BENTONVILLE — Steve Duwel saw Gavin Vann’s split time during the 200-yard backstroke and knew something big was about to happen.
It did — just in a later event.
Vann, a member of the Northwest Arkansas Aquatics Sharks, later broke an eight-year-old record in the 100 backstroke for 11- and 12-year-old boys during the Arkansas Swimming Inc. Age Group Championships held recently in Little Rock.
Vann’s time was 59.66 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 59.90 set by Pearson Gean, now a sophomore swimmer at Virginia. It also beat his closest competitor by more than five seconds.
"We had talked about (the record) because on the 200 backstroke, his half split was right at 1:01," said Duwel, who serves as the Sharks coach. "I told him if he swam like that in the 100, he'll break a minute.
"That's pretty rare. If you look around the nation, you'll find a number of kids his age that has done it. I haven't looked it up yet, but Gavin is probably in the top 100 in the nation."
The record was just part of what proved to be a busy weekend for Vann, who scored 45 points in the meet. He also won the 100 and 200 backstroke and the 100 breaststroke, finished second in the 200 freestyle, 200 intermediate medley and 200 breaststroke and took third in the 100 freestyle.
“Gavin is just coming into this out of nowhere,” Duwel said. “In the past couple of years, he's set some team records when he was 10, so he's slowly coming along.
“He's been working hard, and he has a good attitude about it.”
Other Sharks that excelled in the pool included Zane Sutton, who won the 11-12 boys 50 freestyle; Madeline Marks, who the 200 and 500 freestyle and finished second in the 200 backstroke in the girls 11-12 division; Emily Horton, who took second in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle for 13-14 girls.
Also, Lucas Ros, who won the 100 breaststroke for 13-14 boys; Hayden Harlow, who won the 100 butterfly, took second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle among 13-14 boys; and Alex Holyfield, who finished second in the 50 freestyle and third in the 100 freestyle for 15-18 boys.
The Little Rock meet concluded the short course season of the swim meet. Duwel said the Sharks are enjoying a break before beginning the long course portion of their season when temperatures are warmer.