Making a name: With a record already under his belt, freshman Logan Kelly is putting his mind to more
Published 6:01 am Monday, January 29, 2018
- Logan Kelly swims the butterfly portion of the 200 yard IM for the Packers last season. Herald File Photo
Austin freshman Logan Kelly is already making some big waves with the Packers swimming and diving team, and he’s just getting started.
Kelly put his name in the Austin record books when he broke a school record held by former Packer swimmer John Higgins. Kelly set the record when he swam the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.77 in the Austin Invite Saturday.
While setting the mark was a goal of his this season, Kelly wasn’t exactly pumping his fist in celebration after the race.
![](https://www.austindailyherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2018/01/LOGANKELLY.jpg)
Austin freshman Logan Kelly recently set a new Austin High School record in the 100-yard breaststroke. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“I was planning on breaking it this year,” Kelly said. “I don’t really get excited when I swim, so I’m not quite sure how I feel about breaking the record. I’m just trying to focus on what I need to do to swim faster and I’m seeing who my competition is.”
When Kelly gets in the pool, he’s motivated by the speed of his opponents and he had plenty of motivation last Saturday when he squared off against Winona sophomore Grant Wolner, who won the race with a time of 1:01.13.
Kelly shaved about a second off his previous best time of the year in chasing Wolner, but he still came up short.
Kelly is hoping to get faster by the time the Section 1A meet rolls around on Feb. 21-22.
“I’ve always been competitive. I just try and beat people,” Kelly said. “The breaststroke came to me naturally and I’ve always liked it. My goal this season is to break a minute and get second at sections to get to state. I’m always going to be working harder to catch that kid from Winona.”
Kelly said he has learned a lot about from swimming from his dad Ryan Kelly and Mark Vininski, who coaches the Atlantis Swim Federation in the summer. Kelly is also motivated by his teammates.
“I always race against Mitch [Mayer] and Isaac [Christopherson] and I try to beat them in practice,” Kelly said.
Austin will host Rochester Mayo at 6 p.m. on Thursday.