The Boys’ Swimming Team closed out 2017 by making national news. The Boys’ Relay Team, consisting of Mason Gonzalez, Andrew Zhang, Jack Wright and Rick Mihm, set two National Public High School Relay records during a December 15 meet against Mt. Lebanon. The Uproar recently sat down with Gonzales, Zhang, and Wright (Mihm attends NAI) to reflect on the achievement.

What record did you break, when did you break it, and what were your times?

Andrew: The first that we broke was the 200 freestyle record and that was me, Mason, Jack, and a kid from NAI, Ricky Mihm. The second record we broke was the 400 freestyle relay. That was about ten minutes after we broke our first record.

Mason: We went a 1:20.46 in the 200 free relay and a 2:57.59 in the 400 free relay.

Did the four of you break the second record together as well? Or was it a different mix of kids?

Andrew: Yes, it was the four of us together again.

How long have the four of you been swimming relays together for?

Andrew: Probably since we started swimming honestly. Once Mason and I hit ninth grade, we started doing all of these relays together. Once Mason and I hit eleventh grade the four of us were all in high school. So basically after that we started doing relays together.

Jack: And even back in middle school we would sometimes be on the same relays together.

Do you guys swim relays together on the same club team as well?

Mason: Yes, they’re two separate things, although we have the same coach.

Andrew: I think it’s really nice for us. Some of the other schools don’t swim with their high school for club, and don’t get to train with the same people. But for us, we have known one another since we started swimming. Getting to train with the same people for that long is really helpful for the team.

So, where did the record breaking relays take place?

Mason: It was here. We swam against Mt. Lebanon.

Have you guys been faster than this in practice or another time when it did not count?

Mason: We don’t swim as fast in practice. We actually went a lot faster than our times at Mt. Lebanon a week beforehand at the Junior National meet in Knoxville, Tennessee. We actually went two seconds faster in the 400 freestyle relay and one second faster in the 200 freestyle relay at that meet. However, that meet wasn’t a high school meet.  It was more of a club meet. It didn’t count because of that. We had to swim those times at a high school meet for them to count.

Whose record did you break?

Jack: In the 200 free relay, we broke our own record that we set last year in the PIAA Championship. In the 400 free relay, we broke the record set by Grenada High School in California a few years back. We actually broke that record last year, too, but that didn’t count because Mason disqualified us. So we got some redemption.

Do you guys see yourself breaking your own record again this season?

Andrew: We are hoping so. We are training heavily right now. We have our championship meets at the end of the season, and that’s where we are really looking forward to going faster.

When you guys were swimming against Mt. Lebanon, did you feel as if you were swimming a record-breaking time?

Mason: I led off both relays, so once I finished my race I was able to watch everyone go and finish. Once you’ve been in the sport a while, you kind of get an idea of like “If we are splitting this time at the 200 hundred mark, we are probably going to go about this time at the finish.” So once I had seen that Andrew and Ricky had gone, we were getting really excited because they were on pace to go the record. I knew that if Jack went a certain time (which was doable for him) we could definitely get this. Once you kind of get through the race a little bit, you start feeling it a little more. You start thinking, “Okay, we can definitely do this. Let’s go.”

Jack, is it nerve racking to finish the relays?

Jack: I was last on the 200 free relay and it was a little bit nerve-racking. I had to bring it up. I knew we could do it. I could see where we were halfway through, so I could see what time I had to go. I knew I could do it, and it was fun to be last and finish it for us.

How did it feel to win?

Jack: It felt great. Like Mason said, we went faster the week before and we knew we could do it. Once we did it, we were so satisfied with all the work we did. All of our hard work paid off. It especially felt great in the 400 relay since we were disqualified in it last year.