Oakhurst youth swimmer surges to five National Age Group records

As the records have tumbled this summer, the goals for youth swimming sensation Claire Tuggle have grown.

To Olympic size, in fact.

That’s because the 11-year-old from Oakhurst has made swimming news across the country by breaking five National Age Group records — two short course and three long course — in the 10-and-under division since April.

She is believed to be the first person from the greater Fresno area to set a NAG (as they are known in the swimming community) record since the late 1970s.

“I’ve been coaching over 30 years and never seen anything like it — ever,” said Tuggle’s coach, Tammy Kudela of the Yosemite Marlins Swim Club, whose roots in the sport stretch back to Southern California, the hotbed of swimming. “Her future is bright. She can be the real deal.”

Tuggle put herself on the national map on April 9 when her 1:58.20 in the 200-yard freestyle at the Far Westerns in Morgan Hill broke the record of 1:59.00 set in 2008 by Ella Eastin, the Stanford-bound senior from Crean Lutheran-Irvine High who captured four gold medals during the inaugural CIF State Swimming and Diving Championships in May at Clovis West High.

That’s when Tuggle decided on her dream college destination.

“I want to swim for Stanford,” Tuggle said.

Record No. 2 came two days later when Tuggle went 5:13.74 in the 500-yard free, nearly 3 seconds faster than the 5:16.52 swam by Tina Papadopoulos in 2005.

To put Tuggle’s times, then at the age of 10, in perspective, her mark in the 500-yard free would have been sixth and her 200-yard free mark would have won the B final during this year’s Central Section Division I swimming and diving championships, where the competitors are anywhere between five and eight years older.

Then it was on to the long course season, where Tuggle broke records in the 200-meter free (2:16.30) on May 29 and the 400-meter free (4:37.47) on June 19 that were set in 2003 by two-time Olympian Elizabeth Bieisel.

Tuggle’s final record came June 28, just before she turned 11, when she swam 1:01.86 in the 100-meter free to top the time of 1:02.11 set in 2005 by 2012 Olympian Lia Neal.

That helped turn Tuggle’s dreams toward becoming an Olympian, too.

Her goal is to make cuts for the U.S. Junior Nationals, a precursor to the Olympic Trials, by the time she is 12.

“Technically, if I am on that track, I would make it to the (Olympic Trials) by 16,” Tuggle said. “It’s a really big goal, a dream that everyone has that swims.”

Tuggle has been winning races since taking up recreation swimming at the age of 5.

But it was a race last summer when Tuggle swam a sub 1-minute time in the 100-yard free during the short course season that caught Kudela’s attention.

“That was it for me,” Kudela said. “I knew she was someone special. There are a lot of high school kids that can’t break 1 minute in the 100 free.”

Tuggle has physical gifts — among them an incredible ankle kick for a swimmer her age and an ability to get her fingertips down early in the stroke, which gives her great feel for the water, according to Kudela — and a competitiveness beyond her years.

“If I hand her a pile of laundry, she will tell you she can put it away faster than you,” said Tuggle’s mother, Jules. “She is tenacious. But she’s not a poor sport. If she loses, she just comes back stronger.”

Jules Tuggle said the biggest challenge she and husband Todd face as parents is allowing Claire to make the most of her gifts in the pool while protecting her childhood under a national spotlight.

“It doesn’t change what she is,” Jules Tuggle said. “She still has to do her homework and clean her room. I think she weathers it well for her age. She keeps it in perspective.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2015 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Oakhurst youth swimmer surges to five National Age Group records."