Freshman dominates at state

Luciana Thomas could not have made a bigger splash this season if she’d done a cannonball off the high diving board. The Haas Hall freshman swimmer dominated the state swim meet in Little Rock by setting two state records individually (200 IM and 100 butterfly), and swimming a leg on the record-setting 200 medley relay. Thomas led Haas Hall to a third place finish overall in the girls team standings with 270 points. For her efforts, she is the All-NWADG Newcomer of the Year for girls swimming and diving. Thomas comes from a swimming family. Both of her parents were collegiate swimmers, and her older brother Antonio also won three golds at the state swim meet. “I learned to swim before I could walk,” Luciana said. At the state meet, Luciana set a state record in her two specialties. In the 200-yard individual medley, she lowered the state record to 2 minutes, 4.34 seconds. She also set the standard in the 100 butterfly in 56.30 and swam a leg on the record-setting 200 medley relay in 1:49.11. She added a fourth gold in the 200 freestyle relay. Thomas said she’s in the pool five days a week, including both morning and afternoon three days per week with a 5 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. practice. She finds time after school and before practice to focus on the rigorous Haas Hall academics. “I don’t have a lot of free time,” she said. With three state records under her belt in just her first season of high school swimming, she doesn’t need a lot of time.