Tasting a gold medal victory last year for the first time felt so good to Sebastian River senior Mitchell Ledford.

On Friday night in his final high school meet, the Shark standout double dipped to go out on top.

The North Carolina State commit defended his title in the 100 butterfly and added a gold medal in the 100 backstroke at the FHSAA 3A Swimming and Diving Championships at Sailfish Splash Waterpark in Stuart.

Ledford also added a bronze medal leading the 200 medley relay team and led off the 400 freestyle relay where Sebastian River took sixth as part of an effort to score an seventh place finish as a team.

With a goal in mind to crack into the 45-second range in his specialty event and even make a run at the national and state records, Ledford swam a personal best time of 46.33 that he felt great about.

"I wanted that time, it’s not disappointing I wouldn’t say it’s just not what I was expecting," Ledford said. "Honestly, having all these swims in one day is really tough to do back-to-back and we didn’t really much time after prelims. I’m still pretty happy with that and I’ve got a good team here and it just makes me happy to be here with them and doing it."

Ledford was thrilled with his work he has put into the backstroke this season. The event was one not to his liking in his swimming career but over time, he’s grown to enjoy the challenge and like his result in the butterfly, his time of 48.47 Friday easily defeated his closer challenger.

"I was really happy (with that time), it’s a complete opposite event (from the butterfly) and I actually really hated doing backstroke before the season," Ledford said. "I just started swimming it more this season and I just started getting better and feeling good with it. I had my underwater suit fly so I kind of put it together, so I was really happy with it. It was a good swim."

Ledford’s high school coach Scott Barlow has been with him most of his career through their time at Sebastian River and on the club swimming circuit that has taken the duo to places far and wide.

From Olympic Time Trials in Omaha where Ledford has competed and excelled to this past summer swimming as part of USA Swimming program that competed in Vancouver, Barlow has enjoyed every moment along the way alongside Ledford.

"It's been a long journey from USA Olympic Trials, to competing at the Trials, international trials, to swimming in Vancouver," Barlow said. "Tonight was just the icing on the cake for him."

Ledford’s efforts in both Shark relays that involved sophomore Jace Domster, senior Nash Fuller and freshman Louis St. Petery for the 200 medley and in the 400 freestyle relay with Domster, Louis St. Petery and freshman Lee St. Petery propelled the small state contingent to an eighth place finish.

While not the most outspoken and boisterous kid, Ledford’s mark of excellence with his actions is something he is proud to leave behind for the next wave of Sharks in the pool.

"It’s nice, I’ve already got kids chasing after me in freestyle," Ledford said. "I’m really happy, I’m really excited to see what they do afterwards. It makes me happy to know that I set some good ground work for them to chase and just like I did with these records even though I didn’t get them. It’s still motivation to have. I’m just really happy with all of them, I’m really proud of them too. They did a great job."

Fuller took 17th in the 100 breaststroke for the Sharks.

Sebastian River’s girls 200 medley relay team of Zoe Keppel, Alexis Solomon, Mary Twomey and Paige Maclean took 13th and the same quartet was 18th in the 400 freestyle relay.

Twomey also took 17th place in the 100 breaststroke and was 19th in the 500 freestyle while Keppel was 22nd in the 100 backstroke for the Sharks.

South Fork sophomore diver Julia Hirt finished just outside the podium in ninth place with a score of 349.45 points.

The Bulldogs’ 400 freestyle relay team of Calla Keenan, Kylie Marshall, Savannah Russian and Kiley Keenan took 16th place and the same quartet was 18th in the 200 freestyle relay for the Bulldogs.

Fort Pierce Westwood freshman Julia Mesic was 23rd in the 500 freestyle for the Panthers.

Bryan Cooney is a high school sports reporter at TCPalm, part of the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at bcooney@gannett.com and also on Twitter at @Bryan_Cooney.