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The next Baumann? Boyd's latest impressive performance

Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club rising star Thomas Boyd is keeping lofty company these days. Just over a year ago, Boyd rewrote the divisional record books, erasing a 38-year-old mark previously held by Alex Baumann.
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Thomas Boyd earned an impressive eight medals in competition recently. Photo supplied
Sudbury Laurentian Swim Club rising star Thomas Boyd is keeping lofty company these days.

Just over a year ago, Boyd rewrote the divisional record books, erasing a 38-year-old mark previously held by Alex Baumann. As most folks in the area are fully aware, Baumann would go on, later in life, to capture a pair of gold medals at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Last month, Boyd was busy again, this time putting together a feat the likes of which have not been seen locally in quite some time. An eight-medal performance at the Age Group Nationals (AGN) in Quebec City left him sitting second, overall, in his age grouping, when it came time for the aggregate high point trophy winner.

Now 14 years old (he was 13 at the start of the meet) and heading to Lockerby Composite in the fall, Boyd was feeling quite confident about the potential for a significant breakthrough at nationals.

"I was thinking I was going to do pretty well, based on the seedings and where I was," he said. "But five days is the longest meet I've ever been to."

And while seed times are often a good indicator of success at these meets, they are a long way from perfect, most notably in races where the margin between those who hit the podium, and those who don't, is often measured in tenths of seconds.

"After the Christmas break, I kind of evened out and wasn't getting my best times," noted Boyd. "But at provincials, in June, I started to feel better from the training. I knew I could work harder at this meet and get some best times."

The extra effort paid off, and then some. Boyd captured three gold medals, three silvers and two bronze at a championship where a medal or two from any of the local contingent is noteworthy.

Back to "I knew I could work harder," just for a moment. For Boyd, and coach Dean Henze, therein lies the challenge. It is an issue the talented swimmer is keenly aware of.

"I'm not the strongest training swimmer," said Boyd. "I can race all the time, but in training, I tend to fall off.

"Going into this meet, I trained really hard. I was holding my faster times for a longer period of time. I sometimes feel like it's too hard a level for me in training, but I know that it's not."

If Boyd needs any extra motivation, he will find it in the form of Eric Tong of Richmond (B.C), a 12-year-old phenom who broke the national record in the 50m freestyle, edging out Boyd by 0.12 of a second.

"Going it it, I thought I had it," said Boyd. "But a 12-year-old surprised me, and broke the record, and took the gold away. He surprised me how much he had grown. I feel like I need to go back to training, and work on stuff that may have slowed me down in that race, work on parts of the race that I could get ahead of the people coming up behind me."

Considering the entire race is over in less than half a minute (Tong at 25.53 seconds, Boyd at 25.61), there are only so many areas one can increase their speed. Still, it's a push that can only benefit Boyd, as he begins the challenging trek of attempting to maintain a steady upward progression, all while his body continues to develop.

For now, he will cut himself some slack, enjoying some time away from the pool. "I'll relax and try and use my summer so that I can be ready for the next season," he said. "I have three months in the fall to prepare for the next meet. Usually, it takes four weeks to get back to where I was."

With a long-term vision holding more weight than short-term accolades, Boyd is grounded as he looks to 2015-2016.
"I want to get better at my other two strokes," said the young man, who excelled in the freestyle at AGN, but also medalled in both the backstroke and individual medley.

"It would make me a more well-rounded swimmer," he added. "It helps out in the long run. I'm still saying that my freestyle is going to be my strongest stroke, but my coaches are saying that I am turning into a pretty good breaststroker - but I still don't believe that.

"I've always liked the freestyle and felt fast in it. In the freestyle, I just 'had it' when I started." And these days, Thomas Boyd doesn't mind showing that he "has it.”

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