THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 89th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16, at the Natatorium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Ticket prices for the meet are $6 and are sold only at the UW Natatorium each day of the competition.
MEET INFORMATION: The Division 2 championships will be held Friday, with the Division 1 championships to follow on Saturday. The Division 2 diving competition begins Friday at 2:30 p.m. The swimming finals are scheduled to begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. The Division 1 diving competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the swimming events to begin at 3 p.m. The swimming events will run consecutively following the first event's starting time on the respective days. Here is the order of events (all events in yards):
Order of Events
1. Diving 7. 100 Freestyle
2. 200 Medley Relay 8. 500 Freestyle
3. 200 Freestyle 9. 200 Freestyle Relay
4. 200 Individual Medley 10. 100 Backstroke
5. 50 Freestyle 11. 100 Breaststroke
6. 100 Butterfly 12. 400 Freestyle Relay
STATE MEET STREAMED LIVE: Every event of the WIAA State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be streamed live on www.foxsportswisconsin.com.
CHAMPIONSHIP MEET ON FS WISCONSIN: Watch the delayed airing of the WIAA State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships on FS Wisconsin. The Division 1 meet will be aired on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. The Division 2 meet will be aired on March 1 at 6 p.m. Check local cable listings for the channel in your area.
LAST YEAR: Madison Memorial won its second consecutive team championship and its 12th title overall, claiming the Division 1 championship with 326 points. Arrowhead finished runner-up with 234 points. In Division 2, McFarland won its sixth straight championship, compiling 325 points. Cedarburg placed a distant second with 249.5 points.
MEET HISTORY: The WIAA began the boys swimming and diving championships in 1925 and moved to a two-division format in 1993. Waukesha, before it was split into three schools, won the most team titles of any school with 15. Seven of those came in succession from 1964-70. Madison West has won 13 championships. Madison Memorial has 12 titles. Wauwatosa, before it became two separate schools, and Shorewood have compiled nine championships. Since the beginning of the two-division format, McFarland (2007-12) is the only program to win six straight Division 2 titles, and Sturgeon Bay/Southern Door (2003-05) is the only other program to have won three straight championships in Division 2. It should also be noted that Sturgeon Bay also won a championship without the co-op arrangement in 2006. Brookfield Central, Brookfield East, Whitefish Bay and Verona have each won two Division 2 championships. Since 1994, either Arrowhead, Homestead or Madison Memorial has captured the Division 1 championship except in 2010 when Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial claimed it. Madison Memorial has won eight during that span and Arrowhead has accumulated five. Homestead has won four. Waukesha, before it became a multi-school district, produced the most event champions with 77, followed by Madison Memorial with 69, Madison West with 62 and Wauwatosa with 61. Four individuals have won 10 State titles during their prep careers. They are Ryan O’Donnell of McFarland, Ben Anderson of Arrowhead, Jay Mortenson of Madison West and Tom Wanezek of Brookfield East.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: There are three individual event champions from last year’s State meet returning to the qualifying field in Division 1. Senior Alex DeLakis of Eau Claire Memorial/North accounts for two of those titles. He is attempting to become only the third athlete to win four straight titles in a single event. DeLakis has won three straight crowns in the 100-yard breaststroke, and he has won two consecutive titles in the 200 individual medley. Coming into the State meet, he doesn’t possess the fastest qualifying performance in either of those events. Senior Dan Gilbertson of Appleton North/East finished eighth in the 100 breaststroke last year and has qualified with the fastest seed time of 57.64. DeLakis owns the second-fastest mark heading into the meet with a time of 58.31. The swiftest qualifier in the 200 I.M. is senior Jeremy Temprano of Madison Memorial. He finished fifth last season and has qualified with a time of 1:53.88, which is almost three seconds faster than DeLakis’ time. The other returning individual event champion is senior Andrew Suchla of Racine Park. He appears poised to repeat as champion in the diving competition with a qualifying score of 609.20. Each of the freestyles will crown a new champion with all four events having been won by seniors last season. Senior Nick Menninga of Madison Memorial is the top returning finisher in the 50 freestyle, placing fourth a year ago. He has the fastest qualifying time this season at 21.47. Menninga is also the top returner in the 100 freestyle. He finished third in 2012; however, senior Alex Swain of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial has the fastest time in the 100 freestyle entering the meet at 46.95. Swain could also challenge Menninga in the 50 free after placing sixth last year. In the 200 freestyle, senior Jackson Uselman of Middleton enters the meet with the top time of 1:42.47 after finishing fourth last year. Junior Bailey Biwer of Eau Claire Memorial/North placed third a year ago, but he has some time to make up this year if he is to contend for the title, entering the meet with a time more than two seconds behind Uselman. The 500 freestyle should be competitive with the return of junior Joe Szczupakiewicz of Muskego, who was runner-up in the event last season. He is the top qualifier this season with a time of 4:38.54. Uselman also returns to the event after placing seventh last year, as does senior Patrick Walsh of Milton, who placed third a year ago, and junior Andrew Lindstrom of Madison West, who finished fourth. The qualifying field of the 100 butterfly is led by senior Matt McHugh of West Bend East/West. He possesses the fastest qualifying time entering the meet at 50.24 after placing 11th in 2012. Junior Nicholas Petersen of Homestead will try to improve on his qualifying time of 51.32 in the 100 breaststroke to hold off a trio of swimmers that placed in the top five last season, including Temprano, senior Sam Jekel of Madison West and junior Alec Carlson of Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial. The relay teams of Madison Memorial will attempt to sweep all three events like it did last year. The 400 freestyle relay attempts to win for the fourth straight year; the 200 medley relay goes for its third straight championship; and the 200 freestyle relay looks for is second consecutive title.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 2: Just two individual champions return to defend their event title this year. Sophomore Joe Kaszubowski from Whitefish Bay is the defending champion in the one-meter diving event. He is following-up his 2012 performance by qualifying this year with the field’s best mark at 503.05, which is well in front of the next best qualifying score. Senior Al Nennig of Grafton attempts to defend his title in the 50 freestyle. His qualifying time of 21.61 is the best of all qualifiers in the event; so a second title is well within his reach. Nennig should also contend in the 100 backstroke with the quickest qualifying time in the event at 52.55. He will need to fend off, among others, senior Mitchell Paull of Monona Grove, who finished runner-up in the event last year. Senior Brandon Benson of Milton appears to be the class of the 100 butterfly field this year. He finished runner-up last season and enters the State meet with a qualifying time of 52.66, which is almost two seconds quicker than the next fastest qualifier. Senior Spencer Mattox of Milton appears to be in position to challenge for the crown in two events. He has the fastest qualifying times in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 I.M. with times of 59.61 and 1:57.47, respectively. He placed third in the breaststroke last season, which classifies him as the top returning competitor in the event. Senior Tyler Roehr of Monona Grove and junior Tony Donagan of McFarland have both requalified in the breaststroke after finishing fourth and fifth last season, respectively. Mattox finished sixth in the I.M. last season, and his time this season is more than two seconds swifter than Roehr, who has the next fastest qualifying time this year after placing fifth at State a year ago. Junior Sam Johnson of Elkhorn possesses the time to beat in both the 200 and 500 freestyles at 1:46.58 and 4:47.18, respectively. He finished eighth in the 200 freestyle in 2012, which makes him the event’s top returning placer from last year’s competition. Johnson also has that distinction in the 500 freestyle after placing sixth last year. The race for the 100 freestyle crown appears to be up for grabs among a few State-experienced competitors. Junior Jan Hansen of Beaver Dam the has fastest qualifying time in the event at 48.34 after placing third in 2012, but senior Lee Hollman of Fort Atkinson, who was runner-up last year, and junior Jack McLaughlin of Edgewood Sacred Heart, who was 15th, are within a second of Hansen’s qualifying time. In the relays, McFarland attempts to win its sixth straight championship in the 200 medley relay and its second consecutive title in the 200 freestyle relay. Monona Grove is aiming for a second straight triumph in the 400 freestyle relay.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All qualifiers, lane assignments and qualifying standards are available on the boys swimming and diving page on the WIAA website.
NEED RESULTS?: Results of the State Tournament are available on the WIAA website at www.wiaawi.org by accessing the boys swimming and diving Tournament Information page.