Sitting in a chair in front of the block at the Lawrence Free State pool, senior Marcus Layton waited for the eight swimmers in the heat competing before him to get out of the water. He stretched his legs out on the block, popping his knees as he waited to be called forward. It was Jan. 5, about halfway through the swim season, but it was Layton’s first meet of the year.
“I was really, really nervous,” Layton said. “It was kind of hard to breathe, and it was kind of surreal, because I’d waited so long to do it. It felt really good diving in.”
Layton, who tore the AC ligament in his shoulder in October while training for the upcoming season, had to sit out during the first half of swim season. He attended physical therapy instead, working weekly to heal his injury and strengthen the ligament. During swim practice, he worked on kicking exercises, hoping it would be enough to help him when it was time to compete again
“I already knew that we had lost a lot of seniors last year, and Marcus was our fastest returning swimmer, so it was a bit of a blow to the team,” Boys’ Swim Coach Cody Fothergill said. “The good news was that he could still practice kicking and that he would be able to compete in swim meets again sometime in January.”
By the beginning of December, Layton fell ill, keeping him from practicing. He was taken to the hospital to have tests done, and while they came back negative for the flu, they revealed that he had come down with pneumonia. Layton was hospitalized for three days and two nights for treatment.
“I was praying for the best case scenario,” Layton’s mother Heather Layton said. “It didn’t really seem to faze him much. It turned out that the flu tests were negative and that the pneumonia was bacterial rather than viral, which was a funny answer to my prayers, I guess. He was out of the hospital by Friday and back in the pool on Monday. You wouldn’t really have known he was sick.”
With his release from the hospital, Layton began training again to for his first meet of the year. When the day of the Lawrence Free State meet arrived, Layton was anxious to find out if he could compete.
“I was driving to Lawrence and was on the phone with the doctor to get the results from his follow-up X-rays on his lungs and on his shoulder,” Heather said. “Dr. Fulbright gave the ‘all clear and good to go’ right as I was pulling into the Free State parking lot.”
With the doctor’s permission obtained, Layton prepared for the meet, taking a two minute warm shower and stretching before it was his turn to stand on the block. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but when the buzzer sounded, he dove into the water. His mind went blank as he began the 100-yard breaststroke.
“I didn’t know how I’d do on my first time back,” Layton said. “I wanted to see how it’d go, since I’d spent a lot of time doing kicking practice. I really didn’t know what to expect, I was just hoping I’d do well.”
When he finished the race and looked at the scoreboard, he didn’t realize that his time, 1:03.78, was not only enough to qualify for State, but also enough to break the school record.
“I looked up and I saw the scoreboard and my time, and I don’t think I really registered what was going on,” Layton said. “It wasn’t until I talked to Fothergill and he hugged me that I understood. All my teammates were congratulating me, and it was really nice.”
Layton was not the only one surprised by his sudden comeback. Fothergill said he was also shocked by the feat.
“I don’t know what I expected, but I did not expect a school record on his very first race,” Fothergill said. “It was a shock that he had the speed and stamina to race that fast that early. I have never seen anyone come off an injury with that much success right away.”
Two days later, Layton broke the record again at the Shawnee Mission Northwest Invitational with the time of 1:02.09. Within the next few weeks, he qualified for State in two individual events, the 100 fly and the 200 IM. He also qualified for two other events, the 4×100 freestyle relay and the 4×50 medley relay.
“He has a passion and a hunger for obtaining his goals,” Heather said. “He gains a lot of satisfaction from swimming and competing at a higher level, so all the hard work he did perfecting his kick and strengthening his core and visualizing those races produced the results he was working toward. I think he just wanted it really badly. He has had his eye on the record board at school for some time now and I guess when you keep your goals and desires in view, it makes getting there possible.”