Making a splash in the pool and on records, junior Rowan Cox set the Texas 6A state record for the 100 meter butterfly, shattering the previous record. The swim put a wrap on the season for Cox and the rest of the ‘Dawgs.

“I knew going into the swim that I would have a good shot at breaking the record,” Cox said. “In my practice swims, my time was faster than the record at the time, so I knew if I hit my time I would likely break that record. When I hit the wall and looked up and saw 46.1 seconds on the leader board, I was pretty excited because I have been eyeing this record for a while now. It felt really good to finally break it.”

The Texas 6A meet consists of mostly the top swimmers, from across the most competitive division in the state, with over 200 swimmers competing from over 50 6A high schools. Along with setting the 100 meter butterfly record, Cox also finished runner up in the 100 meter backstroke, helping the ‘Dawgs propel up the leader boards.

“I came into the event really expecting to win both swims for the day, and while I was disappointed in coming in second in the 100 meter backstroke, I was also happy to be up on the podium for another time,” Cox said “I was still happy to do well in such a good environment.”

Cox credits a lot of his success due to his repetitive and impressive conditioning. He spends a lot of his time doing distance practicing, despite being considered a short distance swimmer.

“I think the things that make me stand out is just my ability to hold sprints for a long period of time,” Cox said. “I have just gotten used to swimming longer distances through my practice structure. I also think my dolphin kicks under water and my speed under water helps me gain an advantage on others.”

Cox has been competitively swimming for nearly his whole life. Beginning in starter programs, and eventually advancing into more competitive teams and clubs where he continues to grow and compete against the best across the country.

“I have been with Longhorn Aquatics (TXLA) for the past four years,” Cox said. “When I am not training at Bowie, that is where I am. My coaches there have built my technique, speed, endurance and power just about everyday with their workouts.”

Junior Allie Dunn is a teammate of Cox not just for Bowie, but for TXLA as well. She has known Cox since she was seven, but has been swimming with Cox when she joined Longhorn Aquatics last fall.

“I have known Rowan since I was really little,” Dunn said. “I really began to get to know him better when I moved club teams to join TXLA last year. I have been able to get closer to him and watch him swim more often.”

Dunn and the whole team attended the state swim meet to watch Cox in his quest to break records.

“Everyone on the deck and in the stands were cheering,” Dunn said. “It was a very loud environment especially because there were multiple state records being broken that day. It was very exciting from my perspective and I am sure everyone in the water felt the same energy.”

Cox is seen as a mentor to a lot of the kids on the team because of his vibrant success, leading to incoming freshman and second year swimmers  and younger swimmers of the program continuously pushing themselves to get better.

“Rowan is constantly pushing those around him to be better,” Dunn said. “He is such a good teammate just because he knows how good he is, but still supports all of his teammates on their own journeys to getting faster.”

Dunn and Cox still have one more year left together at Bowie before they both depart for college. Cox has already committed to the University of Texas to swim, while Dunn is still currently undecided on her school of choice.

“I see Rowan doing extremely well in college based on his commitment to the sport,” Dunn said. “I am pretty certain he is going to love it and thrive in the collegiate environment. He has already accomplished so much in his junior career that he should translate very well to the collegiate level. I am always so impressed by his strong work ethic and I think he will continue to have lots of success in college and beyond.”

Coach Chloe Carr has been the swim coach for three years, her first year being Cox’s freshman campaign. Entering her coaching career at Bowie, Carr’s main goal was​​ to get a relay team to state. Anchored by Cox, the Bowie swim team did just that, winning districts, beating powerhouse swim schools such as Westlake and Vandegrift, and advancing past a competitive Region IV in Texas 6A swim.

“I did not have any expectations for the relay team entering state,” Carr said. “The fact they even got there was making history for Bowie. We kind of went in with the mindset of just making it fun and enjoying it.”

Carr had lofty expectations for Cox entering the state meet. Knowing his past swims, Carr expected multiple record breaking swims from the junior phenom.

“For Rowan I definitely did expect some sort of record being broken in the meet,” Carr said. “Especially at least in the 100 fly, he came in 18th place in the 100 fly in Olympic trials, so it’s kind of hard to find someone who’s faster than that.”

Carr has been able to attest to the growth of Cox throughout her tenure as the ‘Dawgs swim coach. Cox entered his 9th grade year being one of the fastest freshmen in the country, but has climbed up the ranks in both his sophomore and junior seasons.

“Rowan has, of course, always stood out with his speed and endurance  since he was just that young 15 year old freshman,” Carr said. “Every single year he continues to get stronger and better. When he was a freshman he was very used to winning, his sophomore year he began qualifying for bigger events and he still had a lot of success in those bigger meets in both club and school.”

Despite Cox’s massive success in his first couple seasons, he entered the year facing some new challenges. Cox came off a sophomore year season that saw him getting disqualified from regionals in the 100 fly, the event that he would have most likely placed first in.

“I have watched him grow and learn from that moment,” Carr said. “He is almost a completely new human in some ways. I think his teammates look at him in a different perspective knowing that even he can make mistakes and it lets them know that when they DQ, it happens to even the best. Rowan has not shied away from that mistake and he used that mistake to be an even better teammate, he continues to practice hard to make sure that does not ever happen again.”