Bound for better things, Sulphur swimmer takes silver in 100 freestyle

Published 8:00 am Sunday, November 21, 2021

ice Bounds closed out his high school career Saturday at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I state swim meet with a silver medal at the Sulphur Parks and Recreation Aquatic Center.

Bounds swam a personal-best 46.93 seconds to place second in the 100-yard freestyle after placing third last year swimming for Southside because of Hurricanes Laura and Delta.

“I am really proud to bring home silver,” Bounds said. “It is bittersweet.

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“I have always worked to try and get gold, but the last one for me is silver. I will definitely take it. A team record and best time overall for me, there is really nothing else I can ask out of me or my teammates.”

He came within .09 seconds of medaling in the 50 free with a personal best of 21.50 seconds for fourth place. The top four were separated by .21 seconds with Northshore’s Zane Cocran clocking the winning time (21.29).

“It was boom-boom,” Bounds said. “Those things are so minute. That is just how it is.

“I give props to those guys. It just came down to the very last hundredth of a second, and that is just how it is. I can’t beat myself up too much because it is the best time for me. I will definitely take it.”

Bounds also anchored the Tors’ eighth-place 200 medley relay team (1:43.22) and fourth-place 400 freestyle team (3:19.54).

Bounds will swim for Old Dominion next season.

“I just want to thank the coaches, all my teammates, friends and parents,” Bounds said. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here at all. I know they are proud of me. I am really excited.”

The Barbe girls finished seventh in the team standings with 97 points led by a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay (1:47.39, Taylor Hebert, Abigail Broussard, Emma Gautreaux, Emma Puckett), plus seventh in the 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay.

St. Joseph’s Academy won its 10th consecutive girls team title, while Catholic-Baton Rouge won the boys title for the first time since 2018.