Korbin Johnson (11)

How long have you been swimming?

“Competitively in high school for three, I’ve been swimming since I was 8.”

Is this your first time going to State?

“This is my second time.”

How did you do at Region?

“I did pretty well at Region. I had a really bad season, like all year and so I finally broke my PRs at Region.”

What did you compete in?

“I competed in the medley relay, the 200 IM, 100 backstroke, and in prelims, I was on the 400 free relay.”

Can you describe your experience at Region?

“Well, it was really fun. I feel like that meet was one of the only meets where the whole team was together instead of like the boys were together and the girls were together. We were all kind of supporting each other. There was a lot of good energy I feel. I think all of us felt super good and that we were going to have a good meet.”

What were your expectations for Region prelims?

“Well, I was pretty nervous. And I think all I wanted to do was finally swim well, because I had not swam well the entire season. And so my expectations were that probably my buddies were going to do really well. And then I was going to try my best.”

What were your expectations for Region finals?

“Well, I had already swam and so I broke all of my previous personal records, and so I knew that I was going to do okay at finals. The expectation was that we were going to do better than I thought we were actually. So when we were going in I didn’t know how we were going to do and then the expectation for finals was that we were gonna do really well.”

What was your initial reaction when you find out you’re going to State?

“Well, I will admit I was really, really nervous because last year when I went to State, I was an alternate for the medley relay and the boys missed the medley relay and so I was not like a guaranteed alternate anymore. So when I found out I was going to State I was really, really relieved because I was on the cusp of not going because I’m an alternate. And so figuring out that I was going was just a nice, like relief because I thought I probably wasn’t.”

What is your favorite memory from this past season?

“Probably the 400 free at finals, region finals. The girls and the boys were both crazy. I will say one thing: Morgen Dozier’s 2 IM at finals was really good. That was one of the best things that any of us had seen all season. That was really good.”

What has been the hardest part leading up to State?

“Probably having a really rough season. My sophomore year was really good. I dropped a ton of time throughout the whole year, and I hit a wall all the junior year. I finally broke that wall so it was probably going in meet after meet and just not getting any better until Region. That was the hardest part.”

Is there anything else you would like to add?

“I’m really proud of the team as a whole because when we lost our seniors last year, I was really worried about how we would progress because we didn’t have the times to put down to get us anywhere good. And then going into Region we weren’t even supposed to win or get close to winning. And then we ended up having a lot of guys go 21’s and a lot girls crush times as well. And it was crazy.”