{"id":594872,"date":"2024-08-05T06:56:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T13:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=594872"},"modified":"2024-08-05T06:56:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T13:56:25","slug":"lucky-break-helps-kaii-winkler-become-german-olympian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/lucky-break-helps-kaii-winkler-become-german-olympian\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucky Break Helps Kaii Winkler Become German Olympian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lucky Break Helps Kaii Winkler Become German Olympian<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the viewpoint of the deck at the Paris Olympics, Kaii Winkler<\/strong> saw a lost summer of 2023 as a lucky break.<\/p>\n

Winkler broke his arm in the spring of 2023, an injury that kept him out of Nationals<\/a> and, crucially, prevented him from qualifying to represent the United States at either the World Championships or World Junior Championships. Difficult as six weeks of recuperation was, it opened a door this spring, with the Olympics on the line.<\/p>\n

Because Winkler hasn\u2019t represented the U.S., he was eligible to immediately declare his allegiance to Germany<\/a>, meaning the Olympic A cut in the men\u2019s 100 butterfly that finished eighth at U.S. Olympic Trials in June could be recognized by Germany and get him to Paris six weeks later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was very, very bad experience for me,\u201d Winkler said of his diminished summer of 2023. \u201cBut it did really open my eyes to my priorities, in swimming and taking care of my body. But that did shape this path for Germany a little bit smoother because of my eligibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winkler was tabbed as one of the futures of American swimming<\/a>. The Florida native dominated competition in the state, setting a national age-group record in the 15-16-year-old 100-yard freestyle (42.52) and national high school records in the 100 free (42.12) and 200 free. The NC State signee had a chance to nick a spot on what would become a greatly inauspicious U.S. men\u2019s team<\/a>, but he finished 46th at Olympic Trials in the 200 free, 25th in the 100 free, 38th in the 50 and eighth in the 100 fly. That time of 51.51 was a best time, just three tenths off the German record of 51.19 set by Steffen Diebler<\/strong> in 2013.<\/p>\n