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

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.

“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.

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