SWIMMER OF THE YEAR
Hayden Harlow, Bentonville
The secret behind Hayden Harlow's swimming success this season was all about being free.
The most significant change the Bentonville sophomore made was the events he swam. He had already done the 200-yard freestyle, but he opted out of the 100 breaststroke in order to concentrate on the 100 freestyle.
"I decided to do all freestyle at state, just to keep everything specialized in one stroke," Harlow said. "It worked out very well because all I had to do was warm up, freestyle, sprint, warm up, freestyle and focus on freestyle. That's all I had to worry about.
"I kept my training the same with my club team and my high school team. This year at state, though, my mindset was so much different. I was so much more in it to win it than I was last year. It was much more competitive at state this year."
Harlow didn't have to wait long to see that change reap rewards as he opened his state meet competition with a winning time of 1 minute, 43.82 seconds in the 200 freestyle -- an event he took fourth in last year. He added to that when he won the 100 freestyle in a time of 47.79 seconds.
The best was still yet to come as he teamed with Brandon Haefner, John Hedgecock and Jared Crosby in the 200 freestyle relay. Their time of 1:28.08 broke the previous state record mark of 1:28.82 set by Bentonville in 2008, then Harlow teamed with Haefner, Jason Hunt and Hedgecock to win the 400 freestyle relay and barely missed another record with their time of 3:14.87.
"That 200 relay was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced in swimming," said Harlow, who swam the opening leg. "Whenever Jared hit the wall on that last 50, we looked up and saw we got the record with the scoreboard lights blinking. That was pretty special."
-- Henry Apple • @NWAHenry
Sports on 03/25/2015