Maverick Layne feels the need for speed. It’s an easy joke to make to the Seminole senior sprinter who has excelled this season as the Top Gun on the Seminole Aquatics swim team, if you will.

“He is the total package in terms of talent and work ethic and it means everything to have a guy of his speed that still likes to work,” said Coach Tony Ackerson.

Going into his senior year Maverick has gone full throttle.

“I am really focusing on the technical stuff. Flip turns, starts, finishes all that stuff because in the 50 and 100 free really that is what it boils down to is the milliseconds. Everything you can do to shave off a couple of them would be great. So that’s what I have been working on, in the pool every day,” said Maverick Layne.

The hours spent swimming laps is paying off as this past week the Noles won their sixth straight Seminole Athletic Conference Championship. Maverick took first in the 50 free, 100 free and swam a leg of the winning 400 free relay.

Considering the success, it’s hard to believe that three years ago Maverick wasn’t even on the team. Instead, Coach Ackerson found his swimmer during PE class.

“The PE teacher had him in class and I was in the office doing some work. She came up and tapped on the window and said there is a kid out here you might want to take a look at. And I went over and just kind of took a look out the window; I wasn’t going to go all the way over to the pool to check him out if it wasn’t worth the trip – that’s how big of an idiot I was. And I looked at him, and could see from the window; man this kid is pretty good.”

A quick look and a conversation later, Coach Ackerson found a future star with a star name.

“I go what is your name son? And he goes Maverick Layne. I said golly, this is like a setup. It’s too good,” joked Coach Ackerson.

All jokes aside, Maverick is a natural in the pool.

“Swimming is just something that came natural to me at first and over the years I have just found a love for it. I love swimming, it’s great.”

And he’ll love it even more if he can make it to the top come states.

He just has to feel the need for speed.