KATS' Popp earns national ranking for her age group

KATS swimmer AJ Popp finished off her fantastic season with three more state records, and a trio of regional titles at the 2013 Northwest Region Short Course Age Group Championships in Federal Way, Wash., last weekend.

The meet started slow for the 10-year-old phenom, as she adjusted to the new surroundings and starting blocks at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center. She finished 14th in the 50-yard freestyle after a slow start in the sprint and sixth in the 100 backstroke.

“The first day she had slow reactions,” KATS coach Brandon Rannebarger said.

“The next day we worked on it. We did it in warm-up, talked about what to expect and to anticipate a little more.

“She immediately made the adjustments. She didn’t let (the first two races) set the tone for the entire weekend.”

Popp won the 50 butterfly in 29.24 seconds. She followed that with a win in the 100 fly by more than a second (1:05.12) and another gold in the 200 individual medley (2:28.11), making up a three-and-a-half second gap in the final three disciplines.

All three finishes were state record times. In her only other event at the meet she finished fifth in the 200 free.

“You can tell she has that awesome focus,” Rannebarger said.

“She’s been really fun to work with.”

The earned her a USA Swimming IMX ranking among the top 100 in the nation. The IMX ranking takes times from each individual discipline and ranks swimmers on their overall skill level.

After the regional meet, Popp is ranked as the 77th best swimmer in the nation in her age group and 22nd in the Western zone, a region that includes the entire western U.S., Hawaii and Alaska.

“To be 77th in the top age group in the U.S. is phenomenal,” Rannebarger said.

“A huge, huge accomplishment.”

After all those wins, Popp kept her eyes on the prize — in this case literally. For each victory, winning swimmers were given a ticket to redeem for a plastic duck, a small gift her coach said seemed to be the highlight of the young swimmer’s weekend.

“That was her high point,” Rannebarger said. “She’s still not putting too much pressure on herself. It’s refreshing. She’s all laughs and smiles beforehand. Then she gets behind the blocks and has awesome focus.

“In that 5-10 minutes before the race she’s on her own plane. Other kids are looking around and waving at their parents, she’s in a different place, not worried about anything else, focused on her race.”

Popp, the lone KATS swimmer at the meet, earned her team a 47th place finish out of 106 teams.

“She’s doing so well at this young age, were expecting big things,” Rannebarger said.