With determination, senior Ben Stone slices through the pool during the 100 freestyle.
Stone has been swimming for eight years and has been on the Poway Varsity team since his freshman year.
Stone is what they call a true sprinter, mostly swimming the 50 and 100-meter freestyle events. He is currently ranked 51st in California.
On May 6 at the CIF Division I Championship, Stone broke Poway High’s 100-meter freestyle record that had been in place since 2009 by 0.6 seconds with a time of 45.71 seconds during the preliminaries.
During the finals on May 10, Stone placed third with a score of 16 and a time of 45.87.
Stone attributes his success to his coach, Michelle Ford.
“I wouldn’t have been able to break the record if it weren’t for my coach. She’s great. I like swimming because it’s an individual sport and a team sport; everyone works on themselves, but to get better as a team,” Stone said.
Ford has coached varsity for five years and JV for four years before that. She takes pride in her swimmers.
“He is so crazy good. He placed 15th in the 50 freestyle, consistently swimming a 20-second. During the 100 freestyle, he placed 34th —he’s very fast,” Ford said.
His teammate, freshman Abigail Wasson, in her first year swimming and her first on varsity, draws some inspiration from Stone.
“I always see him working very hard, and it encourages me to push myself and be the best version of myself. He has a really good work ethic,” Wasson said.
Stone is committed to the University of Denver and will continue to swim as a walk-on as a part of their Division I team.