Free State sophomore Jordan Portela competes in the 100-yard fly in the boys swimming state championship at the Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. Portela won the event.

Free State High junior swimmer Jordan Portela has proven himself as one of the best swimmers in the state over the past two years.

Twice, he’s been named the Swimmer of the Meet at state. Portela has won five Class 6A state championships, sweeping the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly in his freshman and sophomore seasons.

But the international level is a new challenge for Portela. In August, Portela traveled to Singapore for the FINA Junior World Championships, representing Puerto Rico.

At the Junior Worlds, Portela took 35th in the 100-meter butterfly (56.20 seconds), 41st in the 50 butterfly (25.60), 43rd in the 100 freestyle (52.77) and 49th in the 50 freestyle (24.44). He set two national age-group records for 15-16-year-old Puerto Ricans.

“It was spectacular,” Portela said. “It was a pretty cool experience. Being able to race at that international level is like a whole new league out there. I swim here and I know I need to train hard, but when I go over there, people just kick my butt and lots of things. But it’s good for me. It means I need to have a lot of things to work on in practice. I’m excited about that.”

A first-team all-state selection in the past two seasons, Portela swam at an international meet in Barbados in June before traveling to Singapore, giving him his first international experience outside of a meet in the U.S. or Puerto Rico.

Portela’s father, Tony, swam for Puerto Rico in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. His sister, Chloe, and brother, Anthony, have also swam for Puerto Rico. His mother, Dorie, swam in the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1984.

“Junior Worlds, that was a whole new level,” Portela said. “There were fast people all around. USA came to the meet and brought all of their relays and they were really fast.”

Portela will rejoin Free State’s boys swimming and diving team after winter break because he swims with his club team throughout December.

With his Lawrence club team, he swam in 21?2-hour practices last week, recording more than 7,200 yards in the pool. During winter break, he’s training with a team in Palo Alto, California, while he visits family in the area.

“I’m excited to come back from winter break and swim with my high school team,” Portela said. “There’s a lot of new swimmers this year — freshmen, and a lot of new fast upperclassmen that I’m really excited to race with this season.”

During the upcoming year, Portela plans on continuing his dominance at the state meet. He’s won more state titles than any swimmer in the state over the past two years.

After the season ends, he will focus once again on his performance on the international level going from short-course to long-course pools.

“The ultimate goal is to get an Olympic Trial cut,” he said.

Portela is proud to represent Puerto Rico, especially as it helps him gain experience at the international stage.

“It’s a nice perk,” Portela said. “USA is crazy fast. But maybe someday I can work up to it.”