Eric Ring Sets Six Louisiana State Records

12-year old Eric Ring of the Hurricane Swim Club in Slidell, Louisiana has broken six Louisiana state swimming records in the last month.

In February at the COLA Mardi Gras Madness meet Ring set two records with one swim. In the 1650 yard freestyle, he cut the 11-12 record by over 40 seconds as he finished in 17:24.52. His 1000 split of 10:28.14 erased the previous record of 10:46.82. According to the USA Swimming database, this was the first time Ring has swum the mile. 

A few weeks later at the Tupelo Top TYR Invite, Ring laid claim to the rest of the Louisiana 11-12 freestyle marks:

These times put Ring in the top-10 this year in the 11-12 age group in the 200 (9th), 500 (6th), 1000 (6th), and 1650 (5th). He is just outside the top-10 in the 50 and 100 as he currently ranks 11th in both of those events. 

Ring’s progress over the past year has been pretty remarkable. In January of 2020 his 500 time was sitting at 5:27.89. In December he dropped down to 5:16.61, then 5:07.64 at the end of January before his 4:57 in Tupelo.

During that same time span, Ring has dropped over 10 seconds in the 200. He has progressed from 2:03.55 in January 2020 to 1:56.43 in December 2020 to 1:54.49 in January to the 1:52 he swam in Tupelo.

In the 100 he has dropped over seven seconds. In January 2020 he swam a 58.47 before hitting 53.79 in December. In the middle of January he cut another .99 seconds to 52.80. Seven weeks later in Tupelo he swam his 51.

Ring comes from a swimming family. His father, Eddie Ring, was an All-American swimmer at LSU in the 90s. Eddie’s mother, Duane Ring, coached high school swimming in Louisiana and won multiple team state titles for both boys and girls.