- After winning the world championship, Hunter Armstrong prepares for the Olympic trials.
- Stark County swimmers are reacting to Armstrong's unlikely success story.
- Armstrong could be the star of the Olympic Trials, which has a Showtime-like feel.
It's the year of the Olympics. Backstroke superstar Hunter Armstrong's name inevitably came up at last weekend's state swim meet in Canton.
Armstrong swam in the state championship pool before graduating from Dover High School in 2019. He returned to the Brannin Natatorium in Connecticut many times as a member of the Canton City Schools club team.
Although he has won a world championship now, it's still amazing that just six years ago he was the No. 13 backstroker in the state of Ohio.
Note that at the 2018 OHSAA state meet in Brannin, Armstrong placed fifth (13th overall) in the 100-yard backstroke in the B final, two spots behind Hoover College sophomore Christopher O'Connor. There were hardly any people. He was a Dover junior at the time.
Armstrong worked hard during the off-season with the Canton City Schools club team and grew at Dover Pool, finishing runner-up in two events at the 2019 OHSAA state tournament.
No one could have imagined that he would become a world superstar five years later after winning a silver medal in high school. But he is.
At the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar this month, Armstrong won gold in two relay events and the 100 individual backstroke. He is one of the star athletes at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held in Indianapolis in June.
The first backstroke heat race of the Summer Olympics is scheduled for July 28th in Paris.
Armstrong, who finished swimming at Ohio State University, was removed from the 2021 Olympic team for two years at the Ohio High School Championships. In Tokyo, he swam in the semifinals of the 4×100 medley relay and won the gold medal.
In 2022, Armstrong set a world record in the 50m backstroke. At the recent 2024 World Championships, he won silver in the 50 meters, just ahead of bronze medalist Kusaweri Masiuk of Poland (24.44) and narrowly ahead of Australia's Isaac Cooper (24.13-24.33). did.
Armstrong's 100m backstroke individual gold medal was a thriller. He held off Spain's Hugo Gonzalez with his 52.68-52.70 points.
His rise to stardom occurred during an exciting time.
This will be the first time that the Olympic Trials will be held at an NFL venue. Three temporary pools will be built on the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium. The trial will run from June 15th to 23rd. Tickets are expensive. For his two sessions on June 15th, he seats 15 rows away from the pool for $268.
In Olympic years, there is a lot of interest in swimming spikes. Such was the case in 1976 when the U.S. team practiced in Canton.
The 2024 state meet swimmers were familiar with Armstrong and the Olympics.
“I was on the CCS team at the same time as him,” said Luke Vickers, a 2024 Stark County all-around swimmer and Jackson College graduate. “He's older, so we were in a different group, but everyone knows who he is. His world record was really, really cool to watch.”
Perry junior Sophie Baker is a standout in Armstrong's event, the backstroke.
“He came to talk to my club team in Massillon,” Baker said. “It was pretty cool to follow him.”
Baker's coach, Erin Thayer, is a strength training specialist who worked with future Olympians before returning to Ohio State.
“It's just incredible to hear about the swimmers she's worked with,” Baker said. “The biggest one is Claire Curzan. I like following young swimmers who might go to the Olympics, and she's one of them.”
Curzan, 19, competed with Armstrong at the world championships and won three individual gold medals in the backstroke event.
Thayer swam at Tuscarawas Valley High School and Youngstown State University.
“I moved from Ohio State because I wanted to coach Olympic athletes,” she said. “At that time, the center of fast swimming was Fort Lauderdale. I packed up and worked with the American Swimming Coaches Association. They were very keen to teach me how to coach and how to train athletes. It connected me with some great people who worked on it.”
Thayer also spent time with the TAC Titans in Raleigh, North Carolina, before returning home.
Peter Hellmuth, the district backstroke champion from Hoover, competed against Armstrong.
“He's a really inspiring guy, a local guy who has reached the world sporting level,” Helmut said. “He swam pretty well at the world championships.''
Jackson standout Nina Schlik grew up wondering what it would be like to swim in the Olympics.
“The Olympics have been one of my favorite events as long as I've been alive,” said Schlik, who grew up fascinated by Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.
Former Hoover head coach Rick Morrison, whose name I forget, never tires of studying Olympic swimmers from a scientific perspective.
Morrison was well into Hoover's head coaching tenure when Cincinnati Xavier advanced to the state championship with the legendary Joe Hudepohl. Fudehor was a 1992 U.S. Olympic teammate of Dave Wharton during his tenure as New Albany's head coach at Brannin.
“It's really great to have some kind of connection to the Olympics,” Wharton said from Brannin's pool deck. “The Olympics was a great experience. There were a lot of adjustments to make, all in preparation for the big show.”
The show opens in Paris on July 27th.
