Cannon Clifton was a man with a goal. The junior swimmer from Irving, Texas, knew 2008 Olympian Garrett Weber-Gale set the UW Natatorium record for the 100-yard freestyle in 2003 since he’d arrived at UW, and wanted to one day change that name on the board to his. Last week, he took it upon himself to train as hard as he could and get into the right mindset so that goal could finally be attained.
“I’ve been kind of thinking about [the pool record] all week,” Clifton said.
Those nagging thoughts turned into actions Friday night when the Badgers took to the pool to face the Green Bay Phoenix, and Clifton was laser-focused. When his time came to hit the blocks, Clifton blasted a time of 43.32 seconds, which not only broke Weber-Gale’s record, but automatically qualified him for the NCAA Championships.
“I felt I was off pretty fast during the first 50 [yards],” Clifton explained. “I definitely knew I was going to beat it or be close.”
Clifton wasn’t the only one shattering records set by Olympians that night; junior Danielle Valley lowered the top mark in the Nat for the 1,650-yard freestyle by almost 10 seconds.
“It was exciting,” Valley said. “I didn’t really think that I was on pace [to break the record].”
Former Badger swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Carly Piper previously set the record in 2004.
Head coach Whitney Hite was excited about his team’s performance, as the Badgers ended up sweeping the first-place titles in every event except for men’s one-meter diving, which was won by Michael Klemm of UW-Green Bay.
“It’s always nice to send the seniors off,” Hite said. “It was a fun meet, we swam well, and had some really good times.”
The men’s 200 medley relay team of Austin Byrd, Jake Mandli, Harrison Tran and Ryan Barsanti broke yet another pool record—this one set in 2003 by a Badger team lead by Olympian Adam Mania. Hite was excited by the momentum the pool records built.
“Any time you beat a record that’s done by an Olympian, that’s pretty damn impressive,” Hite said.
Hite pointed out other highlights of the night, including automatic NCAA qualifications for six Badger swimmers—Clifton, Matt Hutchins, Byrd, Mandli, Valley and Chase Kinney—as well as Clifton’s near-record-breaking win in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.13 seconds.
Hite was eager to offer praise for all of his athletes after their dominant performance.
“More than anything else, whether it’s Cannon or Danielle or pretty much everyone, they should come away from tonight with a ton of confidence for Big Tens,” Hite said.
