The Record-Breaker, Jack Skarda

SEATTLE - If there's anyone that knows how to make history, it's Jack Skarda. In the state meet for Swim and Dive, Skarda participated in the 200 IM and the 100 breast and won both of those by over 2 seconds, as well as breaking O'Dea school records that were held for quite some time.

"This meet was very beneficial for me," said Skarda, "it opened the door for many colleges to get in contact with me and ultimately it cemented me as the best breast-stroker in the state."

In the state meet, you are allowed 2 individual events and 2 relay events, and while Skarda did his part on the individual side, he had a split time of 24.4, which is not only a school record, but it is the second fastest split in state history for that event.

After this meet, Skarda is placed a top 3 swimmer in the state, and top 150 in the country, and is looking to dominate in the sectionals next week in Federal Way. "My ambition is to put my name on the Wall of Honor, but not only be remembered as a great athlete, but as a great leader and teammate."

Skarda definitely has many memories from swimming but one that stands out for him is when he competes at metro's. The atmosphere of the pool and all the cheering that goes on makes swimming better than ever.

"My favorite memory from the team has to be metros. The atmosphere and hype at metros is the best there is. Not every swimmer makes state or districts, but most of the team is in attendance at metros so the crowd is bigger, the team is louder, and the walkouts/hype for the meets are better."

Next years Senior year for Skarda means a lot to him, setting up the underclassman for success when he is gone. He expects the team to be better than ever and is still going to be going harder that ever no matter what.

Skarda is one of the states best swimmers and has high expectations for himself in the future. He will go down as one of the best swimmers O'Dea high school has had breaking records left and right.