At the Maroon and Gold swim meet held on Sept. 15, freshman Macy Williams beat the 100 butterfly freshman swimming record of 1:01.78 made by Sophia Valenzuela with a new time of 59.92. Sophia had held it for the past 3 years, but Macy was able to beat it due to her extensive training and dedication. 

“Macy is a super hard worker and I think this will not be the only record she breaks. She is dedicated and motivated to continue to be better and better,” said swim coach Kathleen Stibrich.

Macy has been swimming for the past eight years and has been swimming for a club team called ESA for the past six. When she did finally do the record-breaking swim, she was very methodical with her strategy and methods. meet was held here at the Kingwood Park High School pool where her club team also practices, so she used her time there to train to beat the record.

“When I was swimming, I knew in the back of my head, I had to focus on myself and just myself. As I was going throughout the race, I planned each breath knowing they would slow me down, I minimalized my breathing and focused on my technique,” she said.

Her hard work was on display at the meet here in the Summer Creek Natatorium.

“When I got behind the blocks, my sole goal was to get that record,” she said. “When I touched the wall and turned around after the race, I noticed I got the record. I was really glad all of my work had paid off.”

Macy isn’t the only freshman with a record-breaking swim this season. Freshmen Cody Wharton, Tyler Tran, Vito Arrambide and Michael Morris beat the 200 medley relay time with 1:45.70 at the meet at Kingwood Park High School on Sept. 23.

Make sure to catch the next swim meets throughout the month of October.