Swim team sets 10 school records at district meet
Seniors Lynch, Kershner both win two individual events; Knight relay teams primed for run at state
January 30, 2020
At the District 20-5A swim meet on Jan. 18 at UT’s Lee and Joe Jamail Swim Center, the swim team made a historically big splash setting 10 new team records in the process of winning district titles in six events, as well as five second-place and six third-place finishes.
Senior Alex Lynch and junior Izak Zaplatar placed 1-2 at districts in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 100-yard breastroke, Lynch broke his own record with a 57.6.
The two will face each other in those events at the Region 5-5A Meet in College Station on Friday.
“I am excited to face him down in the 200 IM and in breaststroke,” Zaplatar said of his intrasquad rivalry with Lynch. “It was a lot of fun swimming at districts, it’ll be fun to swim with him again at regionals and hopefully state.”
We all put in the work as hard as we could, and it finally paid off.
— junior Kyle Larson
The standout pair of swimmers are among the 18 swimmers that will compete this weekend at regionals in College Station.
Like Lynch, senior Cole Kershner also won a pair of district titles in individual events: the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle. Kershner’s times of 21.70 and 47.78 are the fastest in McCallum history in those events.
Sophomore Zoe Lynch placed first in the 200-yard individual medley and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Her 200 IM time of 2:12.85 beat her own school record time of 2:14.39. Madi Baylor earned a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:58.83.
Junior Kyle Larson was second and set a new school record with a time of 55.89 in the 100-yard backstroke. Senior Jack Hester finished third in both the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle. In the latter event, Hester set a new school record in a time of 1:49.51.
I’m looking forward to seeing people beat their earlier times. Maybe we can set some more school records.
— sophomore Hannah Gates
“I was just so shocked,” Larson said of his record-breaking result. “I didn’t expect to go that fast. It was really cool to see that, because I’ve been working on that for like a year and to see that I just dropped one and a half seconds … it was great.”
The boys 200-yard medley relay team–Larson, Zaplatar, Lynch and Kershner–finished first by more than two seconds over second-place Dripping Springs.
“So we broke our own record from last year, which is cool,” Zaplatar said. “It’ll be nice to see what we can do senior year.”
“We all put in the work as hard as we could,” Larson added, “and it finally paid off.”
The boys 200-yard freestyle relay team of Hester, Luke Gordon, Lynch and Kershner–placed second and set a new school record with a time of 1:28.36.
The girls 200-yard individual medley relay team of Zoe Lynch, senior Claire Greenberg, junior Ellen Fox and Baylor–placed third and set a new school record in a time of 1:43.71. The girls 200-yard freestyle relay team of Hannah Gates, Zoe Lynch, Madi Baylor and Ellen Fox–placed fourth and set a new school record with a time of 1:57.98.
“I was able to drop two seconds when I swam back [in the relay],” Gates said. “I’m looking forward to swimming at region and I’m looking forward to seeing people beat their earlier times. Maybe we can set some more school records.”
Coach Jeff Rudy told MacJournalism on Friday that he has never had so many strong relay teams in one calendar and that he is hopeful that McCallum can qualify a relay team for the state meet, which would be a first for McCallum.
![Knight ace Natalie Myrick pitched a great game in defeat, striking out 11, walking none and allowing zero earned runs and only four hits. Her teammate Lila Brotherton said she had command of all her pitches including an intimidating fastball. Natalie is an amazing pitcher and did a really good job at that game, Brotherton said. I’m not sure who is the faster pitcher [her or LASA starter Rose Harrelson], but it is definitely a close match.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Possible-Immersive-Softball-Photo-2-600x384.jpg)
Maggie Coulbourn • Nov 5, 2020 at 12:44 pm
This was a really good article. I was excited to see one about the swim team because I swim competitively and often the swim team doesn’t get to shine as much as other sports teams. I appreciated the quotes from the swimmers and Coach Rudy. I think people who don’t swim might find it helpful if a little more information was included defining terms, and such.
Emmi Anderson • Feb 21, 2020 at 4:14 pm
Overall I really enjoyed reading this article about the swimmers because I normally don’t hear about the swimming teams accomplishments so I am really glad that they made an article about this. I loved the quotes present in this article because they helped express how the swimmers felt after winning districts. I also liked how they included the coaches point of view and his thoughts on the big win for Mac. Finally I would recommend that you explain more about what it is the swimmers won districts for because i am not familiar with all of the terms and race names! Great Job!
Sophia Dawson • Feb 20, 2020 at 8:19 pm
I really liked this story and was able to connect with it well. You guys did a great job of getting quotes about how the players felt beating the school’s record or their own. I also enjoyed the way you guys included coach Rudy’s opinion on the team this year. It was a good idea to not just shift the focus on the swimmers but on Coach Rudy as well. Something that I would recommend doing next time is explaining what the events mean in terms of what are the different styles of swimming. I did swimming for 7 years so I already knew what they meant but for others, they might have not. Otherwise, the story was great! Good job!