They each had a dream of winning state. In bizarre twist, Kansas swimmers share gold
Climbing to the top of the podium and having a gold medal draped around his neck was the dream for Winfield junior Corden Cuington.
Nothing could have prepared him for what actually happened when Cuington fulfilled his goal of finishing first in the 50-yard freestyle to win the Class 5-1A title at the Kansas high school boys swimming state meet this past Saturday in Lenexa.
Cuington indeed finished first with the fastest time in the event. But so did Goddard Eisenhower sophomore Dylan Patterson, who recorded the same exact time of 21.84 seconds in the finals.
So when the gold medal was awarded, Cuington and Patterson both climbed to the top of the podium to live out their dream — together.
“I’m pretty sure anyone who imagines winning a race, they imagine themselves being the only winner,” Cuington said. “So that’s obviously not how I imagined it, but I’m not mad at it. I’m very happy with my own performance and I’m very proud of Dylan.”
“If I had to share first place with anybody in that race, I’m glad it was with Corden,” Patterson said. “It was definitely a little weird, but I’m glad it was us.”
The mutual respect between Cuington and Patterson helped turn a truly bizarre situation into a unique celebration.
Because the automated timing system only records times to the hundredth decimal point, ties at the state meet are not unheard of. In fact, there was a tie for third place in the 200-yard freestyle relay. But a shared gold medal? That hasn’t happened since 2010, according to a KSHSAA official, when Salina South’s Tyler Opheim and Topeka Seaman’s Nathan Allen tied for the 100-yard butterfly title.
“It’s a moment I don’t think either one will ever forget,” Winfield coach Jay Buffum said. “That was definitely a unique experience and I don’t think it detracts from either one of them. I think they both see themselves as they should: as state champions. They both just happened to win the race at the same time. I hope they both walked away knowing the truth, which is they are state champions.”
The story behind how each swimmer ended up on top of the podium is almost as remarkable as their shared gold medal.
For Patterson, racing at the state meet was a thrill of its own. Because Goddard Eisenhower did not have a sanctioned team last season, Patterson, who trains with other top area swimmers at Wichita Swim Club, could not participate during the high school season.
“I remember going into taper season for the 2024 state meet,” Patterson said. “And I was like one of the only kids who didn’t get to taper with the rest of them. That got me pretty bummed.”
Thanks in part to the advocacy of the family of Chase Dwornicki, a past Eisenhower student who never had a team to swim for in high school and now swims collegiately at Air Force, Eisenhower formed its first boys swimming team this season and trained out of the Genesis Health Clubs in Goddard.
Given the chance to compete against his peers, Patterson savored every opportunity this season. And in his first season of competing, Patterson ended as a 2-time gold medalist after delivering the best race of his young career in the 100-yard freestyle. He shattered his career-best time with a winning time of 46.76 seconds.
“I could just tell that he was going to throw down,” said Mitchell Wagner, who trains Patterson at WSC. “He absolutely blew me away in the 100. You could tell he was ready for that one.”
Cuington shared the same zeal for just having the opportunity to compete after the Winfield junior barely sneaked in to the finals by qualifying in the eighth and final spot.
It’s incredibly rare in the high school swimming world for someone in Lane 8 to contend for a win, but in a up-and-back sprint that takes less than 22 seconds, Cuington knew he could provide “outside smoke” to the favored swimmers in the middle of the pool like Patterson.
“I actually think being in Lane 8 helped me out,” Cuington said. “I was able to just put my head down and stick to my training. Being in Lane 8, I wasn’t surrounded by people, so I could just focus on swimming my race and not what everybody else was doing.”
Ask either coach and they will both tell you that they believed their swimmer was in the lead coming off the wall and to the final touch. But because the 50 free is always close, their eyes immediately went to the scoreboard.
But because the scoreboard at Shawnee Mission School District Aquatic Center does not rearrange the times in order, Cuington and Patterson each saw their time of 21.84 flash next to the number 1.
“I touched the wall and look up and see first place next to Lane 4, so I got super excited and slapped the water,” Patterson said. “Then I look over and see the Winfield coach and they’re celebrating and going crazy and I’m like, ‘What the heck are they so excited about?’”
Winfield’s cheering section erupted in pandemonium because they recognized immediately that Cuington had just swam the race of his life. He had shaved nearly seven-tenths of a second from his preliminary time and cracked 22 seconds for the first time — and done so comfortably at 21.84.
“I don’t think anyone realized it was a tie for first right away because we just went berserk,” Buffum said. “He swam out of his mind and all we saw was the ‘1’ next to Corden’s name.”
“Words can’t describe how happy I was,” Cuington added. “I’ve been chasing a time under 22 for, I mean, half a year now. So that had me really excited.”
Because the situation is so rare, there was a lack of clarity on what happened next when the swimmers exited the pool.
Their minds immediately wondered if there would be a swim-off, 1-on-1 style, to determine a sole winner. But after a quick talk with the meet official, which was confirmed by KSHSAA official Rod Garman, it was ruled that Cuington and Patterson would each receive a gold medal and split the points for the team standings.
It is tradition for the winning swimmer’s coach to hand out the medals for the event. So in the spirit of a tie, Buffum and Eisenhower coach Melissa Short split the medals to hand out on the podium with each having the honor to put the gold medal around their swimmer’s neck.
“I’ve been around swimming a long time and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Buffum said. “But what a cool experience to be able to share that moment with Eisenhower. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a race as thrilling as that one.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2025 at 6:02 AM.
.jpg)