Up first at the state finals was the 400-medley relay: Johnson, Lindstrom, Fors, and Ortiz were back in the pool, fighting for the finish line. This dynamic team placed sixth with a time of 1:32.28.

Johnson then took first place in the 100-free, swimming it in with a time of 43.29. This was his first year to compete in this event at the state level.

“There were some nerves going into Brady’s swims because he was up against some really tough competition, especially in the 100 back. When he won, all the doubts went away as he proved himself to be one of the best in the state yet again. It was a great moment,” WEGO swim coach Josh May said.

Shortly after, Johnson took home yet another first-place finish in the 100-backstroke with a time of 46.82, beating his previous record-breaking 48.08 time by over a second. With this medal, Johnson is the first swimmer to earn back-to-back championship wins for this event in six years.

“For any non-swimmers out there, 43.15 in the 100-yard freestyle and 46.65 in the 100-yard backstroke is insanely fast. Seeing those times pop up on the scoreboard will be a memory I’ll always cherish,” May said.

Just after 4 p.m., the West Chicago team consisting of Johnson, Lindstrom, Fors, and Ortiz additionally placed fifth in the 400-free relay with a time of 3:04.07, adding to their list of accomplishments this weekend.

The entire team was escorted back to the school from the West Chicago border by the city’s police and fire departments in a parade of sirens and lights.

“I was amazed by all the support behind me, both in and out of the pool, and I couldn’t ask for a better school to represent,” Johnson said.

The prelims for the championship occurred on Friday. Senior swimmer Brady Johnson started off the weekend strong by breaking the Illinois state record for the 100 yard freestyle race. He finished in 43.14, which broke the old state record by 0.6 seconds. This strong swim advanced Johnson to finals.

In addition to the personal win, Johnson was also able to advance to the finals in the medley relay race with team members Nathan Lindstorm, Ryan Fors and Sam Ortiz.

Furthermore, Lindstorm took 30th place in his personal race swimming at 1:43.41; however, later in the meet, he beat his personal best for the 100 yard backstroke and received 21st place. Fors had personal best scores and took 17th place in both of his personal races just missing the spot for finals.

During the second half of the prelims, Tommy Eng took 23rd place in the 100 yard breaststroke with a total time of 58.57 seconds. Another swimmer, Wyatt Gross, ended his race with the time of 58.61 seconds claiming 34th place.

WEGO was proud of the team and all they have accomplished in just one day. Coaches and spectators were eager to share the positive results with the rest of the school.

“Nick stole my thunder, posting Brady’s 100 free,” West Chicago Co-Op Swimming said via Facebook.