MINNEAPOLIS — The one-minute barrier in the 100-yard breaststroke was reduced to rubble for prep girls’ swimming in Minnesota.

Albert Lea’s Lindsey Horejsi was the first swimmer to break through with a time of 59.61 seconds Thursday in the Class A state prelims at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

“We witnessed something special today,” said Albert Lea coach Jon Schmitz. “That’s her lifetime best and an all-time record, so that was nice to get.”

Not only was the time Horejsi’s best, it was a school record, a Class A state record and the best time ever posted by a prep girls’ swimmer in Minnesota.

Although Horejsi knows her previous all-time Minnesota state record (1:00.16) and the national interscholastic record (58.75) from memory, rewriting the record books wasn’t her main objective.

“I wasn’t so much focused on time,” she said. “I just had to keep my stroke and swim a good race. I knew if I did it like I did in practice, the time would be there,” she said.

Horejsi also won the 200 individual medley in 2:02.56 and was part of the 200 medley and freestyle relays that both took second.

“The big thing about the relays is just to make it back (to finals),” she said. “You want safe starts to make it back. You work all season, and finals is where you show everyone what you can do.”

Even with blazing times in prelims, Horejsi said she will look for improvement on Day 2 of the meet.

“The atmosphere is completely different for finals,” she said. “We’ll all get pumped up, and hopefully go for our best times of the season.”

Schmitz also had faith that the times would drop.

“Those relays are sitting second, but they’re all going to go faster,” Schmitz said. “It’s going to be a barn-burner tomorrow. There’s no doubt about it.”

Aside from Horejsi, the rest of the Tigers excelled as well. Albert Lea qualified for state with multiple entrants in eight events, and at least one individual or relay team in each event finished in the top 16 to qualify for finals.

Anna Andersen was part of the 200 medley and freestyle relays, and she won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.86 seconds and won her heat but took second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 51.81 seconds.

Ahnika Jensen also qualified for finals in the 50 freestyle by finishing in 13th place with a time of 24.80 seconds.

Bailey Sandon is headed for finals in all four events. She took 16th in the 200 individual medley (2:17.69), 16th in the 100 backstroke (1:02.37), 13th along with Haley Simon, Jensen and Emily Taylor in the 400 freestyle relay and second in the 200 medley relay with Horejsi, Jensen and Andersen.

Swimming and diving finals for Class A will start at noon today.