Avon Swim Team members win state titles, compete at Western Zones

Avon Swim Team athletes Tyson Boyd and Andrew Molloy took home titles in the 400-meter individual medley and the 100-meter breastroke, respectively, at the Colorado Swimming Inc. (CSI) Long Course 12U State Championships, held July 29-31 at Cadet Natatorium on the U.S. Air Force Academy campus. The soon-to-be 7th graders were then selected out of roughly 7,000 swimmers for the Team Colorado, an exclusive 80-member group that competed at USA Swimming’s Western Zone age-group championships Aug. 3-6 in Elk Grove, California.

“It’s a really awesome atmosphere,” Avon Swim’s program coach Meghan Hershey said of the Western Zone event.

“At the age-group level, this is pretty much the highest caliber meet that they’ll go to.”

Boyd and Molloy are the program’s first swimmers to compete at the Western Zone meet. One of four divisions USA Swimming divides the country into — Western, Central, Eastern and Southern — the Western Zone is divided into 16 regions, one of which is Colorado. To be eligible for Team Colorado selection, athletes must first hit a time standard, something Hershey estimated was only achieved by approximately 160 athletes in the entire state. The top eight per gender, per age group, and the remaining top 32 athletes, regardless of gender or age group, are chosen to narrow the team to 80.

“It’s not a very common thing to do just because it’s so hard to make those times,” Hershey explained.

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At the state meet, Boyd and Molloy contested seven individual events and two relays.

Molloy won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:25.05, more than a full second ahead of Marshall Adams (1:26.41) and Cash Williamson (1:26.45). Boyd finished the 400-meter individual medley in 5:30.71. Jonah Wang (5:31.42) and Connor Hayes (5:36.43) rounded out the podium as only the top-four athletes went under 6:00 in the final.

“I didn’t want to overthink. I just thought about good technique,” Boyd said of his mindset going into the race.

The pairs’ dominant performances helped the Avon Swim Team’s 12-member group to a 13th place finish out of 45 teams in the overall scoring.

“It’s awesome to see them come together as a team,” Hershey said. For a group that practices 5-6 days per week, starting in September, logging 4,000-5,000 yards per practice in addition to dry-land training — Molloy is a cross-country runner and Boyd does Nordic skiing — the culmination at states is a rewarding experience.

“The meet is kind of the fun part because they do all this training going into it,” Hershey explained.

“When you get there you get to see them go have fun and put it to use.” 

Hershey said her team focuses heavily on the mental component of competition, too. Before one state race, the whole group went to a quiet room away from the main pool and visualized their races.

“We visualize the start and try to visualize it perfectly,” said Boyd, who explained that the way one competes often matches how they saw it going down beforehand. He’s also taught himself certain cues to bolster his confidence and energy going into races.

“Having an ‘I’m going to win’ attitude — even if you don’t end up winning — if you have a good attitude going into it, like ‘I can win this’ — you’ll probably do better,” the VSSA student said.

For Molloy, the idea of “staying focused” has helped him dial in his performance this season.

“Andrew’s probably one of my toughest mental kids,” Hershey complimented of the homeschooled student who one day hopes to fly F-22s for the Air Force.

“He goes in and does his things and doesn’t really get affected or distracted by nerves.”

That was true at California, too, where Molloy said he didn’t feel too different despite being surrounded by the elevated competition.

“Not really,” he answered when asked if he was intimidated standing on the blocks at Western Zones.

“Because Tyson’s gone to meets in Florida and California before, so I knew kids from other states were faster.”

Molloy competed in the 50-meter breaststroke, where he recorded his best individual finish (19th). He also contested the 50-meter butterfly (24th), as well as the 100 and 200-meter breaststrokes (23rd in both) and all of the 11-12-year-old relays.

Boyd contested the 200 and 400-meter individual medleys (16th and 19th, respectively), the 200 and 400-meter freestyle (12th and 13th respectively), the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke (19th and 14th, respectively).

“My favorite part about the meet was watching how fast other kids could be and then thinking, ‘oh I could go that fast someday,’” said Boyd, who also enjoyed befriending his in-state rivals under the Team Colorado umbrella.

“They’re my rivals — but they’re also my friends, too,” he said.

Back to the grind

Hershey’s crew has a few weeks off before fall practices kick off on Sept. 6. From there, a few winter meets dot the schedule, but mostly it’s another long build-up to states and Zones in 2023.

Boyd hopes to take down the state record in the 400-meter individual medley, while Molloy’s goal is to claim a few more state titles and go under 1:00 in the 100 butterfly during the short-course season. Both are aiming to swim in college someday.

“But building up to that, I’d like to make junior nationals and nationals,” Boyd said of his long-term goals, which also include Olympic aspirations. “That would be really cool.”

“It’s fun winning and fun swimming,” added the quietly competitive Molloy, whom Hershey said has “blossomed” in the last year. Having the duo push each other at practices and meets has elevated expectations across the whole program.

“They’re all pushing each other and what you’re seeing on the team is that they’re all such a hardworking group of kids, everyone is rising up with them,” she said.

“The dynamic and the atmosphere has really become one of trying for success and pushing each other and being positive with one another on hard days when they aren’t feeling practice, and helping one another get through different things in and out of the pool.”