Hulne: Former Packer swimmer was impressed with Austin at state meet
Published 9:15 pm Monday, March 9, 2015
When an athlete finds out one of their records is going to be broken or has been broken, they can either feel disappointment or embrace the success of the younger athlete who beat their milestone.
For Austin grad Tony Bednar it was an easy choice — he was more than happy to support Austin junior Craig Heimark after the swimmer broke Bednar’s record. In fact, Bednar wanted Heimark to swim even faster.
Austin’s Craig Heimark gives a thumbs up on the podium after taking third in the 50-yard freestyle at the Class A state swimming and diving meet in the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis Saturday. Herald File Photo
After Heimark broke Bednar’s record time in the 50-yard freestyle, which had stood since 1991, in just his second time swimming the race this year, Bednar began following the Packer swimming and diving team closer than he had in years past. During the week before the state meet, Bednar sent Heimark and AHS head coach Lynn Gulbrandson an e-mail that said he was hoping Heimark would swim the 50-free a half a second faster at state.
Just as Bednar requested, Heimark delivered and re-set his AHS record twice in the 50-yard free and he also re-set his 100-yard free record and won a state title in that event.
Bednar, who now lives in Cottage Grove, Minn., was on hand to congratulate Heimark in the state preliminaries Friday and it was the first state meet he had been to in 24 years when he was a competitor.
“I heard about Craig breaking my record earlier this year and at that point I knew they had some quality swimmers so I paid more attention to the team,” Bednar said.
Bednar was very impressed with Heimark’s performance at state and he compared him to AHS grad Wes Hompe, who holds the Packer record in the 200-yard medley, which he set in 1977.
“They’re kind of in a league of their own,” Bednar said of Heimark and Hompe. “They’re two of the most elite swimmers Austin has ever had.”
It wasn’t just Heimark breaking records for the Packers this weekend. The Austin 200-yard freestyle relay team of Heimark, Seth Clasen, Isaac Christopherson and Sawyer Myers broke a record that was set last year and the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Heimark, Christopherson, Walker and Myers broke a record that was set in 1978. Myers broke a 500-yard freestyle record that was set in 1977 and Ben Walker broke Hompe’s record in the 100-yard butterfly, which was set in 1978.
By the time time the Class A state meet was over, the Packers had set new AHS standards in six of the 11 swimming events.
Bednar swam for Gulbrandson when he was in high school and he said it was a little surreal to watch Gulbrandson coach from a spectator’s standpoint.
“He looks almost exactly the same except for a few more gray hairs and he has the same passion for the sport,” Bednar said. “He had a day at the state tournament that most coaches dream about.”
Bednar also noticed how the Packer swimmers supported each other and he was impressed with how prepared for the team was for the meet. He said it was nice to relive his experience at state by watching another generation of Austin swimmers shine on the biggest stage.
“It’s great to see the program and the quality of swimmers they’re cranking out right now,” Bednar said. “You have to go back to 1977 to see a comparable performance.”
Follow Rocky Hulne on twitter @RockyHulneADH.
