All-Area Boys Swimmers of the Year | Three county swimmers excelled in the pool
One flutters through the water at a breakneck pace.
The two others are in an endurance-styled event.
In all three cases, Manatee County's boys swimming division produced three standout performers when it came to the pinnacle of the high school season: the state meet.
And it's due to how well each performed that narrowing down who should be the Bradenton Herald's Swimmer of the Year proved an impossible task.
Therefore, Bayshore's T.C. Smith, Braden River's Ryan Walker and Lakewood Ranch's Daniel Erlenmeyer are tri-swimmers of the year.
"It feels really great and a big accomplishment," Walker said. "I just think a lot of hard work paying off."
Walker and Smith captured state championships last fall. Erlenmeyer didn't, but qualified as an All-American as a runner-up.
The Mustangs' senior boys swimmer cranked out a 4:22.67 time in the 500-yard freestyle at the Class 4A meet in Stuart. Erlenmeyer also secured a second place showing in the 200 freestyle.
He's heading to North Carolina State next year for Division I college swimming.
Meanwhile, Walker, a senior at Braden River, recently signed with Drury (Springfield, Mo.), a Division II program.
Prior to that, though, he was tearing through Class 3A competition en route to a state title in the 100 breaststroke.
That title almost didn't happen.
That's because it wasn't until the summer leading into the high school season that Walker decided to focus on that event in his final prep year.
"My breaststroke has always been my No. 1 stroke, but it just came together this summer," Walker said. "I thought that if I really tap into it, I could make some really big gains in it. The sprint free for the last year wasn't going as well as I wanted it to. I had some breakthroughs this season. I had a feeling I could do it if I put my mind to it. It just happened, I guess."
So Walker built himself up through the season to turn in his best Mako shark impersonation by logging a personal best time of 56.41 in the 3A state final.
"It was a personal best by over two seconds, which is a really big drop for swimming," Walker said. "A lot of it was adrenaline knowing it was my last high school race."
Smith, a junior at Bayshore, methodically paces himself in the 500 freestyle. After seeing how his top competitor didn't waste much energy qualifying for the finals of the event at the Class 2A meet, Smith said he knew his opponent was going to go fast.
"When he went out on me, I really had to lock down mentally and commit myself to doing what I needed in order to win," Smith said.
That's precisely what happened as Smith touched the wall first with a time of 4:23.91, which edged Gulliver Prep's Miguel Cancel by 0.44 seconds.
Smith said he'll compete in the Olympic Trials for the first time, before returning for his senior season with the Bruins.
Boys swimming All-Area honorable mention
Bayshore -- Andrew Kalaman, fr.
Bradenton Christian -- Connor Kesten, fr.
Lakewood Ranch -- Sebastian Aguirre, fr.
This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "All-Area Boys Swimmers of the Year | Three county swimmers excelled in the pool ."