KIDS to WATCH : DAVID KATZ

Swimming Anaheim Age 14

David Katz got an early start on his swimming career. His memories of it are a little vague, but at the age of 3 months, he made his first big splash in the sport.

When he was an infant, David’s mother, Carol Katz, took him to a YMCA in Philadelphia for a water safety class. While they were in the pool, David suddenly pushed free from his mother’s grasp and began swimming under water.

“The people who were teaching the class were stunned,” Carol Katz said. “They said they had never seen any kid his age do that. They had a local television crew come down and film David the next week.”

Katz, now 14, is among the elite for his age group. He has set four national records and has attended two camps at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

“I’ve always felt comfortable in the water,” said Katz, who swims for the Mission Viejo Nadadores. “I’ve had a lot of fun, training and going to meets. They say you start your second swimming career at 14, so I’m just beginning.”

Katz, who is 6 feet and 175 pounds, began swimming competitively at 6 and quickly became a top age-group swimmer. He set age-group national records in the 50- and 100-meter breaststroke when he was 10 and then again when he was 12. He still holds three of those records.

Last summer, Katz was selected to compete in the Western Zone meet, which features the top young swimmers in the western United States. There are seven zones in the country.

He competed in the 50 and 100 breast-stroke and the 50 and 100 freestyle. His best finish was a sixth in the 50 freestyle.

“Basically, kids who are selected for the zone race are close to making the junior nationals,” Nadadore Coach Terry Stoddard said.

“It’s another step along the path to becoming an elite swimmer.”