Swimmer of the Year 2025: 13-14 Age Group Champion

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

2025 Honorees: Karina Plaza & Joey Eaddy

In 2025, the 13-14 girls’ age group saw all three breaststroke National Age Group Records go down, while the boys did not see any new NAGs. Karina Plaza earned the award on the girls’ side for her NAG performances in February. The boys’ decision came down to overall #1 times which Joey Eaddy led with 10 top times over the three seasons encompassed in 2025.

13-14 Girls

Karina Plaza, Mecklenburg Swim Association

Karina Plaza was only 14 through the end of the 2024-25 short course season, but that was long enough to break both the 100 and 200 breaststroke NAG records with barrier-breaking times.

In February, Plaza, who swam for SwimMAC at the time but now swims for Mecklenburg, raced at the North Carolina Swimming Short Course Age Group Championships.

On the 2nd day of the meet, she swam the 100 breaststroke, touching in 59.94 to take nearly a second off her previous best 1:00.67 from the year prior. With this swim, she became the first 13-14 girl in history to break 1:00 in the 100 breaststroke, taking down Alexis Wegner’s 2015 record of 1:00.02.

The following evening, she dropped almost two seconds in the 200 breaststroke to swim 2:09.40, breaking 2:10 for the first time and breaking Mikayla Tan‘s two-month-old record of 2:09.58 from the 2024 Winter Junior Championships.

She also raced the 400 IM at that meet, swimming 4:12.12 to set the top time in the country and move up to 10th fastest all-time in the event.

She finished the 2024-25 SC season with top 10 times in the country in the 200 free, 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 200 fly, 200 IM on top of her nation-leading times in the 100 and 200 breast and 400 IM.

Plaza was also part of a NAG record relay in 2025. In January, SwimMAC broke the 13-14 long course mixed 400 medley relay NAG, swimming 4:05.66 to take more than three seconds off Santa Clara’s 2023 record of 4:09.21. Plaza swam the backstroke leg of that relay, touching in 1:03.56, which was the 7th fastest time in the country last season.

Plaza’s Top 10 Times in the Country

• 200 free — 1:47.66 (4th)
• 50 back — 25.54 (10th)
• 100 back — 53.87 (7th)
• 200 back — 1:56.06 (4th)
• 100 breast — 59.94 (1st)
• 200 breast — 2:09.40 (1st)
• 200 fly — 2:01.38 (8th)
• 200 IM — 1:57.44 (2nd)
• 400 IM — 4:12.12 (1st)

Honorable Mentions

• Sydney Hardy, Sarasota Sharks — Sydney Hardy of the Sarasota Sharks has the fastest time in the country in the 1650 free (16:33.02) and 200 IM (1:58.89). She also appears on the top 10 lists in the 1000 free (2nd — 9:50.36), 200 back (6th — 1:57.79), and 400 IM (2nd — 4:12.55). Last short course she finished with top 10 times in the 1000 free and 1650 freestyles. In long course she was top-10 in the 200 free (5th — 2:03.40), 400 free (2nd — 4:17.45), 100 back (9th — 1:03.83), 200 breast (7th — 2:35.47), 100 fly (6th — 1:02.04), 200 fly (2nd — 2:17.58), 200 IM (3rd — 2:17.20), and 400 IM (2nd — 4:47.86), and she had top times in the 800 free (8:46.03), 1500 free (16:45.04).
• Gabi Brito, Beach Cities Swimming — Gabi Brito recently turned 15, but not before she was able to make her mark on the 13-14 rankings. At the end of last short course she was the top swimmer in four different events and held top 10 times in eight others. In long course, she led five individual events with four other top 10 times. Her swims put her on the overall top 20 rankings in the short course 100 free (6th — 48.75), 100 fly (4th — 51.87), 200 fly (19th — 1:57.33), 200 IM (3rd — 1:56.39) and the long course 50 free (5th — 25.42), 100 free (5th — 55.74), 100 fly (5th — 59.60) and 200 IM (8th — 2:15.61).
• Grace Koenig-Song, NASA Wildcat Aquatics — Grace Koenig-Song was the other NAG record breaker in the 13-14 age group this season. At the 2025 NCSA Spring Championships, she swam 27.98 in the 50 breast final to finish 2nd overall, taking down her own NAG record time of 28.23 from the prelims.

Boys 13-14

Joey Eaddy, Revolution Aquatic Club

With no NAG record breakers, choosing a winner for the 13-14-year-old boys was not quite as clear cut, but Revolution Aquatic Club’s Joey Eaddy earned the win due to his number of nation-leading times and the skill he has shown in a variety of events across all three seasons.

Eaddy is 15 now, but with a birthday late in the year, he spent most of the calendar year as a 14-year-old. Over the first four months of this season, he racked up nation-leading times in the 200 free, 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, and 200 back.

Last short course he set the top time in the 1650 free and during long course he led the 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free, and 200 backstroke events.

Many of his top times were ranked in the top-15 all-time in the events, with his 500 free and 800 free both coming in 4th in the all-time 13-14 rankings.

Nation Leading Times

SCY

• 200 free — 1:39.91
• 500 free — 4:25.49 (#4 All-Time)
• 1000 free — 9:12.96 (#11 All-Time)
• 1650 free — 15:23.80 (#5 All-Time)
• 200 back — 1:47.46 (#14 All-Time)

LCM

• 400 free — 4:01.25 (#13 All-Time)
• 800 free — 8:15.28 (#4 All-Time)
• 1500 free — 15:49.23 (#14 All-Time)
• 200 back — 2:04.38 (#12 All-Time)

Honorable Mentions

• Reef McMeeking, Laker Swim — Reef McMeeking currently holds the top time in the boys’ 100 breast for this season with the 54.30 he swam to finish 14th in the event at the East Winter Juniors Championships. He also holds top 10 times in the 50 free (4th), 200 breast (5th), 100 fly (3rd), 200 IM (2nd), 400 IM (3rd). Last long course he set the fastest times in the country in the 50 breast, 100 breast, and 200 IM for 13-14 boys. His 100 breast time from Winter Juniors is the 3rd fastest time in history. His long course 100 breast of 1:03.50 is the 4th fastest time of all-time, and his 200 IM of 2:05.89 is the 5th fastest.
• Alexander Thomas, Dads Club Swim Team — Alexander Thomas is 15 now, but he was 14 through the long course season, which he finished with the top times in the country in the 100 free (52.49) and 200 freestyle (1:55.40). His spot on this ranking comes less from these swims, which don’t make it onto the top-20 all-time rankings, and more from the number of top-10 times he had. With just two seasons compared to Eaddy and McMeeking’s three, he held 14 top-10 times across the 2024-25 SC and the 2025 LC. The same number as McMeeking and only two less than Eaddy. He held top-10 times in six short course events — the 200 free (8th), 50 back (10th), 200 back (10th), 200 fly (3rd), 200 IM (5th), and 400 IM (7th)– and in eight other long course events — 50 back (5th), 100 back (6th), 200 back (6th), 200 fly (3rd), 200 IM (2nd), and 400 IM (6th).

PAST WINNERS

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 Swammy Age Group Swimmer of the Year — 13-14