Twinsburg swimmer third in state meet to complete ‘breakout’ season

by John Benson

Twinsburg High School’s Colin Martin ended his senior season with a top three finish last month at the Ohio Division I state boys swimming and diving championships in Canton.

The University of Findlay recruit turned in a time of 48.71 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, which was not only good for third place, but represented Twinsburg’s best swimming finish in school history.

“Winning conference and sectionals were great,” Martin said. “I was happy to get on the 50-second level at sectionals. I felt good at the district and was excited to go a 48.79, but the race wasn’t my best.

“At the state meet I felt more tired at prelims and didn’t go my fastest but wasn’t disappointed in going 49.00. At finals, the energy in the pool was great. I stayed focused and worked my underwater kicks and stroke rate. I was happy to get third in the meet. I earned a time that got me a better scholarship with Findlay.”

Twinsburg High head coach Kirtis Huelsman said Martin, a two-time state qualifier, deserved his success.

“Getting a top three place at the state meet was like an out-of-this-world experience,” Huelsman said. “We didn’t really expect him to go in and win the district meet and then turn around and be able to hold up to the top three. But after the district meet, he was ranked up there. Leading up to the state meet, we were hoping for like top five.”

Earlier in the season, Huelsman said Martin’s goal was reaching the top eight in the butterfly at the state meet. However, meet after meet the Tiger swimmer kept putting up memorable times, including school records in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

“In other events his times were on a different level, but more casual looking,” Huelsman said. “So he was doing almost his best times, but not really looking like he was going as hard as he could or over-exerting himself.

“We knew he was ready to be on like that elite level at the state meet. Overall, his senior year was really a breakout year for him.”

For the better part of the last decade, Huelsman coached Martin beginning with the Twinsburg Competitive Aquatics Team.

“He learned pretty early that he needed to focus on different things in the process of getting better,” Huelsman said. “He had the patience to work on things like his underwater dolphin kicks, extending his stroke and pushing his chest down throughout. We’ve really been working on perfecting his butterfly at least since his freshman year.”

Huelsman is hoping Martin’s example will help propel the boys swim team going forward. The squad took fifth place this season in the Suburban League.

“In general, the team wasn’t impressive as a unit,” Huelsman said. “We had a lot of freshmen and sophomores with limited experience. We’re hoping that Colin’s achievement will inspire them to want to continue to work within the sport even outside of the high school season.”

Featured image photo caption: Colin Martin