During last weekend's Capital Athletic Conference Championship, Frostburg State freshman Zach Shattuck broke several American Paralympic records.
 
Shattuck, who suffers from dwarfism and stands at just 4'6", opened the championship meet on Friday with a record-setting performance in the 50-yard freestyle, breaking the American record in the Paralympic S6 class with a time of 29.60.
 
However, the freshman wasn't done there, but came back during the second day of the meet and blew the American record in 200-yard freestyle out of the water. Shattuck touched the wall at 2:30.23, breaking the previous record by over 20 seconds.
 
Shattuck's success grew day to day and finished the meet with the record in the 500-yard freestyle. Shattuck set the American record by over a minute with an impressive time of 6:53.90.
 
"Everything went from a dream to a reality after I touched the wall and heard my name announced and heard that I had broken the record(s)," added Shattuck. "The first big step was contacting coach Anderson before the season because I had never swam competitively before. In the end, my teammates and the coaches helped me immensely in setting the records."
 
Over the season, Shattuck placed in the top-six for Frostburg in all seven events he swam, including a sixth-place finish and personal best time of 1:32.81 in the 100-yard backstroke at Davis & Elkins.
 
"Zach is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached. He pushes his limits every day," said head coach Justin Anderson. "His incredible work ethic is contagious, and he pushes all his teammates in the pool and the weight room. He has been an example to the entire team of what is possible with hard work, dedication, and perseverance."
 
To ensure competition is fair and equal, all Paralympic sports have a  system in place which ensures that winning is determined by skill, fitness, power, endurance, tactical ability and mental focus, the same factors that account for success in sport for able bodied athletes, as outlined by the International Paralympic Committee. Shattuck competes in the S6 class. The "S" denotes the events (freestyle, butterfly and backstoke) and "6" is his sport class. The S6 sport class includes swimmers with short stature, amputations of both arms or moderate coordination problems on one side of their body.
 
"Zach has only been swimming competitively for the last six months. He has only scratched the surface of what he is capable of doing," added Anderson. "I believe he has the ability to one of the best swimmers in the world in his classification, and I can't wait to see his continued progress and improvement."
 
Shattuck's record setting numbers are still just unofficial times until he receives his official classification at the CanAm Paralympic Swimming Championships in Toronto this March. That meet will also be the first major international competition for Shattuck.

Story courtesy of the FSU Sports Information Office.