It’s just the second week of high school swimming season and it’s already been a busy one for Katie Belle Sikes.
Last week, in her opening meet of her senior season at Orange at the Orange County Sportsplex, Sikes qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, where she is the two-time defending 3A State Champion. She also qualified in the 100 yard freestyle, a state championship she won last year, as well. She also qualified for regionals with Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske in the 4×50 medley relay and the 4×100 yard medley relay. Sikes, White, Rasinske and White won the 4×50 state championship last year, the first relay team in Orange High history to win a state championship.
Orange defeated Southeast Alamance and Southern Alamance to win their opening dual meets of the year.
This weekend, Sikes took her considerable talents to the Speedo World Junior Championships. Competing at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University, Sikes finished second in the 50 yard freestyle among the East Region at 21.95 seconds. Sikes competed for her club team, East Carolina Aquatics, coached by Claudio Battaglini.
Only Julie Mishler of Syracuse, Indiana, who has committed to swim at the University of Louisville, finished ahead of Sikes at 21.87 seconds.
Sikes time in the 50 freestyle was also faster than everyone in the West Region except one swimmer. The West Region championships were held in Westmont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, over the weekend.
In addition to her silver medal, Sikes also competed in the 100 freestyle at the World Junior Championships. She finished fifth in the 100 freestyle at 48.93 seconds. Sikes was one of only two competitors to finish in the top five in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. Jillian Crooks of North Carolina won the 100 meters after finishing 4th in the 50 yard.
Sikes also competed in the 100 yard butterfly, where she finished 21st.
Last month, Sikes formally committed to compete at the University of Georgia, a school that has won seven national championships in women’s swimming. She is the first female swimmer to win a state championship in Orange High history.
As a freshman, she won the Central Regional championship in the 50 yard freestyle and finished second in the 2021 state championships, which were contested in the midst of a pandemic. She has won the 2022 and 2023 3A State Championship in the 50 yard freestyle.
Sikes made the move to East Carolina Aquatics, where Battaglini put more of an emphasis on high school swimming. It led to Sikes being named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 2023 3A State Championships, where she won two individual state championships, along with the relay state title.