For the first time since 2007, the Lafayette High School swim team is competing at the state level. 

Thirteen Commodore swimmers will be participating in Saturday’s state meet in Tupelo after qualifying this past weekend at the North Half finals. 

Two Commodore swimmers qualified individually for the state finals, as well as four Lafayette relay teams. Anthony Skutnik, an eighth grader, finished seventh in the North Half with a time of 2:14.75 in the 200-yard freestyle, qualifying for state. Collyn Lewis, a freshman, qualified with a 1:09.16 in the 100-yard freestyle. 

The four qualifying relay teams were the girls and boys 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle. 

For a Lafayette team that just picked back up in 2016, sending 13 swimmers to state is a remarkable feat in such a short time. The team was disbanded over a decade ago before starting back up in 2016. The last time they went to state was back in the 2006-07 school year, when Jeffrey Phillips became the first African-American student in the state to set a swimming record.