Perhaps he felt that way because he didn’t know Jonathan Anderson of Rocky Harbour would set his sights on something special.
Anderson, a member of the Gros Morne Academy Piranahas summer swim club, broke Grandy’s 34-year-old record in the 50-metre freestyle at the summer swim provincials in Gander recently.
Grandy owned the bragging rights for 34 years with his impressive time of 38.90 seconds, but Anderson was in true form when he broke the record with a final clocking of 37.77 in Gander.
“It was pretty exciting. It wasn’t broke in 34 years so it kind of pumped me up,” Jonathan said in an interview after a hockey camp session at the Pepsi Centre Tuesday afternoon. “It was quite hard because of all the hard competitors.”
Jonathan had no idea what the day would bring when he entered the pool for the race. He didn’t even know the record was on the line or that he had actually broke it until all of his teammates on the sideline began shouting out to him, “You broke the record, you broke the record.”
A smile on his face was a given when he realized what he had done and his family wanted to celebrate the momentous occasion with him.
“We went to Jungle Jim’s,” said Jonathan, who is the 10-year-old son of Rocky Harbour’s Morgan and Debbie Anderson.
Eileen Gerrow, manager of Gros Morne Piranhas summer swim club, applauded the effort of her star swimmer.
“I think it’s an amazing feat, but I’m actually not surprised because he is a well-conditioned athlete with a great amount of natural ability,” Gerrow said. “So for him to accomplish that is wonderful and like I said certainly not unexpected.”
Gerrow believes Anderson is a special athlete with the potential for a bright future in anything he pursues with passion and commitment.
“Undoubtedly, he can accomplish a lot in swimming and he can accomplish a lot in sport in general,” she said.
So Jonathan, do you plan on making the record stand for a long time to come?
“I hope,” he said.
