Highland Park High School’s Hugh Laedlein is all smiles as he plays to the crowd after receiving his second-place medal in the 100 backstroke. He made the state-qualifying cut. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Highland Park High School swimmer Hugh Laedlein is cool and laid back.
He’s hardly over the top when it comes to swimming.
“I’m devoted,” said the guitar playing junior. “But I’m not one of those guys who memorizes all of the my times and everyone else’s times.”
Except for this one: 52.99.
Laedlein had those four digits and that one little decimal point etched in his brain. It was his brother’s school-record time in the 100 backstroke.
Was.
That record, which was set by Ben Laedlein in 2014, no longer will sit at the top of the leader board at HPHS. It has been replaced by this one: 52.92.
In rather riveting fashion, Hugh Laedlein came up with his record-breaking clocking in the third and final heat of the 100 back at the Lake Forest Sectional on Feb. 20. His time also was good enough to secure a berth into this weekend’s state meet at Evanston High School.
As he accepted his second-place medal, Laedlein flashed a smile about as big as Texas. He still had it, when he talked to a writer at the conclusion of the meet.
“Bragging rights,” said the good-natured Laedlein, who lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, before moving into the Highland Park school district.
Beating his brother’s time in his brother’s best event is big. Shout from the rooftops big.
He’s pretty sure that his dad, Scott Laedlein, beat him to the punch, when it came to texting or phoning his brother, currently a student at the University of Kentucky.
“I know my dad will be bragging about it, too,” Laedlein said. “And I’m pretty sure that my brother won’t be having any of it.”
“That was a really good swim by Hugh,” said HP head coach Tim Sirois, who watched his Giants take third place (201 points) in the team standings behind Libertyville (233) and Lake Forest (232). “It was nice to see him rebound from a tough 50 freestyle [4th, 22.25]. We really thought he was going to go to state in the 50.”
Laedlein went into the 100 back with a seed time of 53.80. He didn’t beat Mundelein’s Mike Ward (51.53). But he did beat the state-qualifying cut (53.63).
“Hugh hasn’t really swum the 100 back a lot this year,” Sirois said. “This was only his fourth time. We knew that he was pretty good in it, but we kept putting him in the 100 free for team purposes.”
In addition to the 100 back, Laedlein qualified to the state in the 200 medley with teammates Andrew Vorobev, Allen Tran and Levy Nathan. They took third in 1:37.49. State-qualifying time was 1:37.60.
That relay result worked to Laedlein’s advantage — in the 100 back.
“Knowing that I was going to state in the medley relay gave me a little more confidence,” he said.
Sirois likes what Laedlein brings to the pool.
“He’s a steady performer,” said the HP coach. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’s very even keeled.”
And he’s got some uniqueness. Besides playing the guitar, Laedlein takes shop classes at the tech campus at the College of Lake County. He’s especially into auto mechanics.
“He really likes that stuff,” said Sirois. “He brings a maturity. He knows what he wants in life.”
Laedlein wasn’t the only Giant to qualify to state in the 100 back. Vorobev, a freshman, also got out with a fourth-place finish (53.46).
Meanwhile, Nathan will be very busy at the state meet. In addition to the medley relay, the junior standout took runner-up honors in the 200 free (1:42.06) and then claimed a sectional title in the 500 free (4:40.30) by more than seven seconds.
That ranks as the fourth fastest sectional time in the state.
“Levy still has some stuff to figure out,” said Sirois. “But he’s been telling me all year, ‘Don’t get me ready for the sectional; get me ready for the state meet.’ ”
Highland Park’s Hugh Laedlein (front) and Andrew Vorobev enter the water at the start of the 100 backstroke. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
Highland Park’s Levy Nathan shakes hands with LF’s Michael Hambleton after the 500 free. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER