{"id":339256,"date":"2018-11-23T18:45:08","date_gmt":"2018-11-24T01:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=339256"},"modified":"2018-11-23T18:38:23","modified_gmt":"2018-11-24T01:38:23","slug":"leah-hayes-named-sports-kid-of-the-year-by-sports-illustrated-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/leah-hayes-named-sports-kid-of-the-year-by-sports-illustrated-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Leah Hayes Named Sports Kid Of The Year By Sports Illustrated Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

13-year-old <\/span>Leah Hayes <\/b>has been named the 2018 Sports Kid of the Year, appearing in this month\u2019s issue of <\/span>Sports Illustrated Kids<\/span><\/i>. Hayes, who was selected as a <\/span>Swimming World Up & Comer<\/span><\/i><\/a> back in 2016, currently owns six National Age Group records including two from this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the article that appears on the <\/span>SI Kids <\/span><\/i>website notes, Hayes was a natural from the start of her swimming career. During a breakout season, she broke five NAG records in a two week span as a 10-year-old. But beyond her talent in the pool, Hayes was selected as Sportskid of the Year for her ability to win races with \u201cgrace\u201d and \u201cpositivity.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The 13-year-old is known for her sportsmanship and ability to lift others up. The young swimmer has dealt with the disease alopecia from the age of six, which she admitted was a drain on her confidence before fully confronting her hair loss at just 8-years-old and explaining her disease to her entire fourth grade class. <\/span><\/p>\n

You read more about Hayes and her career in the original article from <\/span>Sports Illustrated Kids <\/span><\/i>by clicking <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

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We see you, Leah Hayes! Congrats on being named 2018 @sikids Sports Kid of the Year! (: @donaldmiralle)<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by USA Swimming<\/a> (@usaswimming) on