Gaffney McDonough of Morse won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.74 seconds at the Class B boys swimming state championship at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald

Ask Gaffney McDonough what the highlight of his 2024-25 swim season was, and the Morse senior says he doesn’t think it has happened yet.

In a year that included four Class B titles (two individual and two relays), four broken state records (one individual and three relays), four KVAC titles to help the Shipbuilders claim a fourth straight Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference team championship and the Morse boys swim team’s first state title since 2006, it would seem like McDonough has a menu of options to chose from.

But knowing that only a couple hours after winning the Class B championship meet, he and multiple Morse teammates were returning to the pool for their club swim team’s practice, it makes sense that McDonough is striving for more at next week’s YMCA Nationals.

“It’s not that I love winning so much as I hate losing,” McDonough said. “A second place for me hurts a lot, and I’m kind of always just training to not be second. I think one of my mottos this season was, ‘Other teams are training to beat us at their best, and we’re training so that we can beat them at our worst.’ So, even when I’m sick or tired, I like to get out there and perform no matter what.”

For his record-setting season, McDonough is our choice for Varsity Maine Boys Swimmer of the Year.

McDonough likes to have a good time while swimming good times, but even he suffered from nerves during the 2024-25 high school season.

In between events at the KVAC championship, he was hunched over a trash can, throwing up. At the beginning of the Class B championships, he felt queasy. Both times, McDonough left the pool undefeated and having been named the performer of the meet.

“I think a lot of it for me is like, I can do no wrong once I get in the water, right? It’s the idea that, I’ve been training so long that when I get (in) the pool, something amazing will probably happen,” said McDonough, who is committed to swim at Bowdoin College. “And if it doesn’t, that’s OK, but I have to know that I’m capable of great things because of what I’ve been training for.”

Morse High School’s Gaffney McDonough celebrates winning 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.47 seconds during the KVAC Class B boys swimming championships on Friday, Feb. 7, in Bath. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

After falling short of goals set during his sophomore season, McDonough told his club coach Jay Morissette that he was tired of losing, and the two mapped out a three-year plan.

“Every day he would come in, and he would approach each set we did with his eye-on-the-prize attitude,” Morissette said. “And he rarely had a practice where he wasn’t performing at the level he needed to perform at to get the work done that he needs to get done.”

This season, all that work in the pool and weight room has paid dividends. McDonough set a state record in 50-yard freestyle (20.47 seconds) at KVACs, won his second straight 50 free state title, added another championship in the 100-yard butterfly (51.74) and broke the 200 medley (1:35.32), 200 free (1:27.14) and 400 free (3:13.91) relay state record times along with teammates Sawyer Wright, Brady Chubbuck, David Mitchell and Anders Savage.

When Morse broke the 400 free relay record the first time (the record set by Bangor had stood for nearly 26 years before Morse broke it twice within 11 days), McDonough registered the fastest 100 free split of the season (46.70), ending the season with three of Maine’s fastest times regardless of class.

Perhaps just as important as not losing to McDonough is having fun.

Whether its his meet-day fashion choices (skinny jeans, blazers, overalls and a lucky floral shirt have all made appearances on the pool deck) or his college swimming choices (he ruled out a prospective school after the team said they didn’t play the game “Sharks and Minnows” during practices), McDonough said he is always looking to smile and make the sport more enjoyable, which he believes, in turn, makes him a better swimmer.

“Gaffney is a character with a positive attitude,” Morse coach Spencer Hallowell said after KVACs. “He’s definitely a leader on the team, and that attitude carries over for everyone else.”