Pope John Paul II freshman Rex Perrette was solid in his Division IV Swimming State Meet debut Nov. 16 in Sulphur.
The Bogalusa resident competed in four events — the 200-yard freestyle, 500-free, 200-free relay and 400-free relay.
Perrette, who is the son of Bogalusa Mayor Wendy Perrette, was eighth in the 500 free with a time of 6 minutes, 25 seconds. His time was just under 21 seconds better than his qualifying time and was a personal record.
“The 500 is usually about pacing. That’s not my style. I pretty much pump until I can’t go anymore. The 500 is not enough to make me stop. It takes about 1,000 meters to make me stop,” Perrette said.
In order to reach state, swimmers need to beat a certain time based on the event at a meet. Isidore Newman’s Pierce Thionville won the event in 4:49.
Perrette was part of the Jaguars’ second-place 400-free relay team finished in 3:44. The rest of the team featured Davis Legnon, Patrick Kelly and Eddie Landry. Newman won the event in 3:27.
Perrette was also part of PJP’s 200-freestyle relay team that swam sixth with a time of 1:47. The team included Kelly, Drew Prude and Patrick Carroll. ESA won the event in 1:34.
Perrette was 12th in the 200 free, with a time of 2:17. Ascension Episcopal School’s Jack Aldridge won in 1:47.
Perrette, who began canoeing this past summer and does so for Venturer Crew 313, began swimming in August.
“I really wanted to join a sport and my friend Tori (Palmer) is a swimmer. It was a good way to build shreads (abs) over bulk. Normally when I workout, I build up bulk. Swimming is also good for my lungs,” Perrette said.
Perrette is in his second year at Pope John Paul II and is also taking care of his academics, with a 4.3 grade-point average.