Center Grove sophomore Henry Lyness is the Daily Journal’s Boys Swimmer of the Year.
Daily Journal file photo
From the beginning of the high school season, Henry Lyness believed a state championship in the 100-yard backstroke was a possibility.
Last month, the Center Grove sophomore willed the dream into reality. He pulled away from his chief rival, Bloomington South junior David Kovacs, over the final pool length to win in 48.06 seconds — delivering a lifetime-best time at exactly the right time.
In doing so, Lyness also made himself the Daily Journal’s Boys Swimmer of the Year.
Lyness established himself as a legitimate championship threat in December, when he made his way into the B final — and beat Kovacs — in the 100 back at the Speedo East Winter Junior Championships in Columbus, Ohio, posting a 14th-place time of 48.65 seconds.
When he followed up with his state victory at the IU Natatorium, Lyness was already setting his sights on the next set of goals.
“I won, but what can I do now to improve?,” he said. “I’ve got to focus on my long course goals now, and then see what I can do next year, because I know it’ll be close again. See what I can do to improve and drop more time.”
The long course season is of particular importance in an Olympic year, and with the trials being held in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, Lyness is one of several locals with extra incentive to earn a ticket there.
If he can keep progressing as he has, it’s certainly in play. Lyness’ best time in the 100-meter backstroke last summer was 58.08 seconds; the trials cut is 55.69. In the 200-meter back, Lyness would need to drop from his 2023 best of 2:09.41 down to 2:01.69 to make it in.
The tools required for summer success aren’t the same as in the short-course pool, where Lyness used his superior underwater work off the last wall to outduel Kovacs at state.
“He’s really looking at that Olympic trial cut, and I think ultimately everything is baby steps getting him to that point,” Center Grove coach Brad Smith said. “It’s looking at those splits and what we need to do. Long course … it’s a different sport, because in short course it’s all about starts and turns, and now it’s focusing on the swimming.”
Lyness has proven adept at both. Earlier this month at the Indiana Swimming Spring Senior Championships in Elkhart — where the preliminaries are in short course yards but the finals are long course meters — he won titles in the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly and had three other top-six finishes.
Regardless of what the summer brings on the club side, Lyness has big goals for the back half of his high school career as well. He not only emerged as a state champion in his sophomore year, but also as a leader for what was a very young Trojan team this past season.
Smith says that Lyness “had some growing up to do” coming into the winter but quickly found his way.
“He really wanted some of that leadership role and wanted to be a leader on the team, and even by Christmas you could see that really rising with him,” the coach said. “Just from the standpoint of his intensity in practice — he was able to turn it on when he needed to and then turn around and cut loose with the guys, and so I think that really — the guys were able to really latch onto that and follow him.”
“I think I did a pretty good job of trying to keep them motivated to drop time and go fast,” Lyness added, “but also the juniors helped out a lot with bringing up the freshmen, because it’s their first (high school) season and they’re tired; it’s not the same for them as middle school. … We were just boosting each other up when we were down.”
At season’s end, Lyness was definitely up — but he was also never going to be content resting on those recently-earned laurels. As soon as one challenge is completed, he’s already on to the next one and the one after that.
So that’s where his focus is. Olympic trials, and then defending that shiny new title. The win might have brought on more pressure, but he’s fully embracing it.
“I definitely want to go for a three-peat, or at least two in a row,” Lyness said. “I feel like it’s more motivating to get that three-peat, because it’s really cool, so I’m just going to keep dedicated and motivated to keep going and not give up, just train hard all the time.”
ALL-COUNTY TEAM
The 2024 All-County team for boys swimming and diving:
Lucas Ackermann, Franklin sophomore: Earned his first individual state appearance in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing 13th with a time of 58.58 seconds … Also anchored the Grizzly Cubs’ 200 medley relay to a 13th-place finish and was part of the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay.
Austin Clark, Franklin junior: Won county and sectional championships on the 1-meter board and earned a trip to the state finals, where he picked up a point by finishing 16th with a score of 392.10 … Posted a season-best score of 444.65 at the Jasper Regional.
Max Hite, Center Grove junior: Finished 10th at the state meet in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.65) and earned a medal as part of the Trojans’ eighth-place team in the 400 free relay … Was also on the 12th-place 200 free relay … Qualified for state in the 100 freestyle, placing 18th (46.98).
Isaac Layton, Franklin senior: Closed out his career with a 15th-place state finish in the 200 freestyle (1:42.99) and appearances on two scoring Grizzly Cub relays (200 medley and 400 freestyle) … Also qualified for state meet in the 100 butterfly, finishing 22nd (51.53).
Isaac Lewis, Center Grove junior: Scored at state in both of his individual events, placing 12th in the 100 breaststroke (58.43) and 16th in the 200 individual medley (1:55.54) … Was on the Trojans’ ninth-place medley relay as well as their 12th-place foursome in the 200 freestyle relay.
Henry Lyness, Center Grove sophomore: Capped the year with a state championship swim in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 48.06 seconds … Also medaled in the 100 butterfly, finishing sixth (50.14) … Led Trojans to eighth place in the 400 freestyle relay and ninth in the 200 medley relay.
Aleksandr Ries, Franklin sophomore: Earned an eighth-place state medal in the 100 breaststroke and added a 14th-place finish in the 200 individual medley … Swam on a pair of state qualifying relays … Won sectional championships in both the IM and breast while helping Grizzly Cubs to the team title.
Honorable mention
Mason Bridges, Center Grove; Franco Chirinos, Franklin; Anthony Cuadros, Center Grove; Noah Grady, Whiteland; Alijah Hall, Franklin; Gabe Holtz, Franklin; Nikhil Iyer, Center Grove; Skyler Jasper, Indian Creek; Jacob Meinczinger, Franklin
