His hand hit the touchpad, and he gasped for air. He glanced up at the scoreboard and realized he had finally beaten the record he set out to crush years ago.

Senior Giuliano Lule-Paredes broke the boys’ 100-meter backstroke school record at the annual Sunflower League meet on February 3. The record, previously held by Stephen Johnson, a 54.75, was finally broken by Lule-Paredes with a 54.44.

“I set the goal to break that record freshman year, and I was at a 1:02, which is very wishful thinking, dropping eight seconds in four years,” Lule-Paredes said. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but in such a short race, it is.”

Lule-Paredes cut the time down on his race as a freshman, but put it on the back burner to do distance swimming as a sophomore. During his junior year, he picked it back up, dropping even more time.

“I didn’t really think I would get the record because this season has been kind of tough,” Lule-Paredes said. “I didn’t drop at all this season until the Sunflower league, where I got the record.”

Not only is Lule-Paredes proud of himself, but so are his fellow teammates. Sophomore Thomas Basham, a varsity swimmer, was elated to hear the news of the smash.

“We were all pretty excited about it,” Basham said. “He did really well, his technique was practically perfect as always, and the whole team is very proud of him even though he probably thinks he could’ve gone faster.”

Among those who were thrilled by Lule-Paredes’ accomplishment was Stephen Johnson, the former record holder, who is now a swimmer and nursing student at San Diego University.

“It makes me so happy to hear that Giuliano is the one who broke the record. I’ve known him since he was really young. We were on the same club team together.” Johnson said. “I want Giuliano to know that I am so proud of how he has grown and pushed himself.”