Record Setter / North junior is The Republic Boys Swimmer of the Year – The Republic

Outside of making the championship heats in his two individual events at the Boys Swimming State Finals, the end of the season couldnt have gone much better for Christopher Lee.

The Columbus North junior set school records in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke the final two meets of the year and ended up with a pair of top-10 state finishes.

It was very surprising, said Lee, this years The Republic Boys Swimmer of the Year. Im very pleased with how my season turned out.

At the North Sectional, Lee won the 50 freestyle in 20.61 seconds to break Sam Loeschers school record. The following week, he went 49.57 in the 100 backstroke to break Jon Karrs school record.

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Lee won sectional titles in both of those events. He just missed by one-one hundreth of a second of making the championship final at state in the 50 freestyle and finished 10th in that event before coming back with a ninth-place effort in the 100 backstroke.

He put in a lot of work, dreamed really big and worked really hard, North coach Logan Schaefer said. He would have liked to be in two A finals. But looking at the journey, looking at the end result finishing with two school records and finishing with just a large amount of improvement in a lot of areas its been a great season for him.

Lee, who also swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team, credits Schaefer and his teammates with his development over the past couple of years.

Theres no way that I would have been able to do it without the mentorship and the help of coach Schaefer, Lee said. Hes been incredibly supportive with all of my goals, no matter how ridiculous they may have seemed at the start of the year. Also, my teammates have been with me through every turn and every struggle and hardship. Its been really supportive to have my brothers with me.

While Lee has another year of high school coming up, he currently is training for the U.S. Nationals, which will be the first week in August at IUPUIs Indiana University Natatorium, the same site as the high school state finals. He has qualified in both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke.

It would be a longshot for sure, but I would really like to make it back to the finals in one of those or both of those events, Lee said.

At a glance

The Republic All-Area Boys Swimming Team:

Christopher Lee, Columbus North: The junior won sectional titles and finished ninth in the 100 backstroke and 10th in the 50 freestyle at state and swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team.

Daniel Utterback, Columbus North: The freshman swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team.

David Fry, Columbus North: The sophomore swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team.

Tristen Cook, Columbus North: The junior swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team.

Kyan Jiles, Columbus North: The junior was a regional diving qualifier.

Cole Wheeler, Columbus North: The sophomore was a regional diving qualifier.

Aidan McAlister, Columbus North: The junior finished second in the 500 freestyle and sixth in the 200 freestyle at sectional.

Carlos Torres Martinez, Columbus North: The senior finished sixth in the 200 individual medley at sectional.

Matthew Goble, Columbus North: The sophomore finished eighth in the 500 freestyle at sectional.

Pratt Badve, Columbus North: The freshman finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke at sectional.

Branson Young, Columbus East: The sophomore finished third in the 100 breaststroke in the sectional.

Chad Kelly, Columbus East: The junior finished sixth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 50 freestyle at sectional.

Honorable mention

Columbus East: Justin Borowski, Mason Curry, Bryce Eckelman, Fabio Nihalani, Dathan Wolf. Columbus North: Deshawn Austin, Arjun Bhadoria, Cole Ehara, Carlos Fabian Aguilar, Jose Gamez, Will Russell. Jennings County: Daniel Hoffman. Trinity Lutheran: Ethan Myers.

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Record Setter / North junior is The Republic Boys Swimmer of the Year - The Republic

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero