Ballard High School’s Todd Owen set the state record for the 100-yard breaststroke during Friday’s preliminaries of the State Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Louisville’s Ralph Wright Natatorium.

Owen posted a time of 55.24 seconds while qualifying first for Saturday’s final. He broke the previous record of 55.83 seconds set by St. Xavier’s Clark Burckle in 2006. Burckle went on to swim in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Owen picked up swimming in record timeMORE:

St. X’s streak in the line in state swimmingMORE:

Other swimmers from Louisville qualifying first in their events were Collegiate’s Tyler Sullivan (200 and 500 freestyles), St. Xavier’s Heyward Harrison (200 individual medley and 100 backstroke) and Ballard’s Branson Smith (100 free).

Collegiate posted the top time in the 200 free relay, and St. X qualified first in the 400 free relay.

Saturday’s finals are set for 10 a.m. St. X is shooting for its 26th straight state title and 50th overall, but Covington Catholic is expected to push the Tigers for the title.

The girls’ preliminaries were scheduled for Friday afternoon, with the finals slated for 4:15 p.m. Saturday.