Shane Ryan Leaves Haverford HS As All-Time Great

has many, many things to remember from his amazing high school swimming career at .

But what the 6-foot-6, 180-pound four-time state champion may miss the most is the camaraderie, the bus rides to meets, the cajoling at poolside and sharing his success with his teammates.

Ryan put the exclamation point on an amazing four years by winning the PIAA Class AAA 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke last weekend, and concluding his career with four gold medals, one as a sophomore, one last year as a junior and two this season.

What made Ryan’s feat that much more compelling is that his 19.91-second time that won the 50 freestyle made Ryan one of three high school-aged swimmers to swim the event in less than 20 seconds.

Ryan’s 47.1-second clocking in the 100 backstroke was a personal best and his 43.6-second time in the lead-off 100-yard leg of Haverford’s medal-winning 400-yard freestyle relay was the fastest in the nation.

The Penn State-bound Ryan was chosen as the Swimmer of the Meet, leaving an indelible legacy with everything he’s accomplished. Ryan will graduate as one of the greatest swimmers in the Haverford’s history, joining two-time .

“It’s awesome to be in the same group with him, Brendan’s great—his family is great and I feel comfortable talking to Brendan and knowing someone is there who has been with the best, swam against the best and being able to talk to him about swimming is awesome to be in that kind of company,” Ryan said.

“My high school career is in the past and I’m looking forward to college. I’m going to start lifting weights and working out. I have plenty of room to fill my 6-6 and get up to 200, 210 pounds. There are some things that I wish I could have done better in my high school career—but I’m really happy that everything went well. Everything I did there was a reason for it. I have no regrets at all,” Ryan continued.

What was important to Ryan was being there at the state championships this year with teammates Spencer Jenkins, Connor Hart and Steve Castle, who comprised the Fords’ 400-yard relay team.

“Spencer has been with me all four years and been there to support me—and he did very well, too, which is why it made the trip so much better this year,” Ryan said. “Getting a state record my sophomore year was a big thing. I was very happy with my high school career, and to get a personal-record 100 backstroke was big, but my last race was the 400 relay, which is why that was so memorable.

“I’ve had a lot of fun my high school career. I think I’ll always be able to look back at this time in my life and be really happy with the things I did. There are things I’ll always remember. But what I’ll remember most is sharing it with my teammates, some great friends.”