Moscow’s Crossler swims into record book

Heading into the Idaho Class 5A state swim meet last week at Boise’s West Ada YMCA, Noah Crossler of Moscow was determined to overcome a personal jinx by winning a prize that had eluded him two years running.

Not only did the junior break the jinx, but he shattered a state record in the process.

Crossler had been seeded first at State in the 100-yard butterfly both his freshman and sophomore years, but settled for third and second, respectively, in the actual meets.

This time around, he left no room for an upset.

Crossler clocked a winning time of 51.64 seconds, leading the 100 butterfly field by more than three seconds and surpassing the previous meet record of 52.16 that had been set by Jacob Ballard of Sandpoint in 2018.

“You should have heard the excitement in the building when he started to break away from the other swimmers in that race,” Moscow coach Shelly Ruspakka said. “Noah can get in this zone when he’s swimming, and he has such control over his races, it’s remarkable to watch. You could just tell he was in that mode and he was going for the state record. All of the training he’s put in this year, and the last eight years, came down to this moment.

“It was absolutely electric in that facility. Everybody was cheering; everybody was screaming; not only from Moscow, but from all of the schools in Idaho.”

Crossler also claimed a 100 backstroke victory with a time of 54.98 as he capped off an undefeated season with a pair of individual state championships.

“Of all the athletes I’ve coached from age 5 to 97, he’s one of the most committed, dedicated athletes I’ve ever seen, and I’m so happy for him that he had such a successful season,” Ruspakka said. “He had a goal at the beginning to go undefeated, and he accomplished that — and not all of those races were easy for him. He went up against some 6A swimmers in those events, and he came out on top every time.

“He has such a mind/body connection in the pool, and those close races — some of them were really close — just watching him win by the slimmest of margins was great.”

Crossler first took up swimming around the age of 8. Back in those early days as a youth swimmer, he never thought he’d be standing atop the podium at a state swim meet.

“I believe it was because I just needed something to do, and we got a tip from a good family friend that swimming would be a fun thing to do,” Crossler said.

It was not long before he was competing as a member of Vandal Aquatic Club and establishing a year-round commitment.

“I knew Noah when he started swimming competitively, and to watch his growth over these last eight years has been really rewarding for me,” Ruspakka said. “It makes me so happy for him, because he’s so deserving of all the accomplishments he’s achieved this year and in previous years.”

Last summer was critical to Crossler’s development as he qualified for Senior Sectionals in the 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 100 fly and was named to the Inland Empire All-Star Zone team for a trip to California.

“He really stepped up at the beginning of this summer, and that’s probably where the foundation for his success this last week started,” said Jody Broyles, his Vandal Aquatic Club coach, who was also his high school coach for two years before stepping aside. “He invested a huge amount of dedication all summer long and into the fall. He was very single-minded — knew what he needed to work on — and that’s what paid off.”

In the aftermath of his historic state showing, Crossler is taking no proverbial victory lap to rest on his laurels. He is setting right back to training with Broyles with a focus on refining his form to a level that could bring more state records and have recruitment offers flowing next year.

“I’m kind of evening out all my strokes and bringing all my strokes up to the kind of college level, so next year, if I accomplish this I should be able to break records in, I wouldn’t say all the events, but I probably could post times pretty close to them,” said Crossler, who is interested in majoring in engineering while hopefully continuing his swimming career.

“What I hope to do by at least State next year is to set the Division I swim times that you kind of need to be well-set for DI college,” he continued. “If I hit DI times, I will also hit All-American times, which would also be nice.”

Ruspakka has no doubt he can do it.

“I foresee an even more spectacular season,” she said.