Jake Thielen | MLive.com, March 08, 2013 6:37 p.m.
ROCHESTER – Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Chris Klein broke the Division 2 record in the 100-yard breaststroke, qualifying first with a time of 55.47 during Friday’s Division 2 boys’ swimming preliminaries at Oakland University.
Klein, a senior and Michigan commit, broke the old record of 57.25 set by Holland’s David Moore in 2010, by nearly two seconds. Klein’s time was just 0.11 seconds slower than the all-class record of 55.36 held by Josh Ehrman of Saline.
Pioneer coach Dennis Hill said Klein’s time broke the school’s varsity record which had stood for nearly 40 years.
“He’s going to be going to Michigan, and he’s worked to be one of the best athletes in our program,” Hill said. “He’s got a big future ahead of him at Michigan.”
Klein said Hill and the Pioneer coaching staff have been motivating him to push for the record time.
“I just trusted my coach, and I just knew I could do better than I had been doing,” Klein said. “I’ve been feeling really good about it all year, and I have a very strong motivator pushing me to go faster.”
Klein said it felt amazing to break not only a school record, but a state record as well.
“I’m so happy; it was the highlight of the day for me,” Klein said. “I just hope I can go faster tomorrow and get another one.”
Klein said he was confident he and the team could build on its performance going into the finals tomorrow.
“I think that if we swim well tomorrow, and we all have good races we have a very good shot at winning,” Klein said.
Klein will be part of Pioneer’s teams in the 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay. He also qualified first for his other individual race, the 200-yard IM, with a time of 1:50.51.