Josh Johnson has made his mark in Section 9 over the last several seasons, and now has one last opportunity to make his mark at the state level.

Two weeks after setting new meet, pool and Section 9 records in the 100-yard butterfly at sectionals, he has his eye on success Friday and Saturday at the New York State Federation boys’ swimming championships at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium at Ithaca College.

He won the Section 9 championship in the 100-yard backstroke with a blistering time of 49.89 seconds and looks to get in under the All-American consideration time of 49.69.

Johnson also made the state cut in the 200-yard freestyle with a previous time of 1:44.56 at the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division I championship meet on Feb. 3. He also hit the qualifying time in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.65 during a Jan. 18 dual meet against the Washingtonville Wizards.

Success was even more important for him in his senior year.

“It was really important because this was the toughest time to win right for me and my competition,” Johnson said. “It was really important to make sure I won this one.”

He will swim the butterfly and one of the two other events in the state preliminaries on Friday with plans on qualifying for Saturday’s finals. State swim preliminaries will begin on Friday morning. The qualifiers for the championship finals will return on Saturday morning.

“I’ve just to remind myself that this is the last one, and I have to perform my AA game,” Johnson said.

He swam the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly at last year’s state championships. He’s not qualified in the 50, but his butterfly time is already lower than his 15th-place, 51.74 performance at states last year. He finished 30th in the 50 last year.

He had two weeks to lower his time in the butterfly to get under the All-American consideration time, and this weekend gave him one last chance for glory, and he has still has the last two years of experience to help him prepare.

“Competition at states was really tough, but you can’t be negative,” Johnson said. “If you’re negative, you might not do your best, so you’ve got to be positive and make sure you train every day for states.”

New York State Federation Boys’ Swimming Championships
Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium, Ithaca College
Friday
Swimming Preliminaries, 10 a.m.
Saturday, March 2
Swimming Finals, 10 a.m.