State College’s Turecky surprises coach, himself by breaking record at district meet

State College’s Filip Turecky breached the surface and broke downward once more, his arms flaring out with each stroke.

When he touched the wall and flipped up his goggles, he surprised even himself.

“Honestly I’m a backstroker, so I wasn’t really doing much to prepare for this,” Turecky said, still dripping from the pool. “So this was a really surprising swim for me.”

Turecky broke the District 6 record in the Class AAA 100-yard butterfly Friday afternoon at Penn State’s McCoy Natatorium. The State College junior’s time of 51.93 seconds beat the previous mark of 52.17, one of three meet records to fall on day one of the District 6 Championships. The meet continues Saturday.

State College coach Ryan Sprang was also taken aback by the result. It was a pleasant surprise, one of many for the coach, who saw his swimmers place first in each of the team’s 12 events.

“I wasn’t really expecting a (51.93) in the 100 fly, but maybe it shouldn’t surprise me because (Turecky) knows how to get himself excited to race,” Sprang said. “To go out and execute like that was awesome.”

With the win, Turecky will head to the PIAA Championships at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium. The state championships run March 16-17 for Class AAA and March 18-19 for Class AA.

“He’s not even rested for this meet,” Sprang said of Turecky’s surprise performance. “Because we chose to have him peak at states so that was our plan to come here, train hard up until here and then rest down for the state meet.”

Turecky’s record came minutes after teammate Kate Cooper broke the girls’ record in the 100 fly. In the middle two lanes, Cooper and fellow Lady Little Lion Grace Dangelo pushed each other until the senior gained the edge on the freshman. Cooper touched at 56.92, breaking her own record of 57.32 from two years ago.

Cooper broke another record when she touched the water again. In the 200 freestyle relay, Cooper led off the State College’s 11th win of the day. She teamed with fellow seniors Hannah Finton, Harly Stuyvesant and Fiona Vashaw in besting the team’s own record, posting a time of 1:38.34. The quartet shaved more than a second off the mark the Lady Little Lions set last year.

Cooper also won the 200 medley relay in 1:48.68 with Vashaw, Grace Tothero and Juliet Garrigan, who led off.

In individual efforts, Garrigan took the 200 IM in 2:10.65. Finton won the 200 free with a time of 1:58.54, while Vashaw captured the 50 free in 24.47.

The State College boys’ team followed with another strong showing, winning the 200 free relay with a time of 1:29.03. Jordan Hillsley, Turecky, Dave Rovansek and Tobias Van Dyke kept a commanding lead, with Van Dyke serving as the anchor leg after placing first in the individual 200 free.

The Little Lions’ Matt Morris took the 50 free in 22.40. Teammate Mikey Challis was the only racer to break the two-minute mark in the 200 IM, taking the event in 1:58.42.

Turecky said having Hillsley, who was in the pool with him for three events, duel him in the 100 fly motivated him to make the day a special one.

This time, their coach wasn’t surprised.

Sprang said he sees how his swimmers make each other better in practice. When they dive into competition, the friendly rivalries only boost their drive.

“They were going to push each other and that’s kind of the beauty of this meet for us,” Sprang said. “They know their competition so well because they swim against them every day in practice, and it really gets them excited and in a great frame of mind before the race. To their credit, they use it to their advantage.”

In Class AA, Bellefonte took three events. In the boys’ 200 medley relay, Ian Lowery, Chance Foster, Brian Feldman and Finn Nixdorf outpaced the field by almost four seconds, registering a time of 1:44.35. Nixdorf returned to the pool with a 22.62 win in the 50 free and finished his day as the anchor leg in the Red Raiders’ victory in the 200 free relay.

The Bellefonte coaching staff, all donning superhero-themed socks as part of a team tradition, looked for some preternatural feats from their squad.

Nixdorf came through.

“Finn is always the surprising one because you never know what you’re going to get with him,” said Red Raiders’ coach Laura Randazzo, who wore Wonder Woman-themed socks. “He really just jumps in and gives it his all each and every race.”

Randazzo said her team would hit the pool again Monday, tweaking what they need to for states. She liked what she saw from her medley team, she said. The squad has been putting in two hours of practice a day, getting a feel for the walls and the starts.

For Sprang, the district meet offers the chance for surprises — such as Turecky’s record-breaking day — to happen.

“During the course of the year during dual meets, we kind of have to put them where the team needs them in order to score the most points,” Sprang said. “But when it comes to these meets, I want them to be in events that they have the best chance to be successful for themselves and for the team, and I felt like in the 100 fly, (Turecky) can do it well. I think he has the chance to score in that at states.”

Turecky, meanwhile, grinned after flipping his goggles to the side. Surprising his coach and himself took most of his energy — but not all of it. He laughed with a few of his teammates before hopping back in the training pool.

“Exhausted,” he said, smiling after winning the 100 fly. “Just see what we do at states now.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2016 at 10:22 PM with the headline "State College’s Turecky surprises coach, himself by breaking record at district meet."