Fair won district title in the 100 backstroke, was runner-up in 100 butterfly to qualify for regionals; plus 4 more named to all-area team
Casey Fair didn’t swim the 100 backstroke at a single meet during the regular season.
But that gave the Columbia senior a chance to catch her opponents by surprise at the District 2-3A meet, especially since she swam the event regularly for her club team, the Columbia Swim Team Tiger Sharks.
In Fair’s word, the race was almost like a “movie.” It’s one that turned out to be award-winning.
Without a regular-season time for seeding, Fair was placed in the slower heat at districts away from the rest of the top swimmers. That played to her advantage and she in turn stunned the district field with a time of 1:05.42 to win the race by nearly two seconds for her first district title of her high school career.
That performance, as well as a district runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly, is why Fair is now a two-time LCR Girls Swimmer of the Year after previously claiming the honor in 2021.
“I blew all of them out of the water,” Fair said of her district title. “It was almost like a movie because in this movie I was the underdog and everybody else in the fastest heat didn’t know that I didn’t have a time for it. But I was, as my coach said, fast. The fastest girl swam it like she was on vacation, so I ended up sneaking in the fastest time and getting first.”
Because Fair had to swim in the slower heat, she was forced to wait anxiously and watch the faster heat before she found out if she’d win that elusive district title. Gainesville’s Leehee Brauner jumped out in front of the second heat, and Fair furiously kept turning back and forth between Brauner in the pool and the time on the clock.
But Brauner’s time didn’t come close to matching Fair’s, only winning her heat with a time of 1:07.21. With no finals following the two heats, Fair was crowned district champion.
“I saw it in slow motion pretty much,” Fair said. “I was watching the last heat and I’d look at the girl in first place and then look at the clock, look at the girl, look at the clock, and I got a time of a 1:05 so I’m staring at the clock. As she’s closing in on the finish line I’m staring at it, and once it passes 1:05 I throw my arms up and I look at my coach and he’s doing the exact same thing. We both realized I got first.”
Fair says she didn’t compete in the 100 backstroke during the regular season because she was needed in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, and since she practiced it anyway at club meets, there wasn’t really a need for her to go out and do it in the regular season. It played into the strategy of going in with no time and then surprising everyone with a really good performance.
Columbia coach Ryan Shoemaker credited Fair’s start of the district race as the key to winning the title.
“Her start was probably one of the best I saw out of the entire day of starts,” Shoemaker said. “Her turns were spot on. There was nothing left in the water. She gave it all 110% and then pushed every single stroke that she did. Every under water was strong, every pull was strong, and every kick was strong.”
Fair came close to pulling off two district titles but came up just short in the 100 butterfly, finishing in a time of 1:03.78 behind Lily Zhou from Gainesville (1:02.41). But Fair said she was still pleased with her performance considering the adversity her and the rest of the Columbia swim team faced this year with pool closures due to multiple hurricanes hitting northern Florida.
With less practice time due to the storms, Fair says she didn’t exactly know what to expect when she hit the pool for her 100 butterfly district race. She ended up surprising herself by dropping her time by two seconds in one of the toughest districts in the state.
“I was very proud of myself because I didn’t think, honestly, I was going to place that well because we got moved to a new district with some really, really fast kids,” Fair said. “So I didn’t think I was going to do that well but I ended up doing pretty good.”
Shoemaker says that result, just like her district title in the 100 backstroke, is a testament to Fair’s “hard work and dedication.”
“That girl puts in a ton of effort in the water, not only in the water but she goes to the gym every day as well so she’s 100% dedicated to the sport,” Shoemaker said.
Following her success at districts, Fair was hoping to finally make it to the state meet to cap off her career. She placed 12th in the 100 butterfly and 18th in the 100 backstroke at the Region 1-3A meet with times of 1:04.39 and 1:05.83, respectively, but both were short of the qualifying times needed to advance.
The final at-large spot in the 100 butterfly was a 1:02.84, while 1:03.37 was needed to qualify in the 100 backstroke. While Fair was disappointed that she didn’t get a chance to compete at the state meet, she says she was satisfied with her senior campaign.
“I looked at the heat sheet for state, and I was about a second off in both of my races from going to state,” said Fair, who has been accepted to Thomas University in Georgia and hopes to swim there. “That part I was very disappointed in because that just shows how close I was, but overall, with the setbacks that we had, I’m very proud of myself.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
Casey Fair
Columbia, senior
The LCR’s Girls Swimmer of the Year won the District 2-3A title in the 100 backstroke and was also runner-up in the 100 butterfly, advancing to regionals in both events where she finished 18th and 12th at the Region 1-3A meet. Also helped the Tigers’ 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams post a pair of fifth-place finishes at districts, good enough to be named regional alternates.
Brooklyn Long
Suwannee, sophomore
Placed sixth in the 200 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals in both events, where she finished 21st in both events at the Region 1-2A meet. Also helped the Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams place fifth and sixth at districts to qualify for regionals, where they finished 11th and 13th.
Oliviah Schneider
Suwannee, junior
Placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 200 IM at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals in both events, where she finished 14th and 19th at the Region 1-2A meet. Also helped the Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams place fifth and sixth at districts to qualify for regionals, where they finished 11th and 13th.
Aubrey Baum
Suwannee, junior
Placed seventh in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals in both events, where she finished 24th and 23rd at the Region 1-2A meet. Also helped the Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay teams place fifth and seventh at districts to qualify for regionals, with they both finished 11th.
Hannah Mantooth
Suwannee, senior
Placed sixth in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 backstroke at the District 2-2A meet to qualify for regionals in both events, where she finished 21st and 20th at the Region 1-2A meet. Also helped the Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams place fifth and sixth at districts to qualify for regionals, where they finished 11th and 13th.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Doug Morgan, Suwannee
Led the boys to a third-place finish at the District 2-3A meet while the girls finished sixth, with a combined 16 swimmers from both teams qualifying for regionals across 17 events.