Wilson Halls Hewett nabs Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week after record setting performance at SCISA state swim meet

Jacob Hewett has done nothing but set records since joining the swim program at Wilson Hall. When he and the Barons made their way to North Charleston for the SCISA state meet, he just kept adding to the tally.
In total, Hewett technically set six school records. He broke two individual marks while swimming on relay teams that also set school records, while also beating his previously set program milestones in his two individual races as the Barons finished third as a team in the state meet. His performance was also more than enough to earn recognition as the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week.
"It feels good that there are a lot of supportive people in our community who are willing to vote for me," Hewett said of the recognition.
The Baron sophomore doesn't tend to linger too much on his individual success, which is exactly what Wilson Hall head coach Jeanna Mahr loves about her star swimmer.
"It's wonderful to see Jacob be humble. When you're the top dog in a high school swim program in a small town, it's easy to have a very large head when you're constantly being congratulated for all of the things you can do in the pool, but Jacob as a teammate is very good, as well," Mahr said. "He's a fantastic competitor, but he has both qualities, which is great."
Hewett has a pretty singular mindset in the pool. He only had one focus when he was gearing up to swim at state.
"Leading up to it, I was just trying to work my hardest at practice to get ready to have all of those races back to back and try to help my team win and give us a shot. The goal was to win state, but to at least (make the podium) team-wise," Hewett said. "I was just trying to do my best for the team."
The Baron sophomore is an extremely versatile swimmer, so the biggest question going in was simply landing on which events he'd swim at state.
"In the SCISA rankings, up until the state meet he was first in every event except the 50 free, so we had our choices for what he wanted to swim," Mahr explained. "Originally, he thought he wanted the 200 IM and the breaststroke. The breaststroke is his favorite, but I think he felt that he was closer to the SCISA record, and he decided to go after that 500."
Hewett also feels his best when he can really open up over a long event in the pool, so he decided to swim the 500-yard freestyle, which is the same event his older brother Jordan won at the SCHSL 5A DI meet for Sumter High last fall.
"I'm more of a distance swimmer than a sprinter," he said. "Jordan won it last year with Sumter High for his state championship, so I guess I wanted to switch and do it for him."
Both Hewetts set personal bests in the event at their respective state meets. Last year, Jordan shaved nearly eight seconds off his personal record (PR) to finish the 500 in 4:46.62. Jacob was hoping to at least get within spitting distance of his brother and was pretty darn close. The Baron sophomore touched the wall in 4:45.93, shaving over six seconds off his previous best to break his own Wilson Hall record.
The one downside to swimming the 500 free was timing. His next event, the 200 freestyle relay, was almost immediately after the 500. He had time to jump in the cool-down pool for a couple of minutes to keep the juices pumping before swimming the first leg of the 200 free relay.
"I was a little nervous putting him on those relays because those 200 and 400 relays are back to back with those events, but those four boys in that 200 free relay set a goal for themselves at the very beginning of the season; they wanted the record. It was one of the last records from the 2022 team that hadn't been broken yet, so they were really working hard all season to get those 50s down," Mahr said. "I wasn't sure they were going to do it, to be honest, because while Jacob and Ryan are very strong, it had to take all four of those boys to get that record, and I was worried that Jacob coming off that 500 would be exhausting because in the state meet there aren't as many heats. But all four of those boys PRed their 50 splits in that 200. It was impressive."
With the energy of a victory already under his belt, Hewett finished his leg of the relay in 22.32 seconds, beating Syd Richardson's school record by .47 seconds. Wilson Hall won the race in 1:32.70, shaving more than a second off the school record.
"The adrenaline was pumping. I was excited, I'd just won, so I was going to go all-out after the 500 and do the best I could for them," Hewett said. "The (record for the) 50 was actually kind of surprising because I'd just finished the 500."
One of the keys to setting the record was a lightning-fast time from Ryan Brown in the last leg of the relay. Brown technically swam a faster time, finishing his 50 in 21.92, but because of the technicality of timing for relays, it doesn't count toward the record books. Hewett and Brown have pushed each other all season, even working together the night before the meet to sharpen their skills as much as possible before finishing their high school season.
"Ryan and Jacob are best friends at school; they work really hard together. They had gone Friday night to the pool to just help each other with starts and relays and things like that," Mahr said. "Ryan had the school record the week before, Jacob broke it and Ryan broke it again, but it was the last leg of that freestyle race, so it doesn't count officially. We were excited all the way around. It's good that they fuel each other, but in their competitiveness, they really help each other, which is so good to see."
Hewett loves having some competition on the team for those school records, especially when they're able to team up in relays.
"He's really fast; he's catching up," Hewett said. "Next year, as long as he keeps training hard, he'll probably snag the 50 record and the sprint ones. He's a wonderful sprinter."
The second half of Hewett's day was similar to the first. He swam his favorite race, the 100 breaststroke, and beat his own school record once again with a time of 58.06. After he finished, it was right back to the pool for the 400 free relay. The Barons had to settle for second place in that event with their school record time of 3:27.53.
In the end, Wilson Hall placed third behind some sizeable programs. They brought 19 swimmers in total, nine of which were boys. Still, the boys finished third as a team behind Porter-Gaud and Hammond, while the girls finished seventh, which was a massive improvement for a young squad.
"Porter-Gaud had 33 swimmers to our 19, so that's the problem we have with winning the state meet. We always come close, but Porter-Gaud has such a huge team," Mahr said.
Hewett added, "Outnumbered by a lot of teams, but still got third. It's not about how many you have, I guess; it's about who you have. We have a great group, a lot of fast guys. The girls improved, which is great. They have a lot of young, fast swimmers, which is good for their future."
Hewett certainly intends to be a part of that journey to a state title, and he plans on continuing to shave off time year after year, hopefully etching his name in the state record books along the way.
"Just trying to improve them, make them faster," Hewett said. "Records are meant to be broken, so I'm gonna try to make it so they don't get taken for longer. It'd be wonderful (to set new SCISA records). It's a huge honor to have your name stand in the state record books. I'm trying my best."