Kaii Liam Winkler (born 2006) is a German-American competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. He is a world junior record holder in the

long course An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champion ...

4×100-meter freestyle relay. At the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, he won gold medals in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×100-meter medley relay, as well as a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle. Since 2024, he represents team

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

internationally.

Background

Winkler is

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

for high school, competing scholastically as part of the South Florida Heat. He has an older brother, Finn, who is also a competitive swimmer.

Career

2021–2022

At his first Florida High School 1A State Championships in the autumn of 2021, Winkler placed second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 44.00 seconds and second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:36.78.Curreri, Gary (December 25, 2021)
"Broward boys swimming first team, second team, honorable mention, coach of the year"
''

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. In March the following year, he became the fastest American 15-year-old swimmer in history in the

100-meter freestyle with a time of 50.24 seconds at the 2022 Piranhas Senior Invitational in Florida.Hamann, Michael (March 7, 2022)
"Kaii Winkler Blasts 50.24 LCM 100 Free, Fastest American 15-Year Old Ever"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. In April, at the 2022 USA Swimming International Team Trials held in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

, he placed fourth in the c-final of the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 49.95 seconds and 33rd in the 200-meter freestyle with a 1:52.05.

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overa ...

(April 30, 2022)
"2022 Phillips 66 International Team Trials: Results Book"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''Louis Brandt et Fils'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. The next month,

selected him to the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships roster in the 100-meter freestyle based on his results at the International Team Trials."2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships U.S. Roster - Version 2"
''

''. 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022.

2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships

Day one of four at the

2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships The 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships were held from 24 to 27 August 2022 at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park, Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Honolulu, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.

, held in August and contested at

Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the armed forces. A topic of interest for resear ...

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Winkler placed fourth in the b-final of the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:50.81 after swimming a personal best time of 1:50.07 in the preliminary heats.Hy-Tek (August 24, 2022)
"2022 Jr Pan Pacific Swimming Championships: Results"
''swmeets.com''. Retrieved September 11, 2022.

(August 24, 2022)
"Day 1 Finals , Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships"
''

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. On the second day, he placed second in the b-final of the 100-meter freestyle with a 50.12, after swimming a personal best time of 49.47 seconds in the preliminary heats, and contributed a split of 1:51.27 for the fourth leg of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay to help win the exhibition heat with a time of 7:22.66.

(August 25, 2022)
"Day 2 Finals , Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. In his first event of the evening session on day three, Winkler won the b-final of the 100-meter butterfly with a personal best time of 53.94 seconds. Later in the session, he split a 48.95 for the anchor, fourth, leg of the 4×100-meter freestyle relay in the final to help win the gold medal and set a new world junior record and Championships record of 3:15.79 with finals relay teammates Thomas Heilman, Henry McFadden, and

Daniel Diehl Daniel Diehl (born October 26, 2005) is an American competitive swimmer. He win gold medalist in freestyle, freestyle, and medley with silver medalist in 200 m backstroke and 200 m individual medley in 2023 World Junior Championships. He is ...

.Lohn, John (August 26, 2022)
"United States breaks World Junior Record in 400 Freestyle Relay at Junior Pan Pacs"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022.Penland, Spencer (August 27, 2022)
"U.S. Breaks Boys 4×100 Free Relay World Junior Record (3:15.79), Diehl Splits 48.6"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022.Sagendorph, Kyle (August 27, 2022)
"U.S. Captures World Junior Record in 4x100 Free Relay at Junior Pan Pacs"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022."Diehl helps set 4x100 freestyle world junior record"
''

Cumberland Times-News The ''Cumberland Times-News'' is a five-day morning daily newspaper serving Cumberland, Maryland, United States, and the surrounding areas of Allegany and Garrett counties in Maryland, and Mineral County in West Virginia. The paper, which has e ...

''. August 28, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022. The following, and final, day, he tied fellow American Diggory Dillingham for the silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle with a personal best time of 22.50 seconds.Sagendorph, Kyle (August 28, 2022)
"U.S. Wraps Junior Pan Pacific Championships with 46 Medals, Team of the Meet Honors"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. In the 4×100-meter medley relay final, he and relay teammates Daniel Diehl (backstroke), Zhier Fan (breaststroke), and Thomas Heilman (butterfly), won the gold medal with a Championships record time of 3:36.65.Penland, Spencer (August 28, 2022)
"Heilman Throws Down 51.71 Fly Split As U.S. Breaks 4×100 Medley Jr Pan Pac Record"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022."Conclusi i Campionati Pan Pacific Juniores. Tutti i vincitori. Tripletta d'oro per Southan, Staples e Gemmel"
(in Italian). ''nuoto.com''. August 28, 2022. Retrieved September 11, 2022. He contributed a split time of 49.18 seconds for the freestyle leg of the relay.

2022 U.S. Open Championships

Leading up to the year's U.S. Open, Winkler competed at the 2022 Florida 1A High School State Championships in

Stuart, Florida Stuart is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Florida, United States. Located in southeastern Florida, Stuart is the largest of five Municipal corporation, incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population is 17,425 accordi ...

, where he won the 100-yard freestyle with a National Age Group record time of 42.52 seconds for the boys 15–16 age group on November 18, which was 0.15 seconds faster than the former record by Ryan Hoffer in 2014.Overend, Riley (November 18, 2022)
"Kaii Winkler Breaks Caeleb Dressel's 200 FR FHSAA Record, Then Sets 100 FR NAG Mark"
''

''. Retrieved December 9, 2022.Lohn, John (November 18, 2022)
"Kaii Winkler Breaks NAG (15-16) Record in 100 Freestyle At Florida State Champs"
''

''. Retrieved December 9, 2022. He also won the state title in the 200-yard freestyle, in which he set a Florida high school record with a 1:34.18.Curreri, Gary (November 20, 2022)
"South Florida Heat juniors Erika Pelaez, Kaii Winkler double-winners at 1A state swimming"
''

''. Retrieved February 20, 2023. At the 2022 U.S. Open Swimming Championships, held in November and December in Greensboro, North Carolina, Winkler tied for nineteenth-place in the 50-meter freestyle on day two with a time of 22.97 seconds, which qualified him for the c-final.

(December 1, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 1, 2022. He lowered his time to a 22.82 in the evening to win the c-final.

(December 1, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 1, 2022. The following day, he swam a 1:50.97 in the preliminary heats of the 200-meter freestyle to qualify for the b-final ranking eleventh across all preliminary heats.

(December 2, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 200m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 2, 2022. Improving his time in the evening finals session, he won the b-final with a time of 1:50.26, which was 2.88 seconds slower than a-final winner

Jake Mitchell Jacob Ryan Mitchell (born December 22, 2001) is an American swimmer and Olympian. He placed eighth in the 400 meter freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2019 World Junior Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4×200 meter freesty ...

(December 2, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 2, 2022. For his final event, the 100-meter freestyle on day four, he ranked seventh in the preliminary heats and qualified for the a-final with a time of 49.56 seconds.

(December 3, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved December 3, 2022. In the evening final, he achieved a sixth-place finish with a personal best time of 49.45 seconds.

(December 3, 2022)
"2022 Toyota U.S. Open Championships: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved December 3, 2022.

2022 Winter Junior National Championships

Later in December, at the 2022 Winter Junior US National Championships, Winkler finished in a personal best time of 19.70 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to place fourth at the East edition of the meet. The following day, he placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a personal best time of 1:33.36."2022 East Speedo Winter Junior Championships: Results"
''

''. December 10, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2023. In the morning preliminaries on the fourth and final day, he swam a personal best time and new boys 15–16 National Age Group record of 42.21 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle to qualify for the final ranking first, his time broke the record he set in the event less than one month earlier at 42.52 seconds.Lohn, John (December 10, 2022)
"Winter Juniors-East: Summer McIntosh Stars Again, Kaii Winkler Sets NAG During Fast Prelims Session (Live Updates)"
''

''. Retrieved December 10, 2022.Gibbs, Robert (December 10, 2022)
"Kaii Winkler Lowers 15-16 100 Free NAG Record with 42.21 Prelims Swim in Greensboro"
''

''. Retrieved December 10, 2022. He won the event in the evening with a time of 42.22, which was one-hundredth of a second slower than his time in the morning.Lohn, John (December 10, 2022)
"Hot Streak For Daniel Diehl Continues With Sub-1:40 Blast in 200 Backstroke At Winter Juniors"
''

''. Retrieved December 10, 2022.

2023

At the second stop of the 2023 TYR

Pro Swim Series Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retir ...

in March in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, Winkler started competition on the second day with a national age group record for the boys 15–16 age group in the 100-meter freestyle, finishing in a time of 48.81 seconds in the preliminaries and qualifying for the final ranking third.

(March 2, 2023)
"2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved March 2, 2023.Keith, Braden (March 2, 2023)
"Kaii Winkler Breaks US 15-16 Age Group Record in the 100 Free, Moves to #5 in the World"
''

''. Retrieved March 2, 2023. In the evening he finished in 49.11 seconds to place fourth, 0.83 seconds behind gold medalist Dylan Carter.

(March 2, 2023)
"2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 100m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved March 2, 2023. The following day, he placed second in the b-final of the 200-meter freestyle with a personal best time of 1:49.02.

(March 3, 2023)
"2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved March 3, 2023. The fourth and final day, he placed sixth in the final of the 100-meter butterfly with a personal best time of 52.64 seconds.

(March 4, 2023)
"2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 100m Butterfly Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved March 4, 2023. For his final event, he won the b-final of the 50-meter freestyle in a personal best time of 22.49 seconds, finishing two-hundredths of a second ahead of the second-quickest b-final finisher

Diogo Ribeiro Diogo Ribeiro (d. 16 August 1533) was a Portuguese cartographer and explorer who worked most of his life in Spain, where he was known as Diego Ribero. He worked on the official maps of the '' Padrón Real'' (or ''Padrón General'') from 1518 t ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

(March 4, 2023)
"2023 TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale: Men's 50m Freestyle Final Results"
''

''. Retrieved March 4, 2023. Fifteen days later, he lowered his personal best time and national age group record in the 100-yard freestyle for the boys 15–16 age group to a time of 41.96 seconds at the 2023 Florida Gold Coast Swimming Championships.Zacharias, Sidney (March 19, 2023)
"Kaii Winkler Blasts 41.96 100 FR To Become First 15-16 Year-Old To Break 42-Seconds"
''

''. Retrieved March 20, 2023.De George, Matthew (March 20, 2023)
"Kaii Winkler Goes 41.96 100 Free to Lower His 15-16 NAG Record"
''

''. Retrieved March 20, 2023.

International championships

: Winkler swam only in exhibition.

Personal best times

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course yards (25 yd pool)

World records

World junior records

Long course meters (50 m pool)

National age group records

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Legend: h – preliminary heat

Short course yards (25 yd pool)

Legend: h – preliminary heat

Awards and honors

* Florida Dairy Farmers, Mr. Swimming Award: 2022"HEAT's Kaii Winkler named state's Mr. Swimming. Plus basketball, soccer and wrestling results"
''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...

''. December 16, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023. * ''

'',

Broward County Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

Swimmer of the Year (boys): 2021–2022,McPherson, Jordan (January 26, 2022)
"South Florida HEAT's Erika Pelaez and Kaii Winkler are Broward Swimmers of the Year"
''

''. Retrieved September 11, 2022. 2022–2023"Erika Pelaez, Kaii Winkler: Broward swimmers of the year"
''

''. January 6, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023. * ''

'',

Swimmer of the Year (boys): 2022Curreri, Gary (December 23, 2022)
"Broward boys swimmer of the year: Kaii Winkler, South Florida HEAT junior"
''

''. Retrieved February 20, 2023. * ''Sun-Sentinel'', Broward County Boys First Swimming Team: 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winkler, Kaii 2006 births Living people Swimmers from Florida American male freestyle swimmers German male butterfly swimmers Swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic swimmers for Germany NC State Wolfpack men's swimmers 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen