Boys’ Swimming: Falcons break national record at CCS meet

“We are going to go out there and crush that CCS record,” senior Matt Murray said. “ We are going to show Bellarmine and everyone else here that we are the best team in CCS.”

This is the speech Murray gave to teammates senior Ben Hinshaw, sophomore Adam Hinshaw and freshman Ian Burnes before the final event, the 4×100 freestyle relay, at the CCS meet in Santa Clara on May 16. At that point, it was mathematically impossible for the Saratoga team to overcome the deficit and achieve victory.

The relay team swam the 16-lap race in 3:00.68, a national record for public high schools, crushing the previous record of 3:01.80 set in 1999 by Bolles Academy, a team from Jacksonville, Fla.

Not only did the team beat the national record, but they also destroyed the CCS record of 3:03.27 set by Lynbrook in 1980. This was the oldest standing CCS record and former national record as well.

Murray, who swam his 100 yards of the relay in 44.83 seconds, started off with a bang. As the leader of the relay, Murray’s regular start was considered a legitimate 100-yard race, giving him the third fastest time 100-freestyle at the meet.

He was followed by Burnes, who swam his leg in 45.45 seconds, A. Hinshaw who went third with a time of 46.35 seconds and B. Hinshaw, who anchored the relay swimming in 44.05 seconds, the second best relay split of the day behind current CCS record holder Shayne Fleming of Valley Christian.

Sports writer Emily Mason from Swimming World Magazine speaking on the former record said “Gustavo Borges, Matt Guyot, Enrico Linscheer and Charlie Santostefano put themselves in the record books by crushing all relay performances, past and present. Their record hasn't even been threatened in 14 years and is the oldest-standing relay record.”