All-Bi-City swimming: Brookstone freshman joins Columbus pair

For a long time, it has been the Columbus High show when it comes to the Ledger-Enquirer’s All-Bi-City swimming awards. For the most part, that was true again this year.

Columbus coach Karen Waters guided her boys and girls teams to yet another win at the region meet in January, fending off a pesky Northside boys squad to keep the winning streak alive. Her success earned her another nod as the coach of the year.

Her top boys swimmer, Chase Parker, won four events at the region meet, setting two meet records in individual events and helping two relay teams earn medals, as well. He also finished in 15th in the 200 free and 12th in the 500 free at state. His efforts earned him a nod as the boys swimmer of the year.

And then there’s Hannah Mattson, the exception to the rule. After years of Blue Devil dominance, Mattson put Brookstone back on the map as a freshman, setting region meet records in the 200 individual medley and the 500 free, and placing 11th in the 200 free and ninth in the 100 fly at state. She is the girls swimmer of the year.

Mattson started swimming when she was 6 years old. She had participated in quite a few sports, including, at the time, golf. When her schedule began to fill up and she had to make some changes — tough decisions for a 6-year-old — her dad suggested swimming.

It stuck, and she’s been doing it ever since.

While she’s been very involved in club swimming over the years, this year was her first opportunity in high school. She said it was one of her favorite experiences so far.

“It was really exciting,” she said of participating at state with her teammates. “It was nice to have other people from my team for the relay, to get to spend that time with them during state. High school swimming is so much more about the points you get for your team and not the time, whereas club is more for individual.”

She did both well, and she’s looking forward to three more years in high school to try and get even better.

“Definitely winning state,” she said of her future goals. “Just really, obviously, bettering my times and getting more points with my relays at state is one of my bigger goals. I’m just really excited for the future.”

Parker was a key contributor for Columbus last year, but even moreso this year as a sophomore. He said he improved on his breaststroke by a few seconds and that his freestyle times have come down significantly. That is evident by his state performances.

As a freshman in 2015, he finished 20th in the 200 free and didn’t place in the 500. This year, he placed 15th and 12th, respectively. He said that in his final two years of high school he’d like to make it to a top-10 finish at state — to which his coach, Waters, interjected.

“Champion,” she said.

Parker smiled, acknowledged that it would be difficult and said, “Maybe.”

Waters said she thinks Parker can reach a championship level because of his drive.

“He’s just extremely driven,” she said. “He will not be beat. He has that competitiveness, where if he’s close, he’s going to win. He’s gotten better every year. I don’t see that stopping. He’s matured both as a swimmer and a person. He’s learned how to control his emotions and put them into the pool, and that will just keep making him better.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 6:24 PM with the headline "All-Bi-City swimming: Brookstone freshman joins Columbus pair."