Jason Gagnon, all 58 inches and 78 pounds of him, climbed out of a pool at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center. He and his Makos teammates had just completed three hours of running, stretching and swimming drills, and Gagnon was ready to start the first media interview of his career.
So, Jason, how does it feel to set a national record?
“It feels pretty neat,” he said.
That’s right. Pretty neat.
After all, the art of the interview is not familiar to the average high school student, much less a fourth-grader.
But, as with most things he does, Gagnon catches on quickly. After a few questions, he’s as comfortable as any shivering, water-soaked 10-year-old has a right to be.
Gagnon, who will enter the fifth grade this fall at Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton, has set two national age-group records in the past three weeks. He broke the 50-meter freestyle mark June 16 at the International Swimming Hall of Fame with a time of 28.86 seconds.
Then, he swam an even more impressive 30.65 in the 50 butterfly during a meet last weekend at Mission Bay, more than a half-second better than the previous national mark of 31.16.
“That’s (30.65) just an incredibly fast time,” said John Bonning, who coaches the Makos’ age-group team. “He kind of thrashed the old record.”
Gagnon’s performances weren’t as much of a surprise as their timing, Bonning said. The Makos, ranked No. 1 in the country, will not even begin to taper their workouts for another two weeks, when they start preparations for the Junior Olympics Championships.
“He’ll be swimming even faster then,” Bonning said. “Last weekend was a great meet for us — all the kids swam their fastest times. The way they’re dropping their times is incredible.
“But they’re going to be in the best shape they’ve ever been in at the Junior Olympics.”
Gagnon, too, said he had expected to swim quick times, but not until the Junior Olympics.
“Now I’m trying to improve, to make it hard for someone to beat me later on,” he said.
Gagnon began swimming when he was 7 and came to Mission Bay two years ago, after his parents moved to Boca Raton from Vancouver, Wash.
“Of course, the job was the primary reason” for the move, said Roger Gagnon, who works for a telecommunications company. “But when we found out this (aquatics center) was here, the decision was made.”
Gagnon said his son began snow skiing when he was 3, and favored that sport until the family moved to Florida.
“He used to be a better skier than a swimmer,” Gagnon said. “But when we came down here, there were no mountains, so he got serious about swimming. This (Mission Bay) has turned him around. The coaching and the facilities here have added that extra edge.”
Bonning took over the Mission Bay age-group program in 1988, and Gagnon joined the club shortly thereafter.
“He’s always been fast, but not this fast,” Bonning said. “He’s worked real hard in practice to improve, and everything is starting to come together now. He swims all the strokes, and all his times are improving.”
As small as he is, Gagnon has already begun to develop the defined stomach muscles of an older swimmer. But the real secret to his success goes unnoticed by the casual observer.
“His underwater strokes are excellent,” Bonning said. “I’ve gone underwater and watched him with my goggles, and it’s perfect under there.
“But that’s not to say we don’t have a lot of work to do. We still have to work on some things.”
Which is fine by Gagnon. He’s 10, holds a pair of national records and rides to practice with his best friend, Raun Bass. And now, he’s giving interviews. So how tough can the workouts be?
“It’s hard sometimes,” Gagnon said. “But it’s fun.”
