He thinks his 1986 record which continues to be the fastest breast stroke in M-P school history is pretty decent, but Bill Hodgins knows it can be beaten and is looking forward to the day someone smashes it.
Hodgins, now a P.E. coach at M-P, was formerly a Marysville-Pilchuck multiple-sport athlete, playing football in the fall, swimming in winter and baseball in spring. He excelled at all three, but in swimming he started breaking records.
As a sophomore, under the tutelage of Coach Scott Knowles, who is still the coach of the team, Hodgins broke Tracy Hartleys old 100-meter breaststroke record at the district championships. The following year at the state championships, he finished eighth but broke his own breaststroke record. His senior year was both bittersweet and sublime.
M-Ps swim team was a perpetual first-place finisher, taking the occasional second at the hands of Mariner High School in Everett. In 1986, Hodgins along with David Shoup, Aaron Moss and Eric Anderson set a school record for the 200 medley. Hodgins added to the success by again breaking his breaststroke record with a time of 101:19. But it was disappointing to a degree.
I always thought that I would go under a minute, so it was discouraging, he said. I hope that when it gets broken that it gets smashed because it should be faster than that. I want somebody to smash it.
The record should be faster, Hodgins said, because when he set it, he was sick. Just before the state competition began, he had gotten a gall bladder infection which quickly worsened after a medical mix-up had him taking medicine for an ear infection. He lost 14 pounds in three days. And so when he swam at state, he ran out of strength. Though he finished eighth again, his time was a new record for M-P.
For 21 years, that record has been acknowledged with a plaque hanging in the M-P gym. Students and faculty pass it all the time. Hodgins gets stopped occasionally by curious students asking if it was him on the wall. I just say, yes, then I walk away, he said with a modest laugh.
Of the swimmers on this years team, Hodgins thinks that Andy Abadan, a junior, has a shot. He is currently swimming the 100 breaststroke at 1:05, but Hodgins sees him gaining strength and speed by the time Abadans a senior. Theres also an area 8th grader that coach Knowles noticed who may have potential. That student will attend M-P next year.
The WesCo record is held by Garren Riechel, who nailed 57:46 during last years state championship. The state record, which is also the national record, is a mind-blowing 53:66 set in 1998 by Seattle Preps Patrick Fowler. Those times add to Hodgins desire to see his M-P record get waxed.
I tell Andy [Abadan] that if he wants to break it, hes got to work at it, Hodgins said.