Being in the water isn’t something that came natural to Burroughs High senior swimmer Ryan Lee.
Lee said he actually avoided the swimming pool for much of his youth.
“When I was three or four years old, I was afraid of the water. I kind of avoided the water at all costs. I resumed swimming at like 11. I knew this was a problem. I felt if I could overcome it then I could be set,” Lee said.
Lee did overcome his fear and has made up for lost time.
He has gone on to set school records in seven of the eight individual boys’ swimming events. Combining that with a 4.5 grade-point average and a 1,510 SAT score, he is certainly one that won’t soon be forgotten at Burroughs.
Friday he will hope to better his school record in the 100 freestyle as he competes in the California State Championship Preliminaries at Clovis West High School in Fresno.
His event is slated to start at 1 p.m.
Lee’s school record in the 100 freestyle is 46.40 seconds.
“I do feel like a sprint and mid-distance swimmer. I think the 100 is my ideal event,” said Lee who will attend the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the fall.
Lee is one of 40 competitors across four heats hoping to advance to the finals on Saturday. He is seeded fifth in his heat.
“Going into this season, my focus meet was CIF prelims and finals,” Lee said. “State was never the focus for this season, but I am going to try my best to get my best personal time. If I get a personal best, I’ll be very happy. If I don’t, at least I know I tried my best.”
Lee finished fifth in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 finals in the 100 (46.47). He finished seventh in the 50 freestyle (21.48).
Lee’s other school records are in the 200 freestyle (1:42.25), the 200 individual medley (1:55.56), the 50 freestyle (21.43), the 100 backstroke (54.20), the 100 butterfly (52.5) and the 500 freestyle (4:51.74).
