Eastside Boys Win 6th-Straight SCHSL 4A Title, Edwards Breaks 2 Meet Records

2020 SCHSL Boy’s 4A State Swimming Championships

• October 12, 2020
• North Charleston Aquatic Center, North Charleston, SC
• Course: SCY
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 SCHSL 4A Boys Championships” 

The South Carolina High School League (SCHSL) held its State Championship meets last weekend, marking the first high school state championship meet since the coronavirus pandemic. 

The meet was held at the North Charleston Aquatic Center, which has the capacity to hold over 1,000 swimmers. Due to COVID restrictions, there were no spectators allowed at the meet, and the number of swimmers participating had to also be limited. 

Schools competing in the SCHSL’s 4A division fall between the 3A and 5A schools in terms of size under the reclassification that was based on enrollment numbers as of mid-2019. 

The defending state champions, Eastside managed to come out of the meet with the win, scoring a total of 511 points. This marks Eastside’s 6th consecutive State Championship title on the men’s side. Notably, Eastside was the only school to win both the boy’s and girl’s titles across all three divisions at this year’s meet. 

Top 5 Teams:

1. Eastside (489.50)
2. Hilton Head Island (351)
3. Lucy Beckham (259)
4. AC Flora (245)
5. James Island (232.50)

Despite their 138 point win, Eastside did not win any events throughout the day, showcasing the team’s incredible depth. Every single one of the team’s 19 swimmers contributed to the team’s point total individually, with 10 swimmers contributing 18 points or more. 

In the 200 medley relay, Eastside finished second behind AC Flora. The Eastside team, consisting of Joseph Lilley, Nils Bognar, Carson Mozingo, and McLain Brown touched in a time of 1:40.17. 

AC Flora’s foursome of Tanner Edwards, Darden Tate, Benjamin Tanner, and Hill Teas managed to touch first in a time of 1:37.27. On the opening backstroke leg, Edwards posted a split of 22.83, which was the fastest backstroke time in the entire field by almost 4 seconds. His split was also the second-fastest in the entire field regardless of stroke. 

Edwards also showed off his backstroke later in the meet, swimming a time of 49.42 in the 100 backstroke. This broke his own meet record (49.79) that he set during last year’s meet. 

In the 100 butterfly, Edwards broke another meet record. Touching the wall in a time of 49.72, Edwards took down the meet record set by Jordan Berry in 2008. (Although Harrison Clinton would again lower the record at the 5A meet later in the day, swimming a time of 49.41.) 

Another meet record almost fell in the 200 freestyle where Hilton Head’s Cohen Bruner swam to a time of 1:40.37, which fell just short of Ben Fenwick’s meet record (1:40.29) from 2017.

Bruner also won the 100 freestyle in a time of 46.24. 

Other Highlights:

• Hilton Head’s Tommy Hughson won the 200 IM in a time of 1:54.69, finishing almost a second ahead of the field. Hughson also dominated the field in the 500 free, where he won in a time of 4:40.66 by almost 15 seconds. 
• Bluffton’s Daniel Schwabauer hit the wall first in the 50 freestyle, finishing in 22.01.
• Hilton Head’s 200 freestyle relay of Bruner, Dylan Magda, Blasie Minkler, and Hughson claimed the victory in a time of 1:30.12.
• Tate, a freshman from AC Flora won the 100 breaststroke, finishing in a time of 58.16, making him the only freshman to win an individual event during the meet. 
• Hilton Head repeated their line-up from the 200 freestyle relay in the 400 freestyle relay, which paid off as they touched first in a time of 3:17.40.