Swimmers snapping up pool records

Five Columbia Falls swimmers have been burning up the pools this season, setting records as they go from meet to meet across the western half of the state.

Colton Babcock, his brother Cooper Babcock, Tyler Langton, Zayne Friar and Logan Stephens have all set records in several different events, including breastroke, freestyle, butterfly and backstroke.

Colton Babcock, 12, set pool records at the Bitterroot, Plains, Shelby and Chester Invitational meets. Friar, 13, Langton, 10, and Cooper Babcock, 9, all set records at the Plains meet. Langton, Friar and Stephens also set records at the Shelby meet. Friar also set a pool record at the Chester meet.

The swimmers have come a long way since they started swimming in kindergarten and first grade.

“When we first started swimming, me and Cooper could barely get across the pool,” Langton said.

The boys said that despite their records this year, there’s a lot of competition in the league that keeps them sharp and motivated. Each swimmer has an opponent they haven’t beat in one event or another. The boys said their goal this season is to bring home a fistful of medals at the state meet, which will be held this year in Columbia Falls on Aug. 4 and 5.