RACINE, Wis. — The best swimmers in the state will hit the pool on Saturday for the Division I Swimming and Diving Championship at Waukesha South High School, and there's a Racine duo to keep your eye on.
When Hugo Arteaga puts his headphones on, business is about to pick up.
"It just kind of helps me focus," Arteaga says. "There's a lot of things that happen before a race and it's nice to focus on what you have to do and what you're about to swim."
Arteaga won the Southeast Conference title in the 50 free. But Racine Unified Co-Op teammate Brady Moore is coming on strong and feeds off Arteaga.
"For me, I always, I kind of look up to Hugo and gotta make sure I'm giving my full effort," Moore says. "So we're both in those relays. Especially in the relays, we both gotta go all out in swimming. Right now it shows. When you go all out, you get high placements."
Case, Horlick, and Park all combine efforts. But equally important to success? The new Racine Aquatic Center.
"It's a lot," Moore says.
"It's everything," Arteaga says.
"Last year, like the whole year, it was at Park, going after school, driving around. It's an awesome facility," Moore says.
"I spend like five or six hours, more sometimes, and I'd rather spend it here than anywhere else," Arteaga says. "I think a couple of years ago we were swimming at the little YMCA pool. It was like 6 lane lines and we were splitting it with old people doing aerobics. But this is like everything and it's definitely helped."
In the meantime, Arteaga will march to the beat of his own music all the way to state.
"What do you listen to?" Moore asks.
"Ah, Playboi Carti, and the rest is a secret. I can't reveal that!" Arteaga says.
"Hugo's always locked in. He's always locked in!" Oak Creek swimmer Zack Kopsea says.
TMJ4's Lance Allan asks, "You get locked in. When you take those headphones off, you're all business. Does that just get you in a groove?"
"It definitely does," Artega answers. "I love my headphones. And it's just any music really does it. It's just special."
Hugo and Moore will continue to make sweet music in the pool for Racine. Since Arteaga is a junior and swims in national meets and Moore is just a sophomore.
