When he arrived in Tupelo for the Mississippi Swimming Long Course State Championship meet, Tommy Martin was largely seen as just another swimmer.

Then he started dropping seconds off his time as quickly as he left opponents in his wake. Two days later, he stepped out of the pool as a state champion.

The 12-year-old from Vicksburg won the boys’ 11-12-year-olds title in the 100 meter breaststroke at the meet held July 21 and 22. He posted a time of 1 minute, 24.26 seconds in the finals, which was more than four seconds better than his time in the preliminaries and about eight seconds better than his average time from other meets this season.

“It was kind of unrealish. It’s kind of hard to actually believe that,” said Martin, who competes on the club level with the Vicksburg Swim Association. “I’m not normally the person to make it, to be the first seed and win it. I’m normally the person that’s coming for them.”

Almost from the start, Martin turned that idea on its head. He qualified first out of 10 swimmers in the preliminary round with a time of 1:28.62, then led the entire race in the finals. He beat John Carter McGee of the Jackson-based Makos Swim Team by nearly a second.

“I just imagined there was a person in front of me, and I was having to beat them,” Martin said.

It was the crowning moment of a memorable weekend for Martin. In addition to his victory in the 100 meter breaststroke, he also finished fifth in the 50 breaststroke and fourth in the 50 freestyle.

He just missed reaching the finals in the 100 meter freestyle, but easily won the consolation heat and improved his time by two seconds.

Martin’s time in the 100 breaststroke, when converted to a 25-meter short course time, was good enough to qualify for next year’s USA Swimming sectional meet in North Carolina.

The long course meet was held in a pool 50 meters long, while short course meets are in faster 25-meter pools.

“He’s got a real strong mindset. He practices hard and his attendance at practice is good,” Vicksburg Swim Association coach Mathew Mixon said, pointing out that Martin was the first of his teammates churning a lap during a 6 a.m. workout at City Pool. “He’s got good practice work ethics and can handle racing situations. Plus, he’s still having fun with it. He’s not overworking it.”

While Martin’s victory was the biggest highlight of the state meet for the VSA, it wasn’t the only one. The eight team members who competed posted personal bests in 41 of their 44 total races.

Ann Elizabeth Farthing had a pair of top-five finishes in the 11-12-year-old girls 50 and 100 meter breaststroke events.

Carley Copelin reached the finals in the highly competitive 13-14-year-old girls 50 and 100 meter freestyle. Copelin was fifth out of 29 swimmers in the 50, and eighth out of 24 swimmers in the 100.

Other VSA swimmers who qualified for and competed in the state meet were Charlie Martin, Adrienne Eckstein, Blaine Butler, Katie Martin and Chip Fields.

“That’s a real good percentage for us,” Mixon said of the number of personal best times. “We’re real pleased with that.”