’t suited to Han’s primary events, specifically the 800 free, 1500 free and 400 IM.
“While she enjoyed her time at Carmel, the training regimen was not suited to her events,” Shipherd said. “She’s returning home to a distance / IM program that has worked for her and will continue to do so in the months ahead.”
Han had an up-and-down performance at the Olympic Trials, kicking things off with a bang at the beginning of the meet in the women’s 400 free, setting a lifetime best of 4:09.96 in the prelims before being scratched into the final and then moving up to 4th overall in another PB of 4:08.21.
She then placed 28th in the 800 free (8:46.43), 27th in the 1500 free (16:47.50) and 10th in the 400 IM (4:47.71), shy of her respective personal bests of 8:29.66, 16:16.94 and 4:42.32, all set in 2023.
Her lifetime bests in the 1500 free and 400 IM were set at the 2023 U.S. Junior National Championships, winning gold in both, and then her PB in the 800 free was set en route to gold at the 2023 World Juniors just over one month later.
Han found success in short course yards during her year at Carmel, setting lifetime bests in the 500 free (4:38.12), 1650 free (16:00.74) and 400 IM (4:06.20) in December at the Winter Junior Championships. She did not end up racing for Carmel during the high school season, though the girls’ team still easily rolled to a 38th straight IHSAA title.
Instead, Han represented the U.S. at the 2024 World Championships, placing 15th in the 800 free (8:40.36), 17th in the 1500 free (16:35.02) and 13th in the 400 IM (4:47.12). She also picked up a bronze medal after swimming a prelim leg on the U.S. mixed 400 free relay.
Now back at La Mirada, Han is a lock to be named to the U.S. team for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, which will run August 21-24 in Canberra, Australia. USA Swimming has not yet announced the roster, though the selection criteria states that the team will be named by July 15 at the latest.
She’ll surely compete in the 400 free at Junior Pan Pacs, while in the 400 IM, she’s the defending champion after winning the title in 2022. (Two eligible junior swimmers, Lilla Bognar and Audrey Derivaux, were finalists in the 400 IM at Trials, but Han will be able to swim it due to nations being able to field more than two swimmers in an event at Junior Pan Pacs.)
Han currently owns seven U.S. NAG records, including the 13-14 mark in the SCY 400 IM at 4:06.95. She also holds a trio of 10 & under records and three more marks in the 11-12 age group.