Shannon McFarland (9) not only placed fifth at conference and went to state; she also broke the school record, becoming the fastest 100 backstroke at OHS.

At conference, she had high hope to break the one minute and five second streak and make it to state. She beat the qualifying time by less than a second, but missed the record by only .04 seconds. However, Mr. Dan Schoenfeldt, the girls swim coach, did not tell her that she was close to breaking the record.

“I didn’t know that I broke the record; coach is a good secret keeper. I was relieved that I made it to my goal after a lot of hard work at practice,” McFarland said.

While swimming the 100 backstroke at state, she had dropped another second and ended up at a 1:03.5, breaking the record. Schoenfeldt did not tell her that she broke the record and left the surprise to be told at the banquet. He announced that she broke a record held for over ten years and that Rana Johnson, the record holder, would be happy to hear that her old time was broken.

“At first, I was mainly shocked that I broke the record. For the next three year of my high school life, I would like to keep breaking the record. So by the time I leave Oakville, I know I’ve left my best behind, just like coach says ‘leave it all in the water,’” McFarland comments.