December 4, 2015, started out like just every other day in the swimming world. Auburn’s men’s and women’s teams were in Athens, Ga., competing in an invitational against some of the top teams in the country. Meanwhile, completely across the country, Luis Martinez, a virtual unknown sophomore for Auburn, was competing in the 2015 AT&T Winter Nationals in Federal Way, Wash.
So how did he get here, in lane 3 of the 100-meter butterfly finals, three starting blocks away from Michael Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in the history of the sport? And how did he take third with an automatic Olympic qualifying time of 52.