Senior Evan Stokes broke his own school record for the 100-yard breaststroke on Thursday at states.
Stokes originally set the Baldwin record in this event during his sophomore year at the WPIAL championship meet. This year, again at WPIAL championships, he broke his own record with a time of 58.84 seconds.
Then on Thursday at state championships, he broke his own record once again, with a time of 58.68 seconds.
Stokes says breaking his own record is more rewarding than breaking a record set by someone else.
“That first time you’re sort of in shock that you actually did it. But after that it’s all about proving you aren’t at your peak yet, which I find much more exciting,” he said.
Stokes said a pivotal point in his swimming career occurred when he started to focus on having fun, instead of being stressed about how he would perform.
“The past two or three seasons I had pretty bad anxiety about racing, which I think held me back,” he said. “But this championship season reminded me that I am allowed to have fun swimming, which is what let me get over that hurdle and actually be confident again.”
“I would say the belief that there is no limit to what you can achieve is what leads to improvement more than anything,” Stokes added.
A lot of his confidence can be credited to his support system of family and friends, telling him he deserves to be where he is.
“I think that a large part of my ability to perform well comes from the people who encourage me, because they make it easier to forget about the things I am worried about when I am standing on the block,” he said.
Athletic Director Anthony Cherico described Stokes as a well-rounded student-athlete.
“As an athlete … he is a competitor and that’s what everyone likes about him. He’s a great kid, has great grades – so all great things about him,” Cherico said.
Stokes had an impressive ending to his season, Cherico said.
“He really went out in style,” Cherico said. “That’s why I said he’s a great competitor: You know he saves his best for last.”
This performance was a great way to end the winter sports season, Cherico said.
“He was the last winter sport to finish up and again he went out in style, which I think is really cool. It kind of puts an exclamation point on the winter sports,” Cherico said “I really hope some of this success filters into the spring and into next school year.”
