Josh Corrigan was an above-average swimmer a couple of years ago when he experienced what could be labeled as a transcendental moment. The San Benito High sophomore was 12 or 13 at the time and swimming in a race for his club team when swimming finally became mind over matter.
“I don’t remember the name of the meet, but I think I dropped an insane amount of time (in one of the races),” he said. “I had a fever, and that’s when I really started to improve. I wasn’t mentally there, so at one point muscle memory just took over. I didn’t have the mental capacity to hold back. We limit ourselves so much in life and in swimming because we hold ourselves back and don’t go all out. Having the fever that one day, I just went all out. It helped me become the swimmer I am today.”
Corrigan is improving incrementally, as evidenced by his two individual wins in a meet against Christopher on March 18. Corrigan won the 100- and 200 freestyle races, and was part of the Haybalers’ 200-free relay team that finished second. Corrigan blew away the field in the 200 free, winning by 8 seconds.
But Corrigan’s most impressive performance came in the 100 free, when he barely out-touched Christopher’s Zach Gallardo at the wall. Corrigan’s time of 53.20 seconds edged Gallardo’s 53.29.
“It was so close I had no idea who won,” Corrigan said. “I actually thought I lost, but when I looked at the scoreboard, it was very relieving. It was a pretty exciting race. I had him at the turn, but it was pretty back and forth the whole way. I’m really happy I won it for my team. It’s definitely the most exciting race I’ve had in high school.”
Corrigan, who has a personal-best of 52.90 seconds in the 100 free, needs to shave roughly 3 more seconds off that time to qualify for the Central Coast Section Championships. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Corrigan would love to qualify for CCS either in that event or the 200 free relay, which also consists of Zander Bonnet, Mason Crawford and Ryan Okubo.
“It would be great to qualify in the relay because you’re part of a team,” he said. “There’s a sense of camaraderie and you share a bond.”
Despite having only 12 to 16 swimmers on their roster on a given day, the San Benito boys are having another solid season. They whipped Christopher, 105-69, a possible harbinger for the season. The Balers host their only meet of the season on April 14 and 15 against Monterey.
Corrigan, who also plays on the school’s water polo team, started swimming in the fourth or fifth grade. He’s been hooked ever since, rarely taking a break. One of Corrigan’s best memories came when he broke 2 minutes in the 200 free.
“That was really nice because it was one of those big mental barriers you have to overcome,” he said.
As exciting as the season has been, Corrigan knows things will only get better in the next couple of years. That’s because Corrigan isn’t the only sophomore standout on the team. Gordan Rianda, Connor Murphy and Dawson Garcia are all sophomores and Eduardo Villanueva is a freshman. The club team in town, San Benito Aquatics, acts as a feeder program for the high school.
Corrigan was almost salivating at the prospect when he thought about how the team would look like in his senior year. Apparently, there are a couple of stud seventh-graders who are downright fast.
“We’re going to have a great run of swimming,” he said. “The seventh graders are really good, and I know in my senior year I’m going to be pumped up.”
