With extra titles and data in sight, Colin Pickett pushes tempo within the pool – Mitchell Republic

MITCHELL — Colin Pickett didn’t begin competitively swimming till he was nearly in center faculty, a late begin amongst lots of his friends.

Even then, he had joined a swim crew largely for enjoyable, not pursuing accolades. But that was then.

Today, Pickett, age 16, is a 15-time particular person state champion between quick and lengthy course over the previous two years, holds a number of state data and is striving for extra. A budding star on the native, regional and nationwide stage, Pickett is making waves within the pool as he’s determined to go all-in on swimming.

“The first year or so, it was just fun being in a new environment, and I was making new friends,” Pickett mentioned. “But after my first state meet, I was like, ‘Wow, I’m actually pretty good at this.’ After that, I became a lot more serious about it. I wanted to get better, and I wanted to become better than everyone else.”

After about two years swimming with the Dakota Riptide, Pickett was amongst a number of Mitchell-based athletes who joined the Sioux Falls Swim Team through the extended closure of the indoor pool on the Mitchell Recreation Center. There, he began swimming for coach Kyle Margheim, himself a Mitchell native and former coach of the native membership.

Pickett’s dedication to his craft is outstanding, particularly whereas balancing educational obligations as a junior at Mitchell High School, the place he maintains a 4.0 grade-point common. Pickett practices in Sioux Falls as many as six days every week. He frequently makes the journey from Mitchell after faculty for night swim follow and weightlifting, stays the night time in Sioux Falls, attends morning swim follow after which makes the return journey to Mitchell in time for college.

“Anytime somebody decides to make that sort of commitment, it’s pretty rare,” Margheim mentioned. “There are kids who live in Sioux Falls who tell me they can’t come to morning workouts because they don’t have time to get ready for school.”

Another side of Pickett’s preliminary motivation for becoming a member of the swim crew was to assist with restoration from baseball. However, inside the previous 12 months, Pickett made the troublesome option to step away from baseball and cross nation to focus solely on swimming.

“He was always committed, but we’ve seen him take that commitment to the next level this past year,” Margheim mentioned. “He’s decided swimming is where he sees his path forward, and so I think he’s taken from the other sports that he’s done, like cross country and baseball, and kind of put it into this whole package. And now he’s decided to put that all into swimming.”

Pickett is already reaping the rewards of his selection. This previous summer season, his first spent solely targeted on coaching within the pool, Pickett gained 4 particular person state titles within the lengthy course championships, taking first place within the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. That haul from July gave Pickett 9 state titles for the calendar 12 months, including to the 5 he gained on the state quick course championships: the 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, 200 particular person medley and 400 IM.

“One of the things about Colin that sticks out to me right away is that he’s a big competitor. He loves to race and loves to step into the big moments, which is not something you can always teach,” Margheim mentioned. “He is a hard worker and very dedicated to the sport, so when you get that combination all together, it leads to some good things.”

Earlier this month, Pickett was in Austin, Texas, to compete within the West Region Speedo Winter Junior Championships. Notably, Pickett completed fifteenth within the 200 IM after being seeded one hundred and first. With that effort, Pickett certified within the occasion for the Summer Junior National Championships in 2026 in Sacramento, California. While in Texas, Pickett additionally broke three state data, together with re-breaking two marks he already held.

In all, Pickett at present owns seven particular person state data for the boys 15-16 age group, together with 5 short-course marks: the 100 butterfly (49.82 seconds), 100 backstroke (49.16), 200 backstroke (1:47.52), 200 IM (1:48.14) and 400 IM (3:59.46). He’s additionally a member of a number of record-setting relays. As of Dec. 23, he is ranked No. 123 within the recruiting class of 2027 by Swimcloud.

Pickett mentioned backstroke is his favourite stroke and arguably his greatest. One of his greatest strengths within the pool is in his underwater work coming off the wall on turns. As Pickett explains, the underwater portion of the backstroke is a key element, and it is even additional magnified within the short-course races, which has contributed to his success.

While Pickett will hold making an attempt to trace down short-course data through the winter, his aim is to start out including to his long-course data tally when that season rolls round.

“Every record is meant to be broken, so it’s just fun to have something to shoot for. It’s just really fulfilling to accomplish something I’ve been working for,” Pickett mentioned. “Now, all I’ve got to do is just keep cutting time and getting faster.

“I’m seeing the results I want to see, and I’m consistently getting better,” he later added. “I really like seeing that.”

Starting in June previous to their junior highschool 12 months, recruits can formally hear from faculties. In late July, Pickett competed on the USA Swimming Futures Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. With these two occasions taking place so shut collectively, Pickett had his eyes opened to a future within the sport he loves.

“That’s when I started to realize I could really go somewhere with swimming,” Pickett mentioned of what adopted the meet in Wisconsin. “It’s amazing that colleges are reaching out to me, and seeing what I’m able to do, and it’s amazing to hear about their programs, what other places have to offer and what could help me slingshot into my future.”

With ambitions to turn out to be a physician, Pickett’s present plans are to observe a pre-med program or examine biology in school. As he continues to navigate the recruiting course of, Pickett doesn’t at present have a set timeline for making his resolution.

Margheim, who himself was a collegiate swimmer at Missouri State within the mid-2000s, mentioned Pickett has put himself ready to pursue school swimming at a excessive stage. Beyond that, Margheim isn’t going to place any undue expectations or limits on what Pickett may accomplish within the pool.

“It’s been fun because he is one of those kids who has surprised me and continues to surprise me with what he is doing and what he’s capable of,” Margheim mentioned. “Certainly, he has sights to swim in college, and he should be able to do that, probably Division I if that’s the way he wants to go. Other than that, we’re just going to keep doing the work every day and just see where that leads.”