Neuqua Valley swimmer Alex Parkinson surprised many last year by winning the state title in the 500-yard freestyle as a junior.
However, while his performance was great, it wasn't enough to convince everyone that Parkinson was the state's best distance swimmer.
“We kept saying he was an underdog, and I think other people thought that too,” Newqua Valley coach Chad Allen said. “I think the experts picked him eighth last year, and this year they picked him about second or third.
“I heard a lot of rumors that he wasn't going to win this year, but there was no doubt in my mind that he would win.”
Allen wasn't wrong, and Parkinson wasn't intimidated by people who didn't believe in his abilities.
“All I cared about was swimming until the time I wanted to swim,” Parkinson said. “As I got closer to the end and started to realize I was still in first place, I started thinking, I can win this, I really want to go for it.”
Parkinson, a senior who has been committed to South Dakota, got what he wanted in terms of time and location. On Saturday at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont, he held off a strong challenge from Oswego's Chase Meyer to win in 4 minutes, 22.33 seconds and once again set his own school record.
Parkinson, who became the first swimmer in Neuqua Valley to win the 500 last year, is the ninth male swimmer to win back-to-back state titles in the 500. He is the first player since Hinsdale Central's Danny Thomson to hold a state title. He set a record of 4:18.86 and won three times in a row from 2010 to 2012.
“He’s a long-distance swimmer,” Allen said. “He can run a mile or 1,000 meters. I think he's going to continue to get stronger.”
That's exactly what Parkinson did the past two seasons. He set a school record in the preliminaries for last year's state meet with a time of 4:29.28 and won his first championship with a final time of 4:29.39. It was a narrow victory. He beat St. Ignatius' Charlie Tracy by 0.04 seconds.
However, Tracy took a step back this year, finishing eighth on Saturday with a time of 4:36.78, while Parkinson continued to drop in time. He lowered his Neuqua Valley record to 4 minutes, 25.30 seconds in Friday's preliminaries, earning him the No. 1 seed over Meyer, who was 2.4 seconds slower.
Parkinson's extra speed was needed on Saturday as Meyer, who had placed second in the 200 free earlier in the meet, was catching up to her.
“He definitely pushed me a little bit,” Parkinson said. “I enjoyed watching him out of the corner of my eye and it definitely encouraged me.”
That comment speaks to the quiet confidence Parkinson had all season. He took the extra pressure off being the defending champion.
“He was a great swimmer,” Allen said. “When he saw Chase swim 200 meters, he knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
But Allen was confident he knew what the outcome would be.
“I think there were definitely some people who thought he was going to win, but deep down I thought there was no one who could beat him,” Allen said. “He's training very well.
“Obviously, he got pushed. Chase ran a great race as well. But Alex knew he had to keep the pressure on and just went.”
Why does Parkinson's disease improve so much?
“I like to believe I’m good at 500 meters, mainly because I’m good at planning what I want to swim,” he said. “My plan today was to run the first 100 as usual, push myself a little harder on the subsequent starts to make everyone else uncomfortable in the race, and then from the penultimate 100 onwards. I’ll start picking them up and do my best for the last 100.”
Parkinson leaves Neuqua Valley as the second athlete in program history to win back-to-back state titles in any event, joining Brian Alden, who won both the 50 and 100 free three times from 2006-2008.
“I'm really happy and looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish in the future,” Parkinson said.
Matt Le Crenn is a freelance reporter.