How State College swimmer Matt Brownstead broke the national high school record in the 50 freestyle
State College’s Matt Brownstead knew, the moment he glanced at the scoreboard, that he made high school swimming history.
The senior broke the national high school record Wednesday in the 50 freestyle by clocking a time of 19.24 seconds, bettering the mark set in 2013 by Caeleb Dressel (19.29), who’s now a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Brownstead knew all that upon a quick glance — because that’s exactly what he aimed to do at the PIAA Class 3A Swimming & Diving Championships.
He set the state record last season. He accepted an athletic scholarship to Virginia. And, in the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s state championships at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium, he Googled the national record so he knew exactly where to set his sights. State gold was never enough.
“When I looked up and saw it, I was just ecstatic,” Brownstead said, referring to his time, his lip still quivering about 30 minutes afterward. “It was the best feeling ever.”
Ten yards from the end of the race Wednesday, and Brownstead could tell that he was in for an improved time. He just kept repeating all right, all right, all right in his head until he glanced at the scoreboard. A moment later, adrenaline took over and he raised his left arm in triumph before splashing the pool and shouting. The crowd stood, whistled, hollered and applauded with their approval.
“It’s crazy; it’s just like, wow,” said Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Caleb Kelly, who finished second. “You look in the future and you just hope you can eventually go as fast as he did.”
Said another one of Brownstead’s competitors: “That was insane, dude!”
That time is why Brownstead woke up at 5 a.m. every day for the last four years. It’s what he wrote on the white dry-erase board in his bedroom. It’s what he daydreamed about. But, to him, there was nothing surreal about it.
To others at the natatorium, that feeling was different. Brownstead created a buzz when he first set foot near the pool, and it only magnified as the day went on.
“It was once-in-a-lifetime for people to watch,” State College coach Andrew Morrison said.
In the first finals event, the 200 medley relay, Brownstead finished his leg as the anchor in 19.05 seconds as his team claimed sixth place. Student-athletes began chattering on the sides of the pool about the time, with one PIAA official turning around and telling them to keep watch — because he would be racing again in the 50 freestyle.
Then came his record-breaking 50 freestyle. And then? He still wasn’t finished. In the 200 freestyle relay, his split of 18.67 seconds forced several exasperated on-lookers to point and stare at the scoreboard.
“You see that?” one North Penn coach asked a PIAA official.
Said one Henderson swimmer: “That’s insane. Oh my God!”
Amy Crowe, a PIAA official for the last three years, simply told the Centre Daily Times: “I don’t know if we’ll ever see that again.”
After three of State College’s swimmers finished their respective legs in the four-man relay, the Little Lions were in dead-last place in the relay’s finals. Eighth place. Then Brownstead bolted into the pool, gliding through the water and passing four other swimmers en route to a fourth-place team finish and a school relay record of 1:24.67.
Sure, relay times are usually faster than other events because the starting points are different. But Brownstead had never before swum a sub-19 split before; his split was more than a full second faster than six of his seven opponents.
“That was insane,” said teammate Foster Heasley, a member of the 200 freestyle relay. “I was proud of him.”
Opponents patted Brownstead’s back, offering him kind words and congratulations, during the length of his walk back from the podium to his team. State College remained in a distant fifth in the team standings with 80 points, trailing leader LaSalle College (162) and runner-up North Penn (118.5), but Brownstead was the talk of Kinney Natatorium after Day 1 of the two-day championships.
He plans to take part in the Olympic Trials on June 28, and his goal is to one day make the Olympics. That’s always been his goal — but, after Wednesday’s performance, few are doubting the State College senior’s future.
“All the stuff I’ve trained for and worked for has led me to this point,” a smiling Brownstead said. “I finally got to where I wanted to be.”
Full State College results
Day 2 of the Class 3A championships will resume Thursday morning. The Class 2A championships will take place Friday and Saturday at Kinney Natatorium.
Here’s how Day 1 of the Class 3A championships turned out for Centre County’s lone school in the classification, State College:
BOYS
200 medley relay (6th place) — State College (Zachary Lambert, Foster Heasley, Garrick Zheng, Matt Brownstead) 1:33.79; 200 freestyle (29th place) — John Brownstead 1:46.02; 200 IM (13th place) — Foster Heasley 1:55.37; 50 freestyle (1st place) — Matt Brownstead 19.24; 200 freestyle relay (4th place) — State College (Foster Heasley, John Brownstead, Will Ulmer, Matt Brownstead) 1:24.67.
GIRLS
200 medley relay (13th place) — State College (Jade Castro, Mackenzie Pagett, Madelyn Koehle, Abbey Whipple) 1:47.77; 200 freestyle (27th place) — Colleen Adams 1:56.02; 200 IM (16th and 28th places) — 16. Jade Castro 2:08.49 and 28. Madelyn Koehle 2:10.34; 50 freestyle (16th place) — Abbey Whipple 24.65; 100 butterfly (30th place) — Mackenzie Pagett 1:02.02; 200 freestyle relay (27th place) — State College (Ally Koehle, Colleen Adams, Lily Bang, Megan Doucette) 1:41.94.
This story was originally published March 11, 2020 at 7:08 PM.
