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Christopher Hargraves had one goal last season: to beat Marko Elvira’s time of 27.66. There was only one race left; one chance left Hargraves to win.
He stepped up to the block, heart pounding thinking of the high stakes. But as soon as the starting buzzer went off, muscle memory took over. He hit the wall, instantly looked up at the scoreboard for his time. By 77 milliseconds, he did it.
After this, Hargraves knew swim is where he belonged.
Hargraves intends to qualify for the time-strict Texas Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (TISCA) invitational scheduled for Nov. 21.
“I want to place a higher standard for the team,” Hargraves said. “I just need to get faster this year. I really don’t want to quit now.”
The Rise to The Top
By season’s end, he was the fastest in the freestyle and backstroke. Despite this, Hargraves times started off slow, only joining the team as a junior to get in shape. Through hard work and his competitive nature, Hargraves quickly rose to the top.
“After I put some effort in, I ended up loving it,” Hargraves said. “I like seeing the progression I can make between each meet, dropping time every meet is always my goal. Overall, it’s really enjoyable to push myself.”
During his first year in swimming, he demonstrated leadership through his constant positivity and guidance of learning swimmers. To Hargraves surprise he was elected as boys captain for the 2024-25 season.
“It was a little bit of a shock, It made me feel like everyone likes me, everyone respects me,” Hargraves said. “Sometimes I have self doubts that I shouldn’t be team captain, like I’m not really fulfilling. As captain I figured out I don’t have to deal with everything. If there’s someone else reliable that can help, I can go to them. I don’t have to bear all the weight on my own.”
Family Matters
After the 2023 season ended, to further drop time, he joined The Woodland Marlins Swim Club over the summer. Following Elvira’s graduation, Hargraves looked for a new inspiration in swim. One morning, out of curiosity he asked swim coach Chase Crampton for the list of school records. He was shocked; he saw his uncle’s name: Bubba Pruett.
“I was like, ‘oh god, there’s no way,’” Hargraves said. “He actually encouraged me to join the swim team, but I was shocked when I saw his name on the school records list.
Pruett holds the record for the 50m freestyle with a 24.60 second time in 2005. His senior year, Hargraves gets closer every meet, most recently with a time of 25.93 seconds.
“If anybody’s going to beat my record, I’d hope it be him,” Pruett said. “I think he has a bunch of potential. I set the record in only one year, and he has two years to work on his form. We are a really competitive family, so I welcome the challenge.”
The TISCA invitation largely contributes to Hargraves motivation. There are only two swim meets left to qualify, and Hargraves is only 1.93 seconds away from the 50m Freestyle 24-second time requirement. Hargraves wants to qualify for bragging rights.
“I just want to be able to brag to my uncle, but it’s not just that,” Hargraves said. “I want to be able to achieve that type of speed because I know a lot of college students, their times are 22 already. If I’m gonna be able to do good in college, I need to reach that speed anyway.”
The Plan
Hargraves eyes Tarleton State for a major in mechanical engineering but his real drive is for a spot on the men’s swim team. Hargraves sees himself swimming for years to come.
“I feel like I have to continue,” Hargraves said. “I just really enjoyed it in high school, I wish I would have joined swimming sooner. I’m gonna do four years of college for my degree, and I plan to swim all four. I just love the sport.”
Hargraves credits swim as a critical factor for mental and physical health. After joining he participated much more in extracurricular activities with friends.
“I feel like before, I was just inside too much, by myself really” Hargraves said. “I definitely see myself more active, and now that I’ve found it, it’s something I’m going to do after school. I met a lot of people and done a lot of things that I don’t think I would have done without swim honestly.”
The swim team has grown from 14 people in 2022 to 33 people this year. This season saw the start of a JV and Varsity team. Hargraves shares his story of success with hope for more to join.
He plans to leave the swim team dripping in medals and a legacy through his leadership or school record. His chance to leave a mark on school history is at the upcoming TISCA meet.
“Not a lot at our school have ever qualified for TISCA, I’d say you have to be really good,” Hargraves said. “I wanna be a part of something bigger than a normal swim meet, something like TISCA where I really have to be fighting for it; It’s exhilarating. I’m going to continue to work out the kinks of my technique, and chop down seconds to make it to TISCA.”
This story was originally published on Creek Compass on November 12, 2024.
