Jirat Saengthong of Watertown set a new standard at Bridgewater State in the 200 freestyle during the Little East Conference Championships in Wellesley on Feb. 14.
The junior finished second with a time of 1:45.80, eclipsing the previous BSU record of 1:46.39 set by Jameson Rose in 2017. He improved his personal best by 0.82 seconds, and the performance was one of three school records set by Bridgwater State swimmers that day.
Saengthong also finished second in the 100 individual medley with a time of 54.71 on Sunday. On Friday he was part of the BSU foursome that won the 400 medley relay. Bridgewater State won the meet, its fourth title in five years.
Saengthong is an aviation management major who graduated from Watertown High School. He began swimming when he was in the first grade in Thailand, but did not swim competitively until he moved to the United States and joined the Watertown Boys & Girls Club. He competed in the Boys & Girls Club Nationals in St. Petersburg, Florida, and later went on to join Crimson Aquatics.
In high school he swam for the Watertown/Arlington Co-op swim team in high school and finished with the ninth fastest time in the 100 freestyle in the 2023 MIAA Div. 1 Boy’s Championship Meet and was a Middlesex League All-Star.