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The Wahoos always seem to be breaking records, even when they're not suited up for the Wilton Y. Robby Harder, a key part of the Wahoos' YMCA National Championship run last summer, smashed two Class M records during Wednesday night's meet at Wesleyan University for Joel Barlow High School.
Harder broke the 200-yard freestyle Class M record set in 2008 by Costas Hadjipaters of New Canaan High School with a time of 1:41.24. He also took down the Class M 500-yard freestyle record, which has stood for 20 years, with a time of 4:30.81. Wilton High School's Chris Randazzo set the old record in 1991. Harder came within 1.61 seconds of also breaking the state record for the 500-yard freestyle.
"I had a really good warm-up, and I knew [New Canaan's] Jason Potter would be the one to look out for there. Racing against him really got me to step it up that extra bit," Harder said. "I've been swimming these races for four years, and I've seen those names of those guys who set all those records. I've looked up to them for a long time, and it feels great to set those records myself."
Though Harder said setting the high school record is nice, he is getting pumped for the summer season with the Wilton Y Wahoos and a run at another YMCA National Championship.
"I'm really looking forward to training for the Nationals and getting down to Fort Lauderdale," Harder said. "[Wahoos] head coach Randy Erlenbach has done some great things with our program. We're definitely capable of doing some great things this summer."
Behind Harder's record-setting performance, the Barlow-Immaculate Co-Op team tied for sixth place in the Class M meet. Wilton High School finished fourth overall.
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