Spencer Nicholas Twice Lowers National Public School Record in 100 Butterfly
At the Tennessee High School State Championships Friday, Martin Luther King Magnet high school senior Spencer Nicholas took down the national public school record in the boys’ 100 butterfly. Nicholas, who represents the Nashville Aquatic Club in USA Swimming competition and will be heading to the University of Virginia next year, sliced three hundredths off the previous mark held by Aiden Hayes in prelims before going even faster in the final.
Nicholas swam a time of 45.44 in prelims to beat Hayes’ 45.47, and then he dropped down to 45.08 in the final. That mark was just 11-hundredths off the overall high school record of 44.97 set by Scotty Buff last year. Nicholas smashed his previous best time of 46.13, which he recorded at U.S. Junior Nationals in December, and entering this season, his best time had been a 46.78 from last year’s high school state meet.
In other events at the meet, Nicholas won the 100 backstroke state title in 46.68 after clocking 46.58 in prelims. He split 24.22 on the breaststroke leg of his team’s fifth-place 200 medley relay, and he anchored the 200 free relay in prelims in a sizzling 19.01. However, the MLK team was disqualified in the final.