When Senior Max Byers arose from the water and looked at the scoreboard on Feb. 25, his dream became a reality, a state championship. Byers finished his high school career placing first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 57.44 seconds at the IHSA finals.

Byers felt a wave of emotion after winning.

“I didn’t know what to do. It was something that I had been dreaming of for a very long time. I started splashing the water and doing my typical celebration. I went up to my parents and then tried to find my team to celebrate with them,” Byers said.

Before the race, Byers said that he did not focus on his nerves and stayed relaxed.

“I was kind of excited but I was also pretty calm. It was my last chance and my last high school swim. It was all about laying it all out there and focusing on what I had to do,” he said.

Byers is known for his confidence and attributes that to his success.

“It’s not a sport that you can go into thinking you’re going to lose. You’ve got to think that you’re going to win and get the job done,” Byers said.

Byers fell behind in the beginning of the race but maintained his composure.

“When we first dove in I was worried because they were ahead of me in the beginning but I had to trust in my training and I knew I was better on the back half. The rest of the race I was just thinking ‘get them, get them, get them’ and, I got them!” he exclaimed.

Byer’s dream almost came to an end this January. While swimming at a meet in Indianapolis, Byers came in too close at the end of the race and broke two metacarpal bones in his left hand. At an emergency room visit in Indianapolis, doctors said that Byers would be out for two to three months. Instead of accepting defeat, Byers visited a hand specialist who said he could start swimming the next day.

The hand injury did not stop him from competing, but it did deter his training. Byers was in the pool the day after the injury, but doctors told him he needed to “take it slow.” Byers had to cut the amount of swimming he did for the next week to half of his normal routine to reduce the stress on his hand. Instead of letting that slow him down, he kept working.

Entering the season, Byers knew that he wanted to win a state title and set his goals high. Byers is in his 10th year of swimming and said that the chance of him becoming a state champion set in early on.

“When I was around 12 we started talking about a state championship. It was when I first qualified for nationals,” Byers said.

Byers has earned a reputation as one of the best swimmers in the state and this November signed to swim at Penn State University. Instead of carrying around a cloud of negative pressure, Byers transferred the high expectations into positive energy.

“I think the pressure definitely pushed me,” Byers said. “I don’t like to think about that but I didn’t let it get to me.”

The state championship showed Byers his potential for the rest of the career. “It’s a great platform to keep moving up. I’m going to be working with a lot of state champs next year but it definitely gives me confidence knowing that I can compete with some of the best.”

Editors Note: The print version of this story, published on Thursday March 9,2012, featured an error. Byers was misquoted saying “It was when I first won nationals,”  instead of the actual quote, “It was when I first qualified for nationals.” We apologize and regret the error.