Records are meant to be broken. This past weekend, five Oakdale High School varsity boys school swimming records were broken and new ones set at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championships. Seniors Nate Van Cleave and Rhett Harrison teamed with Jackson Metcalfe and Caden Nord to make school history and advanced to the CIF State Meet with their record-breaking performance at Tokay High School.
As a unit, the boys broke three school records that had stood since 2013. The first record to fall was the 200 Medley Relay. In 2013 Adam Lahey, Soren Dickens, Ryan Jones and Wil Cavanaugh set a new school record with a speedy 1:41.56 time. This year, Van Cleave, Harrison, Metcalfe and Nord broke that barrier with a time of 1:39.03.
Shortly after, the boys continued to make school history taking down the 2013 200 Freestyle Relay record, set by the core of Lahey, Dickens, Jones and Cavanaugh at 1:29.67. This year’s foursome broke the record by over two full seconds at 1:27.15.
For their final act, the four Mustang swimmers took down the 2013 400 Freestyle Relay once again held by Lahey, Dickens, Jones and Cavanaugh. In 2013 the four set the mark at 3:20.58. In 2015 Van Cleave, Nord and Metcalfe teamed with Jared Kahler in the event and fell short of the record at 3:23.46. This year the boys were determined to get the new record. They not only beat their 2015 mark, but shattered the 2013 record at 3:15.30.
“I am so proud of these boys. They held their own and swam very well over the weekend. They deserve to be where they are at, not just in school history but as swimmers statewide too,” Oakdale’s head swim coach Russ Van Cleave said.
As a team, the four boys are currently ranked 27th in the state.
As an individual, Metcalfe set the school record in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 47.72 this past weekend. The junior overtook the 2013 mark set by Dickens with 48.10. This year’s race also featured Nord (48.36) for third all-time and Van Cleave (50.09) to finish sixth all-time in school history. Metcalfe’s weekend came to a close with a first place finish in the 100 meter butterfly event. In the process he claimed sixth place in school history in the event with a time of 57.22; Ryan Jones set the record in 2013 at 54.52.
Oakdale’s swimming future is in good hands as sophomore Nord has another two years to continue to chase the history books. Nord set a new 50 meter Freestyle record posting a time of 22.04, knocking off the previous record of 22.20 set by both Dickens and Steven Bryant set in 2013.
In his final season, Harrison finished first in the 100 meter Backstroke event with a time of 58.01. Harrison’s time earned him fourth all-time in school history.
The boys will travel to Clovis West Aquatics Complex on May 20 and 21 to compete in the CIF State Meet. The meet is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start time.
