EVANSTON — Cooper Haycock enjoyed his holiday break.

And while the standout swimmer for Lyman High School, still spent plenty of time in the pool during that time, he also had to watch his diet at the dinner table during holiday feasts.

“Definitely, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Haycock said on Saturday after competing at the Evanston Invitational at Davis Middle School. “I stayed off sugar for all but one day.”

Haycock admits he had a few goodies during New Year’s Eve, but that was the extent of his cheat day.

The sacrifice has been paying off throughout Haycock’s prep career, and it did again on Saturday. Haycock earned a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and was second in the 100-yard backstroke. He was also part of Lyman’s 200-yard freestyle relay team that took first (1:38.54) as the Eagles finished third in the competition with 180 points.

Green River was first with 382 points and Rawlins was second with 205 points. Rock Springs (172), Evanston (160) and Kemmerer (123) rounded out the top-six teams.

“We swam really well today,” Lyman coach Loren Huntsman said. “We had several personal-best for the year. Some kids are coming really close to their state time, which is a big thing for us this time of the year. I was really happy with how we swam today.”

Haycock is all business when it comes to nutrition and training. But he is not only interested in setting personal bests. He also has his eyes set on breaking the school and Class 3A state record this season in the 100-yard backstroke.

As a sophomore last season, Haycock took first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 54.78. Terry Rolfe of Newcastle set the current make of 53.01 in 2008, but Haycock believes he can beat that.

Haycock swam a 57.08 on Saturday at the invitational to finish second. Green River freshman James King won the event in 55.55.

Haycock, a junior, and a defending state champion that has already qualified for state in all of the swimming events this season, wasn’t too disappointed with the results. He knows his times will continue to drop once taper season begins.

“We still have two or three weeks of pretty hard practice, just before conference,” Huntsman said. “Conference doesn’t mean anything to us. We’re a small team, so we’re not going to place very well. We have individual kids that will. It’s the week after conference, those 10 days, that we rest them pretty good.”

Even without a tapering session, Haycock won the 50-yard freestyle in 22.56, a Class 3A record.

But Haycock isn’t the only swimmer to make waves in the pool for the Eagles.

Lyman’s top seven swimmers have already made the state cut, something they did during the first meet of the season in Rawlins. Four of the Eagles’ swimmers have qualified for state in all of the swimming events.

Perhaps, the Eagles’ success is credited to the amount of time Layman spends in the pool. The Eagles swam three or four days a week, instead of the usual five days.

Then, to get back in the groove of racing, Lyman held a home dual meet against Evanston on Tuesday. 

“You have some pretty good swimmers when they qualify in all the strokes,” Huntsman said. “We’re working them hard in practice. We kick their butt in practice. Our season is so short, we just don’t have that much time to take off. We’re usually not that good (swimming) back-to-back meets, but we actually swam two good meets this week.”

That’s the case across the board.

Lyman senior Stone Olguin, one of four swimmers to qualify for state in multiple events, dropped time in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday. He took fourth in the 50 with a time of 23.99 and was third in the100-yard breaststroke at 1:05.98. Both times earned qualifying marks for the Class 4A state meet. 

Olguin kept active in the pool over the break, but he didn’t shy away from some of his favorite holiday treats. 

It didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his performance.

“I let myself go a little bit,” he said. “It’s Christmas break, and I love ice cream.” 

Still, his goals are the same as Haycock’s.

“I want to place first or second in the 100 free and I want to try to take first in the 100-yard breaststrokes,” said Olguin, who has also already made the cut for all swimming events at the state meet. “I think it’s possible. I have a better chance winning the breaststroke, so that’s what I’m working at.”