HASA’s Blinkman sets two more state records

• Shane Blinkman with coach Ryan Hawke

HASA swimmer Shane Blinkman with coach Ryan Hawke after Blinkman set a pair of Minnesota state records at the Wolf A meet last Saturday and Sunday in Coon Rapids. Submitted photo

Talk about it

Hudson Area Swim Association (HASA) swimmer Shane Blinkman crushed two more Minnesota state swimming records over the weekend in Coon Rapids, Minn., adding to the 100 individual medley record he broke one week earlier.

Blinkman was scheduled to swim four events in the pool on Saturday and had set his sights on breaking a 1995 record owned by professional basketball player Kris Humphries in the 50 yard breaststroke. It was Blinkman’s second event of the day and he was anxious for the chance to break the 16-year-old record time of 33.69 seconds.

Minnesota native Humphries, NBA star of the New Jersey Nets and soon-to-be ex-husband of reality TV star Kim Kardashian, still holds several records within Minnesota Swimming and also two National Age Group Long Course records from 1995 when he was a 10 year old.

Blinkman broke Humphries’ 50-yard breaststroke record with a time of 33.10 seconds.

Sunday Blinkman set out to break the Minnesota record in the 100 yard breaststroke. The record of 1 minute, 13.72 seconds was set in 2008 by a Minneapolis swimmer.

The event was the third of the day for Blinkman, and with his twin brother competing in the lane next to him, he responded with a new record time of 1:13.12 for his third Minnesota state record in two weeks.

Blinkman now holds records in three of the 10 short course individual events for the boys 9/10 age group in the state of Minnesota. He will be competing in four additional meets before he ages up to the 11/12 year old group in early January.

Blinkman is a fifth-grader in the Hudson School District, attending Houlton Elementary since kindergarten. He began swimming competitively with HASA as an eight-year-old, and has since trained year-round, competing in pools throughout the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, and as far away as Topeka, Kansas.

HASA is a premier Western Wisconsin swim club that trains competitive swimmers in a fun environment while promoting sportsmanship and athlete success. HASA is recognized for providing exceptional swimming instruction and competitive opportunities while also being the desired feeder program for Hudson high school boys and girls swim teams. For more information about HASA, go to www.hudsonswimteam.org or find them on Facebook.

Tags: sports, swimming, prep