FARMINGTON, Minn. -- Setting a record is very specific. The numbers tell the story. Farmington boys swimming broke the school's 200-yard freestyle relay mark last season at the state meet and is optimistic that they can do it again.

Senior Eli Montgomery is a returning member of that unit and says they are picking up where they left off, "Our times at this time (last) season were never this fast. We had a really close meet against Prior Lake (January 13) and the times in our relays there were faster than we had gone all year last year."

Justin Raymond joins the relay, "We're going to set the record this year…Three juniors on that relay and then a senior. This year I'll be replacing that senior…I'm pretty confident in our squad, that we can do that."

Hantruy Nguyen and Tyler West, both seniors, round out both the 200 free and 400 free relays.

Having fun is more elusive to measure but the Tigers have that covered as well, proclaims Raymond, "Senior season. We're just having fun right now. Enjoying working hard with all the guys, getting better. Getting a few wins."

First-year head coach Max Hubbard says it's been an easy transition after being an assistant, "It's such a great team and the parents are phenomenal. The amount of support that I have is incredible. With that said, there's a lot of administrative stuff that comes with being the head coach."

The Tigers enjoy a senior-heavy roster that has made for a competitive dual meet season. Even a pair of close losses are viewed in a positive manner, "It's a really strong class. We're thrilled to have them…We're doing quite well. We've had a couple of very close losses, 90-93 against both Shakopee and Prior Lake.

"It's tough to lose those close ones. But frankly, when we're losing 90-93 against Prior Lake, who I think is ranked fifth in the state, there are worse meets to lose," Hubbard stated.

Assistant coach Brock Vestrum was approached by an athlete during the meet against the Lakers, "The fact that it went down to the final event, the 400 free relay, and one of the seniors came up to me and said, 'It's never been this close.' Which tells me they are working hard and they're seeing some of the rewards.

"There's many ways to measure success and it's not always on the scoreboard. We definitely have put in the work. Every week we're working on new technique. We're working on increasing our strength, and having better starts and better turns," said Vestrum.

Hubbard believes the 200 relay can reset the school record this season, "They're very excited to break that record again. They expect to send that relay team and the 400 free relay team to state. I think we have a pretty good shot with a couple other individual swimmers as well.

"They push each other. They compete really well. It's a good group of guys."

Raymond says, "We just have to stay focused, do exactly what we've been doing in practice. In the weeks coming up to that, we're going to be working hard tapering, watching our diet, watching our exchanges so we can get those exchanges almost perfect."

Montgomery indicates, "We just have a really great group of guys here this senior year. Our senior class is super strong. We're all working our tails off in practice, just trying our hardest to be better every day."

Montgomery began his high school career in eighth grade, "I used to swim more distance races. I've slowly phased out of that. Last year I swam the 200 (free). This year I'm switching down to the 50."

Raymond swims the 200 individual medley and 100 fly while going the distance in the 500 free occasionally. He loves when it's a home meet, "I might be biased, but our pool is just better than all the other pools. We have a big locker room. We have a warmer pool than all the other pools. It's eight lanes. It's just cozy. It's comfortable. It's home."

FHS has just one more home meet at Dodge Middle School, on Monday, February 2 against Lakeville South.

Other meets for the Tigers include Saturday, January 24 in Owatonna for a diving invitational; Friday, January 30 at Apple Valley; Saturday, January 31 at Hastings for another diving event; and Saturday, February 7 at Lakeville North (JV championships).
Sections begin Wednesday, February 18 at the Blanchard Aquatic Center at Century Middle School in Lakeville. State is February 26-28 at Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota.

Hubbard says there's a dip in numbers in the junior and sophomore classes but a "pretty good contingent of freshmen and middle schoolers, which is great to see." While that might make scoring tough in the competitive South Suburban Conference "it is encouraging for the program as a whole."

He says he and his coaches (Vestrum, Seth Krause and John Tegg) make practice fun with small games and bring in special coaches, an example recently being a breaststroke specialist. Results were evident right away.

Hubbard admits swimming "by its nature, the practice can get long and boring. You are face down in a pool staring at a black line for hours with not enough air."