Gilbert swimmer Lorin Tobler in pursuit of Misty Hyman's incredible butterfly state record
Lorin Tobler isn't getting ahead of herself. It's always been the next swim meet, trying to get better. The Olympics, finding a college, that stuff will come when it's meant to be. There is no rush.
But the Gilbert High junior is a swimming historian. And she knows all about her main event, the 100-yard butterfly. And who owns it in Arizona.
Misty Hyman, when she was dominating the pools with a tremendous-length-of-the-pool dolphin kick that has since been outlawed, set a state record at the AIA swim and diving championships in 1996 while at Phoenix Shadow Mountain that hasn't been touched.
At the state meet, she swam the 100 fly in 52.41 seconds, a national record then, and maybe the greatest girls' state swimming record in Arizona history. Hyman went on to win a gold medal in the Olympics in the butterfly. She's the gold standard, and Tobler knows it. She knows mainly because her father, Nathan, who swam at Marcos de Niza and won the boys' 100 fly state title the same time Hyman competed in high school, remembers her well.
The boys swam after the girls in the fly that year.
"We're all sitting there waiting to go, we're all getting nervous for our race, because there was a little delay before we got to go swim," said Nathan Tobler, who went on to swim at BYU. "The guys were like, 'We hope we can beat Misty's time.' "
The time to break the record for Lorin could be this weekend, when the Arizona Interscholastic Association holds the Division I, II and III swimming and diving championships. Tobler will be competing against the defending Division I champ in the fly in Mesa Red Mountain's Sophia Jahn.
Lorin's best time this year is 54.75 seconds. Lorin also will try to win the gold in the 100 backstroke. Her best time in that is 56.15.
Tobler, who was named after Nathan's grandfather, is realistic about the fly, that she might still be a year away. But she'll give it her all at Skyline Aquatic Center in Mesa on Friday and Saturday. Saturday's finals for D. I start at 9:30 a.m., with the Division II championships following in the afternoon.
"I haven't thought about it until recently but it's definitely on my mind," Tobler said about Hyman's record. "I think it's something that definitely could happen in the near future."
When Hyman swam, the state meet was held at Arizona State.
The Skyline pool record in the 100 fly for girls is 53 seconds.
"Those are two records that I have a shot at," Tobler said.
Nothing would surprise Gilbert coach Brendan Keyes, who has watched her emerge as one of the greatest female swimmers in Arizona in the last two years.
"It's her technique," Keyes said. "She's got flawless technique. She uses her underwater swims to her advantage in both of her events. She's a training video to watch. If you slow it down, you can teach a lot of kids how to swim."
Nathan Tobler has made sure to check in on his daughter as she began swimming competitively at 8 and soon took off in the pool for the Gold Medal Swim Club, which trains out of Chandler High School.
She showed the most aptitude in the backstroke early in her career. But now she's really gotten dialed in on the fly.
"It's nice to have a common language and have a shared interest," Nathan said. "But as a parent, I made sure to check in with her a lot to make sure it's something she loves, and not something because Dad did it."
The passion has never waned and she chews on every bit of information.
"If she isn't working out or getting to practice, she kind of gets into a foul mood," Nathan said. "I think she appreciates the endorphins."
She's not putting pressure on herself this weekend. She'd like to win. She knows the record will be tough. And she knows how tough just winning the fly will be with Jahn ready to press forward with her biggest swims of the year.
She's learned to put everything in perspective. She wants to attend a Division I school, get to the NCAA championships, and thinks of someday getting a graduate degree in something.
"That's kind of what I'm thinking about," she said.
Others to watch for this weekend
Cactus senior Tristan Glaze is competing in both the Division III diving championships and in the 50 free swimming at Phoenix Country Day School. He always qualified for state in the 100 free, but swimmers can only choose two individual events, so he decided on diving as his second event. The diving finals were held on Thursday morning. The D. III swim finals are on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Chaparral boys have a shot at the 200 medley relay state record behind North Carolina State commit Hudson Schuricht, who has a shot at breaking the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke state records. Meanwhile, Ethan Mindlin (a Duke commit) has a shot at the boys' 100 backstroke state record that is held by former Brophy Prep star Alex Righi. Seth Crow could be a double state champ for Chaparral in the 50 and 100 free. He's getting close to breaking 20 seconds in the 50 free. The only boy in Arizona history to do that is former Chaparral star Ryan Hoffer, who was the national high school swimmer of the year in 2017. Pinnacle, Mountain and Brophy all will be chasing Chaparral for the boys' team title in Division I.
Jahn will also try to defend her D. I girls state title in the 50 free. Chaparral, Horizon, Desert Vista and Boulder Creek all are in the hunt for the girls' team title. Joy Felner and Sydney Ho are in the hunt for individual titles for Chaparral. Clare Luken leads Desert Vista, hoping to be a double champ in the 100 and 200 free. Boulder Creek freshman Delaney Barbee has a shot at the girls' state record in the 50 free and could be a double champ with the 100 back.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert swimmer Lorin Tobler in pursuit of Misty Hyman's state record
