Latin senior Nate Weldon broke the Latin School record for the men’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.58 at the Illinois High School Association Sectionals meet on Saturday.

The previous record of 1:00.86 was set in 2006.

“It was a really special moment to see him understand that he had broken it,” Head Coach and Aquatics Director Danielle Carlson said. “He jumped up really big, smiled, and he hit the water. It was really sweet. Very joyful.”

The Sectionals meet marked Nate’s final competition for Latin’s swim team, and this race was his final opportunity to capture the record he had been eyeing for years.

“On the last 25 yards, when I broke out from the surface, I thought, okay, this is it,” he said. “You got to really push it here.”

The journey to this accomplishment started long ago.

“High school swimming, the season is very short,” Coach Carlson said. “To be able to produce a time like that, to be in that kind of shape, you have to swim year-round. Nate has dedicated himself year-round for a couple of years now.”

In addition to the physical challenge, Nate had to overcome his own concerns about his ability to reach this goal.

“I had a lot of doubt,” Nate said. “Every time I would have doubtful thoughts, I would have this mantra of ‘you’re gonna do it, you will do it, you will do it.’ That gave me a lot of confidence.”

Next year, Nate will be swimming at Occidental College. Though he won’t be in the Latin pool anymore, his name will adorn the wall of Latin aquatic records beside it.

Ms. Carlson said, “A lot of our records are pretty old, and it’s definitely time for them to be refreshed.”