FALL ALL-AREA: Suwannee's Cade Cannon named LCR's Boys Swimmer of the Year

LIVE OAK — All the motivation that Cade Cannon needs is right in front of him every time he prepares to dive in to the Billy Jernigan Pool.

At the end of the Suwannee junior’s lane is the SHS swimming record board. Staring back at Cannon, the Lake City Reporter’s Boys Swimmer of the Year, is 5:34.01, the time Will Carpenter swam in the 500 freestyle in 2019 to set the new school standard.

It’s still three seconds faster than Cannon’s top time of 5:37.03, set at the Region 1-2A meet this year, and will have Cannon focused going into his senior year.

“His motivation is the record board,” Suwannee coach Doug Morgan said. “He wants his name on the record board. He sees that record board at the end of his lane every day and he wants his name on it. He wants it more than anything. He knows the people who have had it, they’re there for awhile, so he wants to be recognized. He’s all about that.”

It’s what has driven Cannon, who started swimming competitively in middle school, the past two years.

“I’ve just wanted to break that record,” he said, adding that at first he felt bad about wanting that mark since Carpenter, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with a rare form of cancer, was a friend. “That’s one of my main things.”

That motivation, as well as meticulous studying and evaluating his performances has paid off.

An all-area performer a year ago, Cannon was right around the six-minute mark in the 500 freestyle at both districts and regionals. To start off this year, he blew that time away, getting around 11 seconds away from Carpenter’s time.

From there, though, he just hung around that 10-12 second mark.

“I stressed myself out the whole year trying to break that record,” Cannon said. “I had always gotten into my head.”

So at the regional meet, after placing sixth at the District 3-2A meet in 5:38.99 to advance, Cannon said he stopped letting himself get too anxious and freaked out. Rather than worry about the time and that early success at the start of the year to qualify for the FSPA High School Invitational, he focused instead on all the hard work he had put in.

“It helped me,” he said.

So have all the character traits that Cannon has displayed over his swimming career. They are the characteristics that Morgan starts listing off at what has made Cannon a captain and team leader for the Bulldogs, such as his determination.

“You can see it in his face, you can see it in his swimming,” Morgan said. “It’s there.”

That determination and dedication are also there out of the pool.

After every meet, Cannon relives not just his performance, but those of his competitors. Comparing his times to theirs, their swims to his, trying to find ways to improve.

“He’s one that looks at every detail,” Morgan said. “‘Is this turn right? Did I do that right? Did I do this little thing right?’ He’s meticulous about how he swims.”

Cannon compares that studying to when a teacher turns back in a paper or a test in the classroom, letting him know where things can be improved.

And he’s all for trying to get better at every little thing in the 500 — he also qualified for regionals in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 2:06.26 after a 2:07.58 at the district meet to place fifth, and was a member of both of Suwannee’s relay teams (400 freestyle and 200 freestyle) that qualified for regionals.

All those little details — the turns, the right pace, making sure his breathing is on point — are why he enjoys the distance events, even though most do not, and even though Morgan said he’s an “all-around swimmer.”

In the sprint events, it’s just about speed and who can go the fastest. But in the 500, Cannon said that studying can pay off.

“It’s more like each individual aspect of it,” he said.

Still, it’s an event he has grown to enjoy after a rocky start as a freshman. That 2021 year, Cannon was told by his older teammates that everybody had to swim in the distance events at least once. Morgan, too, admits that he will switch events up to get swimmers out of their routines as well as to see if someone is coming on in an event that they don’t normally compete in.

That year, when Cannon swam the 500, he finished in about eight minutes.

“That was probably the worst race I ever swam,” he said.

But it set in motion the desire to improve and try to become the best at it in school history. It’s not only the only cause of Cannon’s motivation, though.

Cannon, who is 5-foot-7, stands at a disadvantage there, right from the start. Morgan said most swimmers are at least 6-foot. But Cannon doesn’t let that lack of height stand in his way.

“He doesn’t take it that way,” Morgan said. “He’s like, ‘OK, I’m going to work my butt off.’”

That is another of those defining traits that Morgan said Cannon possesses. He’s also there giving 100% effort, including working in the weight room on days off, trying to get better.

That also helps Cannon, in his mind, gain recognition.

“I think it helps me stand out a little bit,” he said. “While it sometimes is a bit of a bummer that I’m not that tall, I do think that way it’s metaphorical, it’s like the inverse of it. Instead of me looking up at people, people look up at me. It’s like a Napoleon figure.”

 

ALL-AREA TEAM

Cade Cannon

Suwannee, junior

The LCR’s Boys Swimmer of the Year placed fifth in the 200 freestyle at the District 3-2A meet (2:07.58) before finishing 17th in Region 1-2A (2:06.26). Also placed sixth at districts in the 500 freestyle (5:38.99) before finishing 20th at regionals (5:37.03) in addition to swimming on the Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle relay team (13th at regionals at 3:56.50, sixth at districts at 4:26.72) and 200 freestyle relay team (12th at regionals at 1:45.35, fifth at districts at 1:46.02) that qualified for regionals.

William Cerritos

Suwannee, junior

Qualified for regionals in the 100 freestyle, finishing 23rd in Region 1-2A (59.24) after placing eighth in District 3-2A (59.44). Also swam on the Bulldogs’ 200 freestyle relay team (12th at regionals at 1:45.35, fifth at districts at 1:46.02) that qualified for regionals.

Camden Swartz

Suwannee, junior

Qualified for regionals in the 100 freestyle, finishing 24th in Region 1-2A (59.74) after placing ninth in District 3-2A (59.64). Also swam on the Bulldogs’ 200 freestyle relay team (12th at regionals at 1:45.35, fifth at districts at 1:46.02) that qualified for regionals.

John Abersold

Suwannee, sophomore

Qualified for regionals in the 100 backstroke, finishing 22nd in Region 1-2A (1:11.57) after placing fourth in District 3-2A (1:13.56). Also swam on the Bulldogs’ 200 freestyle relay team (12th at regionals at 1:45.35, fifth at districts at 1:46.02) that qualified for regionals.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Doug Morgan, Suwannee

Led the Suwannee boys to a fourth-place finish and the girls a fifth-place finish at the District 3-2A meet. Fifteen of Morgan’s swimmers qualified for regionals in 13 events.