Tiger Cubs' Guffey finishes 11th in state

Monday, February 28, 2011
Greencastle swimmer Jay Guffey smiles after swimming a time of 21.70 in the 50-yard freestyle. The time was good enough for Guffey to place 11th in the event.

INDIANAPOLIS -- What's fast?

Ask Jay Guffey.

The Greencastle senior swimmer is fast, and he proved it again Saturday at the IHSAA Boys' Swimming State Finals, swimming the 50 freestyle in 21.70 seconds and cementing himself as the 11th fastest 50 swimmer in the state.

"I thought (Jay) did a great job," Greencastle coach Luke Beasley said. "He's the 11th fastest 50 swimmer in the state, and that's a huge accomplishment. I'm proud of him. I'm going to miss coaching Jay and working with Jay."

The performance came on the heels of Friday's 21.55 that had Guffey seeded 13th in the state going into Saturday. Although Friday's time was a personal best, Guffey had a bad turn in the race and missed making the championship finals by less than 0.1 seconds.

Regardless, he returned hungry on Saturday and had a great race, gaining two positions on his seed.

"All season, it was my goal to come into this meet and do really well," Guffey said. "Unfortunately, some things went wrong in my 50 on Friday, so I wasn't really in the heat that I wanted to be in today, but I still got focused and came out and had a good day today.

"Eleventh in the state's not bad, so I'm definitely happy with how today came out," he added. "Indiana's one of the fastest swimming states in the country, and this year this meet's been fast, almost as it's ever been. Hopefully I can get faster throughout the years and see where it takes me."

The coach is one person glad to know Guffey has his sights set higher.

"I hope he's not necessarily satisfied because I know he's got bigger goals in the future, but I hope he's proud of what he did today and in his career at Greencastle," said Beasley, who went on to reflect on the dedication Guffey has shown.

"Jay has bounced back from quite a bit of adversity in his life over the last couple of years," he said. "He's focused on becoming a better swimmer, putting in the work in the offseason in terms of weightlifting and swimming every day -- not taking long breaks off. It pays off. The guys that do that are going to be rewarded for it. Getting to swim on Saturday at state is a pretty big reward."

While his destination next year remains unclear, Guffey plans to keep swimming somewhere.

"There are a few places, right now Western Kentucky is my number one. I'm going to see where I can get scholarships, see who wants me," he said.