24-02-2025
Senior standout Josh Bey helps lead Hinsdale Central swimmers to glory
The loaded Hinsdale Central High School boys' swimming team will be well represented at next weekend's state meet with state qualifiers in all 12 events, as they vie for another team championship.
One of their senior standouts, Josh Bey, is chasing more history at that meet and beyond.
"From a young age, I loved being in the water. Like, I had a passion for being in the water," said Bey. "Every time I was in the water, I'd be having the time of my life."
This is a good thing, since Bey spends a good chunk of his life in the water. The Indiana commit is one of the top high school swimmers in the country.
"Josh has a lot of internal drive. I think he's known that he can do things that not everybody can, and sometimes that gets in people's ways. Josh has been able to navigate the success to still have very large goals," said Hindsale Central swimming coach Robert Barber. "He's not only helped himself be successful and improve, he's definitely helped our program be successful."
At last year's state meet, Bey set state records in the 200 Individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke — his premiere event — and was part of a pair of winning relay teams that helped Hinsdale Central capture not only their second straight team title, but also put them among the best high school teams in the entire country.
"These guys are motivated to try and do things I've never even tried to do as a coach. This is my 25th year. They're talking about being competitive with the best ever, national records, three-peat on a state title," said Barber. "You need a lot more than one guy. Josh is definitely a leader that group, but I think that there are about four or five guys we lean on very heavily."
Hinsdale Central swimmer Henry Guo emphasized just how monumental the team's achievements and goals have been.
"It gives me great confidence to swim on this team. It's so unique. We're contending for the number one team in the country right now," said Guo. "Especially considering it's a public school, right? Really like a once in maybe a decade moment for us."
Bey nearly had a once in at least every four years moment last summer. At the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis, he made the finals in the 200 breaststroke, finishing as the top junior in that event.
"I was in the top eight that actually ended up competing for the Olympic spot. That was one of the. by far, scariest experiences of my life. These guys, you know, tower over me. They're twice the size of me. I actually had a very good swim, and I was able to punch my ticket to go to Australia with the junior pan-Pacific teams," Bey said, "and so hopefully come 2028, I can represent the USA at the LA Games."
Bey has won state championships, set records, and competed internationally and at the U.S. Olympic swim trials. But when asked what his greatest accomplishment is, he pointed to something else.
"One part of me wants to say like all the achievements I've made inside the pool," Bey said. "But I think my greatest accomplishment is the discipline which I've established in myself outside of the pool."
It is that discipline and drive that should have Bey and the Hinsdale Central Red Devils adding a few more records to the big board before they're done.
