Buoyed by gold-medal success
There really was no debate this year — again.
Stratford’s Clayton Bobo is the All-Greater Houston Boys Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year. Bobo turned in another classic performance at the state meet, defending both his gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle (20.17) and 100 freestyle (43.93). Bobo also helped the Spartans earn bronze in the 200 medley relay (1:32.83) and silver in the 200 freestyle relay (1:24.14). Stratford finished fourth at state as a team.
The results and medals flooded in after a slow start to the season for the future Texas A&M swimmer.
“It’s rare to get a guy that can step up under pressure and perform to the level that he does,” Stratford coach Mike Hoskovec said. “I think it’s rarer when that guy is a hard worker that has a positive attitude on a consistent basis.”
Q: How was this year different from last year’s success?
A: “It was definitely a different year. I felt like it went by a lot faster. I know at the beginning of the season I kind of tweaked my back a little bit. So, in October I kind of sat out for maybe like a week or two. Right after that I went straight into a taper for my club team. … As soon as I got back with the team, it kind of felt like I’d barely been with the team. This year it kind of went by a little bit faster which I was kind of upset about.”
Q: What was the turning point?
A: I wasn’t where I wanted to be going into the start of regions. Me and Hoskovec just kind of had a conversation and he said, ‘You have three more sessions left as a Stratford Spartan. Forget the times. Forget winning or losing. Just go out there and have fun because this is going to be the last time you do it.’ After that, I just kind of stopped worrying about the times, stopped worrying about getting first or winning it all. I just worried about having fun, spending time with my team. After that it started to feel normal.”
Q: At the state meet, the mindset changed. What was the key then?
A: “Individually, it was just do whatever it takes to get my hand on the wall first. At state, the time doesn’t really matter. If you get your hand on the wall first, you win. That was just my thought. … I knew if I touched first, the time had to have been somewhat decent. I just wanted to win and score points for the team.”
Q: And the team picked up a couple of state medals in relay events. What made the difference there?
A: “The key was show up in prelims. Hoskovec had always talked about how prelims is a very sluggish day. There’s going to be a lot of teams that kind of slide off. They should be seeded high going into finals and it turns out they don’t even make finals. We knew that if showed up and swan in prelims, we would definitely have a good shot to make some noise come finals. We got the job done in prelims, and we ended up swimming nice out in finals as well.”
Q: What will you appreciate most about your legacy at Stratford?
A: “When I look back at everything that has happened to me in my career … I won’t have any problem sleeping at night, wondering what else I could’ve done because in my opinion I feel like I did everything I possibly could.”
Q: Choosing the Aggies was a no-brainer for you?
A: “Going through the recruiting process, I was actually looking at three of my top five were in the SEC. In my opinion, the SEC is the best swimming conference. But really what drew me to A&M was the fact that they’re a developing team. The last three years they’ve improved at NCAAs every single year. At SECs, they went from seventh place in 2017 to second place this year. The class we have is just absolutely loaded.”
Q: You’re excited for the step up in competition?
A: “I cannot wait. I’m actually going up at the end of May to College Station just so I can get ready to compete in the SEC.”
Q: Who do you watch in the Olympics or professionally? Someone you model yourself after?
A: “The big guy I’m watching now is Caeleb Dressel because he swims the same events that I do and he’s the best in the world at it. He’s broken barriers that no one could have even thought of three years. If you want to be the best, you have to watch the best and try to mimic them.”
Q: What is your long-term goal? Do you hope the Olympics are in your future?
A: “I would be lying to you if I told you that 2020 isn’t a goal of mine. But I’m also just focusing on my freshman year and then once I see what I can do my freshman year, then I’ll start thinking about the Olympics more seriously.”