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Katie Kubiak breaks world records in four events at U.S. Para Swimming Championships

Katie Kubiak broke world records in the S4 classification in the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle at the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Championships that ended Sunday in Boise, Idaho.

Kubiak, coming off her junior year at New York University, capped the meet by clocking 2:44.97 in the 200m free, which was 6.56 seconds faster than the old world record set by German Tanja Scholz in 2022.

Kubiak previously swam 36.44 in the 50m free (previous record: 36.92), 39.66 in the 50m fly (previous record: 40.22) and 1:32.72 in the 100m back (previous record: 1:43.91).

“My coach and I wanted to show up and put up the best times we absolutely could, and to have the time drops that we saw in my 50s and the consistency in my 100m and 200m freestyle today were really the cherry on top,” Kubiak said Sunday, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “I think the most impactful race this weekend was the 50m fly because breaking 40 seconds was a marker that I came into this meet with, so to be able to break it twice (prelims and final) was huge.”

Kubiak, who has late-onset congenital myopathy, swam at the youth level until 2018, when she had spinal surgery. She returned to swimming in 2023 and took part in her first Para swim meet in 2024, according to the USOPC.

In that first meet, she broke five American records. In December 2024, she won five titles at the national championships.

Then in April, Kubiak swam at an international meet for the first time — a Para World Series stop in Indianapolis — and broke S4 world records in the 150m individual medley and 100m free.

Another star at last week’s nationals was Koehn Boyd, a 16-year-old who broke S10 world records in the 400m individual medley and 200m fly.

The team for September’s World Championships in Singapore was announced in May. It includes Kubiak and Boyd and is led by 18-time Paralympic gold medalist Jessica Long.