Cox swimmer hopes to end career with state title

VIRGINIA BEACH

Reid Morin has been racking up swimming accomplishments since he was in elementary school.

He qualified for Virginia Beach All-Stars at age 6, and won a city All-Stars title in the 25-meter backstroke at 10.

Now a Cox senior, Morin is pushing hard to finish his high school career with two of the highest accolades.

Morin is a state title contender in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. And he's the leader of a boys team that hopes to challenge for a Group AAA state crown.

"The way I see it is, this is pretty much my last hurrah," Morin said. "My last official competitive endeavor. I want to be remembered. And I've found that the only real way to be remembered is if you win."

Morin finished seventh in the state in the 50 free last season, when Cox won the Eastern Region crown, so his goals are realistic.

But no matter where he places at the state meet, the fact that he's competitive with the state's best is impressive.

Morin dislocated both his shoulders while playing volleyball as a sophomore, and said the injuries still cause him discomfort in the pool at times. Also, unlike many top-notch swimmers, Morin doesn't train year-round.

"I found there wasn't any motivation with swimming with the club team," he said. "I need the high school to get myself up and ready to go."

It's not as if Morin is slacking in the offseason. He's an award-winning photographer who works on the school yearbook. And though the injuries forced him to stop playing volleyball, he kept stats for Cox's varsity team last season.

He's also an Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor who has never gotten a grade lower than A in his high school career. In the running for school valedictorian, his list of potential colleges includes Virginia, Duke, Yale, Harvard and Princeton.

"If he's not the most, he's one of the most competitive people I've ever met," said Cox coach Joe Gentry, who has been coaching swimming for 41 years.

Morin so respects his coach that he said Gentry is "like my uncle."

For that reason, Morin has a goal for what he said will be his last season of competitive swimming. He notes that Gentry has stopped wearing the ring he earned while an assistant on the University of Tennessee's 1978 men's national title team.

"I was thinking about going back and getting his ring recast, as a gift at the end of the season," Morin said. "And then I realized the best gift you could give your coach would be a (championship) ring on your own."