Lakeside’s Julia Roy Breaks Historic Mary T. State Record

[UPDATE: 7:58 PM EST]: Video link of Julia Roy 100 fly record

Mary T. Meagher is a legend in swimming. Many swimmers are good in their own time, but there are few swimmers who transcend eras like Meagher did.

Across the age groups and across the country, her name is stamped on dozens of record lists despite the fact that she retired from competitive swimming over two decades ago. She still, for example, has the U.S. Open Record for the fastest 200 meter fly ever swum on American soil from 1981, done when she was only 16 years old.

That is why when any record with her name attached to it goes down, you know it’s special.

On Saturday, at the Kentucky LSC State Championship meet, a young swimmer named Julia Roy from the Lakeside Swim Team swam a 1:03.92 to win the 11-12 girls’ fly at the University of Louisville Ralph R. Wright Natatorium. That broke a state record set 36 years, 6 months, and 14 days old. The old record belonged to none-other than ‘Mary T,’ who swam a 1:04.20 on January 7th, 1977.

Broken down otherwise, that’s:

• 13,344 days
• 320,256 hours
• 19,215,360 minutes
• 1,152,921,600 seconds

Roy’s previous lifetime best had been a 1:05.05, set about three weeks ago.  The time also moves her into 7th-place on the all-time national 11-12 age group list behind Cassidy Bayer’s 2012 National Record of 1:01.75.

Her teammate Morgan Miller placed 2nd in that race, and then notice the name on the third-place finisher: Gabi Albiero. At the University of Louisville. You guessed it – that’s the daughter of Louisville head coach Arthur Albiero.

Not to be outdone, the boys’ 11-12 race was won by Will Tarvestad in 1:02.24, which broke a record that was ‘merely’ 13 years old, having belonged to Doug Huguenard of the Lakeside Swim Team with a 1:04.89.