5 National Records from Bolles Highlights Florida Men’s 1A State Championship Meet

Team Scoring Top 5 – Florida 1A Men’s Championship

1. Bolles (Jacksonville) 512
2. Lake Highland Prep (Orlando) 200.5
3. Saint Andrew’s (Boca Raton) 179
4. American Heritage (Plantation) 166
5. Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale) 155

Recap

The 2012 edition of the Bolles School high school men’s swim team might be the best high school team in history. Even beyond the big superstar names that everyone knows (Schooling, Murphy, Condorelli), there is a ton of depth in this roster that nobody ever talks about.

Someone might be able to debate that, hat they did on Saturday at the Florida 1A (small schools) High School State Championship meet, though, will go down in swimming lore as perhaps the greatest single day of high school swimming any team has ever put together. They broke a total of 5 National High School Records, and became the first high school team in history to simultaneously hold all three National High School relay records.

They achieved this by swimming their best three swimmers in all three relays, which speaks a little bit to the story of their depth, but in the process they just demolished old records.

The finals haul of 4 records started with the 200 medley relay, where they swam a 1:28.02. That knocked more than a second off of the previous Bolles-held record of 1:29.79 set by Bolles back in 2009. In 2009, a young freshman named Ryan Murphy led the relay off in 23.32 (he’s actually been taking this 200 medley relay to State Championships since he was in 8th grade).

Murphy is the only holdover from that veteran relay, but he set a serious tone in this 200 medley with a 21.09 in a 50 backstroke. There wasn’t a single swimmer at last year’s NCAA Championship meet who led off the medley relay that fast; Murphy will be a Cal Golden Bear next season.

One swimmer alone, though, cannot make a National Record relay. He was followed by junior Joseph Schooling in a 25.48 in breaststroke, a 21.61 from junior Josh Booth on the butterfly leg, and a 19.64 from USC commit Santo Condorelli to top things off. That means they had one swimmer, Schooling, in an off event, and they still crushed the record.

Even before that swim, though, Murphy already had a record coming out of prelims. There, he swam a 45.34 that broke both the National High School, as well as the 17-18 National Age Group, records in the 100 backstroke that were previously held by David Nolan of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Nolan’s best as a high schooler was 45.49.

When Nolan broke that record two seasons ago, it seemed like it would stay for a long time. Afterall, he cleared more than a full second off of Cole Cragin’s record before him. Murphy, however, came through and lowered it again.

He cruised to a 48.08 in finals, ensuring himself the State Championship and preserving his energy for a 400 free relay swim, but that’s another etching of his name in the record books.

Back to finals, the third record of the day to go down was Joseph Schooling in the men’s 100 fly with a 46.50. Nobody was looking all-that-hard at the junior Schooling in this event for national records, especially with everything else going down in Jacksonville, but the Singapore Olympian had been a 47.0 last season as only a sophomore, so this result is right-on-target for him.

This took down Maclin Davis’ freshly-minted record from February that was 46.64 (he was then the first high school swimmer to go under 47 seconds). Sean Fletcher still holds the public school record in 47.09. Interestingly, they both went out in identical 21.79’s, but Schooling, who is much better than Davis in the 200 fly, closed just a bit better.

Next up, it was time for more relays, as they swam a 1:19.27 in the 200 free relay, again clearing an old Bolles record of 1:20.88 that Bolles set earlier this year.

Sometimes, it’s harder for people to put relay swims in perspective than it is individual swims. Consider, though, that this means the relay averaged a 19.8 per swimmer. This time would have almost qualified for last year’s NCAA Championship Meet. And they’re only in high school. There are only a handful of swimmers who have gone under 20 seconds in high school, and this team averaged that. That’s incredible. The four on this relay were Murphy, leading off in 19.54 to break a state record and a National Independent HS Record, Schooling 2nd in 19.73, Emiro Goosen 3rd in 20.54, and Condorelli again on the anchor in 19.46.

Murphy’s swim took down the 19.74 previously set by Arizona’s Giles Smith in 2009.

Then, in maybe the most impressive of the three relays, Bolles ended the meet with a 2:54.43 in the 400 free relay. Keep in mind that last year, a fantastic relay from New Trier High School in Illinois became the first to dip under three minutes in a high school meet. Now, with this swim that’s averaging around 43.6’s, Bolles has set the bar in a different stratosphere. Murphy led off in 42.95, which is another National High School Record. That took down a legendary mark of 43.43 set by Joe Hudepohl in 1992 – two decades ago. He was followed by Santo Condorelli in 43.11, Josh Booth in 44.67, and Schooling this time on the anchor in 43.70.

Though not a National Record, Condorelli also won the 50 free individually in 19.88.

That is the story of the greatest day that any high school team has ever had, but instead of letting it hog the spotlight, instead we’ll just shine a brighter light on all of the fantastic swims at this meet.

Junior Rasmus Skjaerpe, who will be gunning for a spot on the 2016 Norwegian Olympic team, won the men’s 200 free in 1:38.20: more than two seconds better than his personal best. Skjaerpe was also 2nd behind Schooling’s National Record with a 49.08 in the 100 fly – in total, there were 5 swimmers in that race under 50 seconds (including Bolles’ other butterflier Booth in 49.13 for 3rd).

Senior Quinn Cassidy won the 200 IM an event later in 1:49.69, using a big breaststroke leg to pull away from a field that includes Julian Radice and sophomore Javier Barrena-Lorono. Barrena-Lorono was another one of those impressive pieces from Bolles, taking 3rd here in 1:51.77. He’s a name to watch for the next generation of Bolles superstars.

Cassidy, already established as a great breaststroker, also won the 100 breast in 56.87. He’s another outstanding recruit that will be joining Florida next fall: a Florida team already rich with breaststroker/IM’ers.

In the men’s 100 free, absent at least the three best 100 freestylers in the state from Bolles, there was still plenty of speed and talent. Daniel Spas from American Heritage won the race in 44.55. That takes Spas from a good sprint recruit to an elite sprint recruit, which will help the Florida men next fall begin to build back toward the top 5-or-6 in the country as their sprint group grows.

Matt O’Donnell won the 500 free in 4:29.51 for Cardinal Mooney. Lake Highland Prep stuck a pair of swimmers in the top 4, with Alex Pena touching 2nd in 4:30.74, and David Perez tying for 4th in 4:32.55. Both of them are juniors, and should continue to rise in the distance swimming scene as they train together next year. They were two of the stars that led Highland Prep to a runner-up finish, well behind Bolles.

Full meet results available here.

Summary of National Record breaking swims:

200 Yard Medley Relay 1:28.02
Old Record: Bolles (2009) 1:29.79
Ryan Murphy 21.09
Joseph Schooling 25.48
Josh Booth 21.81
Santo Condorelli 19.64
100 Yard Butterfly
Joseph Schooling 21.79 46.50
Old Record (Maclin Davis, 2012) 21.79 46.64
200 Yard Free Relay 1:19.27
Old Record: Bolles (2012) 1:20.88
Ryan Murphy 19.54
Joseph Schooling 19.73
Emiro Goossen 20.54
Santo Condorelli 19.46
100 Yard Backstroke (prelims)
Ryan Murphy 21.75 45.34
Old Record (David Nolan, 2011) 22.20 45.49
400 Yard Free Relay 2:54.43
Old Record: Bolles (2012) 2:58.58
Ryan Murphy 42.95
Santo Condorelli 43.11
Josh Booth 44.67
Joseph Schooling 43.70

Which Record Breaking Swim was the Most Impressive?

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Jeff Burkot
11 years ago

I mean Bolles was good and all but by far the wildest swim of any of those sprinters was that wicked last 50 the dude from Trinity swam on the second place medley relay – he went 19.75 ! like 3 seconds faster than his individual 50 ! !

Swimfan
11 years ago

This was amazing to watch! Great group of boys!!

Dogg
11 years ago

These swims are more dirty than Africa’s water supply.

11 years ago

Sergio is DA Man! I’m still trying to wrap my head around 2:54.4, that’s insane!

Paul Yetter
11 years ago

Florida Swimming (and Florida Gold Coast) is alive and well. There are a lot of strong teams with strong coaching staffs, and athletes who want to be great.

FLSwimCoach
11 years ago

Just wanted to send a congrats to Steve Brown and his staff down in Sarasota. Shark swimmers won all 3 500’s on the ladies side. Taylor Katz 3A 4:45.27/ Danielle Valley 2A 4:40.97/ Ellen Berdusco 1A 4:47.17 (they had a total of 4 ladies under 4:50!!!). They also had Matt O’Donnell win the 1A 500 (4:29.51) and had 10 total swimmers top 8 in the 500. Very impressive.

TOSHI
11 years ago

All I need is sunshine, a little flower and a raindrop………this inspires me

Old Coach
11 years ago

I think 19.54 should be a new National prep record.

bobo gigi
Reply to  Old Coach
11 years ago

The record is 19.43 by Vlad Morozov.

CalBearFan
Reply to  bobo gigi
11 years ago

There are public school records and independent school records (private schools) and then the overall record is the faster of the two…murphy did break the national independent records in both the 50 and the 100 which were held by Giles Smith and Joe Hudepohl.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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