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Last weekend, seniors Rishi Bhargava and Connor Overgaard broke the Trojans Swim and Dive record for the 200 medley relay.
Trojans Swim and Dive is a co-op with Highland Park. Along with Bhargava and Overgaard, the complete record-breaking relay team includes Highland students senior Fred Myers and junior Jon Bailey-Zimmerman. The quartet’s performance in sections, with a time of 1:39.65, broke the Trojan’s previous record of 1:40.83 and brought them to the class AA state championship preliminary finals on Friday.
Ultimately, they placed 21st out of 23 teams, thus ending their season.
Warm-ups began at 4:30, and upbeat music coupled with emphatic chatter filled the Jean Freeman Aquatic Center. The Trojans occupied a small section of the bleachers lining either side of the pool deck. Head coach Stacy Overgaard sported her Trojans Swim and Dive t-shirt and a stopwatch around her neck. A few teammates also showed up to support the four swimmers.
“I don’t think it had been on any of our minds,” Overgaard said about breaking the 200 medley relay record. The team’s primary focus was qualifying for state. However, a lineup change later in the season resulted in a much faster time. Bhargava moved from breaststroke to butterfly, while Myers became the new breaststroker.
It’s a mix of emotions … I’m proud of our team and what we accomplished throughout the year, and I’m proud of this relay. To qualify for state and then to break the record that we did was really a cool experience
— Connor Overgaard
The 200 medley relay is a competition with four swimmers per team performing backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle in order. Overgaard was the backstroker, Myers was the breaststroker, Bhargava performed butterfly and Bailey-Zimmerman finished off with freestyle.
The team’s time was 1:40.28. The winning team, Lakeville South, achieved a time of 1:31.59. The second and third top-performing teams in the competition were Prior Lake and Minnetonka.
The Trojans have been working towards qualifying for state for the last three years. At sections last season, the 200 medley relay team anticipated making it but were disqualified on the last leg due to a false start.
“It was kind of a heartbreaking experience,” Overgaard said.
This season, the four swimmers have put in the work to achieve immense growth over the past few months.
Despite mourning the end of his high school swim career, Overgaard focused on gratitude and pride at the closing of the meet.
“It’s a mix of emotions … I’m proud of our team and what we accomplished throughout the year, and I’m proud of this relay. To qualify for state and then to break the record that we did was really a cool experience,” Overgaard said.
Overgaard hopes to continue swimming in college and plans to continue fostering his love for the sport.
