Lee ready to be shot in the state

Being in the water isn’t something that comes naturally to Burroughs High senior swimmer Ryan Lee.

Lee said he actually avoided the pool for much of his youth.

“When I was three or four years old, I was afraid of water. I kind of avoided water at all costs. I started swimming again around 11am. I knew it was a problem. I felt like if I could overcome it, I could be ready,” Lee said.

Lee overcame his fear and made up for lost time.

He then set school records in seven of eight individual boys swimming events. Combining that with a 4.5 grade point average and a 1510 SAT score, he’s certainly one that won’t soon be forgotten at Burroughs.

On Friday, he hopes to improve his school record in the 100 freestyle as he competes in the California state championship preliminaries at Clovis West High School in Fresno.

His event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

Lee’s school record in the 100 freestyle is 46.40 seconds.

“I feel like a sprint and middle distance swimmer. I think the 100 is my ideal event,” said Lee who will attend the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in the fall.

Lee is one of 40 competitors spread across four heats hoping to advance to the final on Saturday. He is ranked fifth in his series.

“At the beginning of this season, my competition was focused on the CIF preliminaries and finals,” Lee said. “State has never been the focus this season, but I’m going to do my best to get my personal best time. If I get a personal best, I will be very happy. If I don’t, at least I know I did my best.

Lee finished fifth in the CIF Southern Section Division 3 final in the 100 (46.47). He finished seventh in the 50 freestyle (21.48).

Lee’s other school records are in the 200 freestyle (1:42.25), 200 individual medley (1:55.56), 50 freestyle (21.43), 100 backstroke (54.20), 100 fly (52.5) ​​and the 500 free (4:51.74).