Carter Griffin, who swims for the Ponderosa co-op team, is the defending Class 5A champion in the 200 and 500 freestyle. He has signed to swim at Missouri.
Courtesy photo
By the time a swimmer is accomplished enough to collect two state titles during his junior year, typically there are plenty of achievements that foreshadow that sort of crowning moment.
That wasn't exactly the case with
Carter Griffin of the
Ponderosa (Parker) co-op team. After altering his training routine early in his high school career, then overcoming an ill-timed illness that thwarted his performance at the Class 5A state meet as a sophomore, Griffin is aiming to add to his state championship collection when he swims his final prep meet at the state finals next month.
"The main reason I love high school swimming is that it's just fun," said Griffin, a student at nearby
Chaparral (Parker). "I probably get a better workout with my club team, but high school is so much fun. I just want to make it a good, last state meet. I've set the bar pretty high but I'm excited to see what I can do."
Griffin didn't exactly make an immediate splash on the high school scene, qualifying for state as a freshman in 2010 in the backstroke and the 200 freestyle, but finishing toward the back of the pack in the preliminary heats of both events.
During the next year Griffin's training intensified with his club team, the University of Denver Hilltoppers, yet by the time the then-sophomore reached the state meet he was under the weather. The result was another in-the-pack finish in the preliminaries of the butterfly, although Griffin did advance in the backstroke, finishing 12th overall.
With another year of intensified training under his belt, as well as a perfect bill of health, Griffin proved to be one of the most dominant swimmers at last year's state meet, earning the first-place medals in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.
Griffin's effort in the 200 freestyle was particularly impressive, as he finished third in the preliminaries before taking almost 2 seconds off his prelim mark in the final to outlast former Poudre (Fort Collins) swimmer Tyler Hicks by a mere .19 of a second.
"I wasn't expecting to win the 200," Griffin said. "I thought I could win the 500, but I didn't think I could beat Hicks in the 200. But luckily I was able to."
Bound for the University of Missouri alongside
Broomfield senior standout
Martin Wallace, Griffin has continued his impressive ascension as a senior. Last week, Griffin set pool records in the 200 and 500 freestyle at the Cherry Creek Invitational, and in March he won the backstroke at the annual Colorado Coaches Invitational with a time of 49.65 seconds. That mark currently ranks second in the state, just a fraction behind
Hennessey Stuart (49.18) of
Regis Jesuit (Aurora).
Griffin remains undecided which two individual events he will swim at state. Currently the backstroke probably ranks as his best event, yet Griffin also is attracted to the idea of defending his crowns in the two freestyle distance events. Regardless, Griffin is hoping to turn in a similar performance as last year when he made his memorable jump forward.
"My junior year was phenomenally better than my sophomore year," Griffin said. "I'm hoping my senior year can be the same way."
