Kandt Finishes Simley Swimming Career With First Individual State Championship

Simley swimmer Alec Kandt won the Section A state championship in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday. It was the senior’s first individual state championship and the perfect coda to the his four years at Simley.

“Since my freshman year, I’ve been fourth, I’ve been third, I’ve been second, and this is finally the year I actually got the win,” he said. “It was a great way to end my high school career.”

Kandt took second place in the 100-yard butterfly, sixth place in the team 200-yard Medley Relay and tenth in the team 400 Free Relay. The Simley Boys Swimming and Diving Team placed ninth out of 41 teams in the tournament.

“My freshman year, our team went undefeated in a season, and this year was our best record since our undefeated season,” Kandt said. “To be able to come back and be 8-2 this year was really awesome.”

Kandt—the Section 1A Swimmer of the Year—was seeded first in the breaststroke, but he said he was still surprised when he emerged from the water and found himself victorious.

“It was kind of a shocker because I’d never won before and kind of a relief because I’d been trying all year long,” he said.

Kandt will swim for Michigan State in the fall.

“It’s part of the Big 10, which is the hardest conference in the country, maybe,” he said. “It will just give me more motivation to become the top in this bracket, which will be a very hard task to do, but I’m competitive so I’ll do the best I can.”

Here's more from Simley High School about the swim team's results in the state championship:

Simley placed 9th out of the 41 teams that qualified for the State Championship. The team of Alec Kandt, Michael Greene, Nick Pieper, and Michael Ausen took 6th place, achieved All-State, and set a new varsity record in the 200 Medley Relay.  Michael Greene took 14th place and All State honorable mention in the 200 I.M., and 11th and All State honorable mention in the 100 breaststroke. Michael Modica took 21st place in the 500 free.  Michael Ausen took 10th place and All State honorable mention in the 100 backstroke.  The team of Michael Ausen, Michael Modica, Micheal Greene, and Alec Kandt took 10th and All State honorable mention in the 400 free Relay.