Four boys broke two school records at the MSHSAA Swim and Dive Championships this weekend. MHS Swim and Dive also placed 9th overall. Joseph Schodel, swim coach, said that swim records aren’t broken very often, so two at State is a big deal.
“Top 10 is always big, especially in our state where everyone is stupid fast,” Schoedel said.
Jack Favazza, senior, broke the school’s 100-yard breaststroke record by seven-tenths of a second along with participating in the relay team that broke the 200-yard medley relay record. The 100-yard breaststroke was last broken in 2006 and the 200-yard medley relay was broken last in 2017.
“Seven-tenths is a fairly substantial amount in the 100 breaststroke,” Schoedel said.
The medley relay record was broken by three-tenths of a second by seniors Favazza and Braden Scherrer and juniors Max Xu and Vincent Hagar. Favazza swam breaststroke, Scherrer swam backstroke, Hagar swam butterfly and Xu swam freestyle.
“We were all very excited to break the record since it was a goal of ours for the entire season,” Xu said.
This was the first record he has ever broken.
“We looked over at the time on the board and everyone was cheering when we finished,” Xu said, “It was kind of surreal that we made it.”
Xu ended the relay swimming freestyle as his teammates watched.
“When Max was swimming, we were super anxious and wanted him to get to the wall, and we broke the record by three-tenths of a second. That’s less than a snap,” Hagar said.
Next year, Hagar said he hopes to break individual records for fly to pair with his new medley record. He has broken a couple of club records but this is his first for school records.
Hagar said that during practice, the group pushed each other so they could reach their goal of breaking the school record. Relay starts were their main focus to keep the fastest time. Hagar said they practiced every time as if they were racing.
“I honestly think the chemistry between our group helped because we are friends and it also helped just get us over the top,” Hagar said.
