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All-Southeast Missourian Swim Team: Notre Dame's Barber swam a long way very quickly
The reality for Notre Dame senior swimmer Drew Barber is that he swims the shortest distance held in his meets.
His reality also is that he has traversed the furthest journey of possibly any swimmer in the state of Missouri over the past four seasons.
Barber has evolved from a non-swimmer, who envisioned just being on the Bulldogs’ team to one of the fastest swimmers in Missouri.
“How he really bought into the sport,” Notre Dame coach Joe Graves said of which trait of Barber’s he admired the most. “This is not an easy sport to get into and to get into it late.
“It’s really hard with the daily grind and he relished it.”
Barber had a phenomenal senior season in the fall of 2020 and is the Southeast Missourian Boy’s Swimmer of the Year.
Four years ago, Barber joined the swim team at his mother’s insistence as a way to make friends. He referred to his first practice as “impossible,” mostly because he didn’t even know how to do the varying strokes.
“I never actually swam,” Barber told Semoball.com earlier in his career when asked about that trying experience.
Fast-forward to 2020 and Barber was the most accomplished swimmer in this area.
He qualified for the 2020 MSHSAA Class 1 State Finals in four events and earned top-six finishes in all four races.
“I’ve given up guessing where he is going to go,” Graves said earlier in Barber’s career.
Barber didn’t just improve each season, he made astounding leaps in his development almost daily.
He placed second in the 50 free at the state finals last November and fourth in the 100 free.
He was a member of the Bulldogs’ 200 and 400 free relays, both of which placed sixth.
Barber led the Bulldogs to an eighth-place finish with 123 total points, by far the most scored in program history.
“Who knows,” Graves said recently when asked what Barber’s potential is. “If he wants to continue swimming, he’ll be able to swim very well in college.”
Other members of the 2020 All-Southeast Missourian Boy’s Swim Team include the following athletes:
Nick Landewe, Notre Dame
The Bulldog senior placed in the top 16 in four events (the maximum allowed to compete in) at the 2020 Class 1 State Finals.
He swam the lead-off leg of backstroke in the 200 medley relay (16th-place), as well as a leg on the sixth-place 400 free relay.
Individually, Landewe placed 15th in the 200 IM and 10th in the 500 free events.
Elias Theall, Cape Central
The Tiger junior competed in a pair of individual races at the state finals and scored points in both.
He took 16th in the 200 free and placed 12th in the 500 free.
Noel Keran, Notre Dame
The Bulldog senior swam three events at the state finals.
He swam the breaststroke leg on the 200 medley relay (16th-place finish), as well as placed 12th in the 200 free.
Keran also competed in the 500 free and placed 21st.
Jack Maxton, Cape Central
One of the most decorated swimmers over the past three seasons in Southeast Missouri, the Tiger senior swam to top-eight finishes in a pair of individual events at the 2020 state finals.
He was sixth in the 100 fly and eighth in the 100 breast.
Maxton closed his career with six top-eight finishes at the state finals, as well as a pair of state championships on Cape relay squads.
Connor Hux, Notre Dame
The Bulldog junior competed in four events at the 2020 state finals and scored points in three of the races.
He swam the fly leg of the 16th-place 200 medley relay, as well as being on the 200 free relay (sixth-place finish).
Individually, Hux placed 11th in the 100 fly and 24th in the 200 IM.
Brayden Walters, Jackson
The Indian junior made stunning progress from his sophomore to junior season and placed 16th in the 500 free race at the state finals.
His 2020 time was over 11 seconds faster than his 2019 time in the same event.
Walters also placed 16th in the 100 back event in 2020.
Caleb LeGrand, Notre Dame
The Bulldog senior was similar to Barber in that he joined the swim team sort of on a whim. He finished his career by swimming on three Notre Dame relay squads, which scored points at the 2020 state finals.
He helped the Bulldogs place 16th in the 200 medley relay (he swam the free leg), as well as being part of 6th-place finishes in both the 200 and 400 free relays.
Trent Pallus, Jackson
The Indian junior joined his teammate (Walters) in scoring points at the 2020 state finals.
He swam to a 15th-place finish in the 100 breast, which was the second straight year he made the top 16 in the event.
Liam Arnzen, Notre Dame
The Bulldog senior joined teammates Landewe, Hux, and Barber as a four-time qualifier for the 2020 state finals.
He was a member of the 6th-place 200 and 400 free relay squads, while individually, Arnzen took seventh in the 50 free and 12th in the 100 free races.