Byron currently serves on the Arkansas Masters LMSC board as our Chairman. He is also the Secretary for the USMS Legislation Committee. He became a Masters Certified Level 1/2 Coach in May of 2017, and has been a competitive swimmer since the age of 8. His dedication to swimming is outstanding. As a Masters Swimmer, he holds 46 individual Top Ten achievements, and 3 relay Top Ten achievements (National rankings). Byron currently holds 30 Arkansas Citizen Records, setting 20 of them in 2019. His most outstanding swim of 2019 was at the Winter Classic where he swam a 2:03.24 200-yard breaststroke, which is within a second of the National Record for his age group!
Byron is continuously setting goals to become faster than before. “Swimming is a goal-oriented sport. Set your goal and work toward that. Then set another one.” He lives by his word and shows improvements by his work. A glimpse of that is evident from his college career. He walked on to the BYU team and ended up setting a school record in the 200 Breaststroke his freshman year. He finished his college swimming career a Division 1 All-American, a 1997 World University Games bronze medalist, and the 13th fastest 200-yard breaststroker of all time, with a school record that lasted 21 years.
A devoted husband and father of 3 children, he shares his passion for outdoor adventures with his family. When he’s not in the pool, you can often find him hiking or biking on the many trails around Northwest Arkansas. We are thankful for the time he spends out of the pool supporting local swimming efforts and encouraging others to swim or become more involved in the swimming world.
With such dedication to the sport of swimming, both in the pool and out, it is the Arkansas Masters Board’s honor to name Byron Shefchik as our 2020 Swimmer of the Year.
Arkansas Masters Swimming 
Leave a Reply