Aptos grad Staka is poised on big stage
Aptos High alum key for Longhorns in three Big 12 Conference relay titles
When the COVID-19 pandemic kept derailing Christopher Staka’s bid for an NCAA swimming title, he had to get creative to get it back on track.
The Aptos High graduate’s determination paid off — and he now has a shot not only at the championship that the pandemic robbed him of a year ago, but multiple titles.
Staka competed for three first-place relay teams for the University of Texas — the topranked team in NCAA Division I — at the Big 12 Conference championships in late February: The senior swam the backstroke for the Longhorns’ 200- and 400-yard medley relay squads, both of which set meet records. Staka also swam the third leg for Texas’ 400 freestyle relay team, which posted the secondfastest time in the country and
cemented the Longhorns’ status as Big 12 champions.
All three relay teams qualified for the NCAA championships, which will take place March 24-27 in Greensboro, N.C.
Individually, Staka finished second in the 100 backstroke, touching the wall in 45.12 seconds — just .03 seconds behind teammate Alvin Jiang — and third in the 100 freestyle. However, Staka said winning Big 12 titles as part of multiple relay squads was just as thrilling as his individual success, if not more so.
“At Texas, I’ve really realized that (swimming) isn’t just an individual sport,” Staka said. “We really want to win a national championship by a huge margin. Every day we remind each other of that and push everyone in practice so we can continue to improve, which is why we all get better every year.”
Texas’ performance in the 200 medley relay is proof of that: The Longhorns’ time of 1:23.21 — the second-fastest in the country this season — obliterated the previous Big 12 championship-meet mark of 1:23.56, which the Longhorns set in 2020.
Staka swam the backstroke — the opening leg — for both record-setting 200 medley squads. The backstroke was one of Staka’s specialties when he transferred to Texas from University of Alabama following his sophomore season, and he has only gotten stronger.
“He has a phenomenal dolphin kick,” Texas assistant coach Wyatt Collins said. “One of his hallmarks is his ability to kick out 15 meters under water after touching the wall every single time. He’s so much faster underneath the water than everyone else is on top of the water.
“He also has one of the highest stroke tempos I’ve ever seen. With every stroke, you move a certain amount of water; he does about two more strokes per lap than his competitors, which means he’s moving a lot more water, which means he’s moving a lot faster than his competitors.”
Staka didn’t get the chance to prove how fast he could be against the best swimmers in the country last year. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last March, the college sports world shut down and the NCAA championships were canceled.
Staka suffered another blow when he returned home to Aptos following the 2020-21 season’s disappointing end: Due to California’s COVID-19 restrictions, he couldn’t swim at public pools or gyms, which affected his ability to train. Staka thus did the only thing he could under the circumstances: He trained in the ocean.
While that at least allowed Staka to get in the water, swimming in the ocean is radically different from the controlled environment of a swimming pool.
“The movement of the water (in the ocean) really pushes you around,” Staka said. “To try and attack that is really hard.”
With the help of Jim Triplett, his coach at Aptos High and the Aptos Cabrillo Swim Club, Staka focused on improving his technique and making his strokes more efficient. He also improved his feel for the water.
“I took my team to the ocean three or four days a week,” Triplett said. “With Chris, I went seven days a week — he wanted to go every day, even Saturdays and Sundays. He’s so gung-ho about swimming.”
Swimming in the ocean also helped Staka improve his freestyle stroke. In fact, he improved it so much that he didn’t compete in one of his other specialties — the butterfly — at the Big 12 championships. His time of 42.36 in the Big 12 finals ranks among the nation’s top 15.
“He’s morphed a lot in the past year,” Collins said. “I’m kind of surprised.”
Perhaps Collins shouldn’t be: Staka transferred to Texas from Alabama after a season off from college swimming because he wanted to go from good to elite.
“I was not extremely satisfied with how I was swimming,” Staka said. “Alabama was not really my place. … Transferring was a tough decision, but I wanted to find out how good I can be at this sport, and that wasn’t the place to be.”
Staka has aspirations of competing internationally: He plans to swim at the U.S. trials in June in the hopes of winning a spot on the Olympic team. If that doesn’t work out, he can compete for either the U.S. or Croatia — where he has dual citizenship — in 2024.
Staka has also drawn interest from the L.A. Current of the International Swim League, according to Triplett.
Staka has already gotten a taste of international competition, having placed third in the 50 backstroke at an Asian pro tour meet in Singapore.
“The fans there loved him,” Triplett said. “He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt when he came out to get his award, and he was singing and dancing.
“Afterward, when he was heading to the bus, people swarmed him for autographs. They wanted his shirt, and they wanted his cap. It was so cool.”
Before he starts pursuing his post-college goals, however, Staka has some unfinished business at the NCAA championships. He believes his preparation during the pandemic has him poised to do even better than he might have done last year.
“I did not even get to show what I had at the end of last season,” Staka said. “But I truly gave it my all and fix all the little details I hadn’t had the opportunity to fix throughout my career. It worked out really well.”