The heat in the pool continues as Kyle Shadeck makes waves in the finals at the New England Intercollegiate Swimming and Diving Association (NEISDA) championships.
Priya Chhetri / equinox staff
Shadeck broke 2014 graduate Drew Ledwith’s meet record (1:51.50) and 2016 graduate Cole Hogg’s school record (1:51.41) for the 200 yard butterfly with a time of 1:49.18.
For Shadeck, breaking this record has been something he has been hoping to do.
“I have been dreaming about breaking the one minute, fifty second barrier all year and to finally do it felt incredible,” Shadeck said.
Diving into the pool can be intimidating in the finals especially, but Shadeck said once he dives in, he is completely relaxed.
“I’ve been in hundreds of races over my career so I know what to expect and what I am doing. It’s all muscle memory at that point.”
But this success came with a lot of hard work.
At the beginning of this past summer, Shadeck had some serious shoulder injuries in both of his shoulders, which made him unable to swim for three months.
On top of that, Shadeck became ill at the team’s mid-season invitational meet during December.
“I knew I would have a disadvantage coming into the season… I didn’t have much hope that I would do what I wanted to do, so to be able to overcome the obstacles that I faced to reach my goals was just an incredible feeling,” Shadeck said.
Overcoming those obstacles shows the will often seen in athletes.
For Shadeck, it was all about having the right attitude and believing he could do it as long as he was willing to put in the effort.
Shadeck said he trained hard all season, staying diligent with his eating and sleeping habits, and sacrificed social events because he wanted it bad enough and in the end knew it would be worth it.
“My biggest goal was to qualify for [National Collegiate Athletic Association finals].
I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I believed I had a legitimate shot based on how I prepared all season,” Shadeck said.
Fellow teammate Braeden Huot believed that Shadeck also had a great shot at qualifying. “He’s strong swimmer and a leader for the team. He puts in the work and gets things done.
All season long we have been training together and have been improving, so it’s great to see success come out of it,” Huot said.
Huot added that the teams support is huge for each individual and the teams overall success.
“We are all very supportive of one another. We are together a lot of the time so we talk a lot, cheer each other one, and push each other in the pool. It’s a great dynamic,” Huot said.
Shadeck’s other teammates did not respond for comment.
With this most recent success, Shadeck hopes to be selected for the National Collegiate Athletic Association finals.
“Right now, I am ranked 12th in the country in the 200 butterfly, and by next week I will know for certain if my time is good enough to be invited,” Shadeck said.
Caroline Perry can be contacted at cperry@kscequinox.com
