THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 91st Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, 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 March 2 at 7 p.m. The Division 2 meet will be aired on Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. Check local cable listings for the channel in your area.
LAST YEAR: Madison Memorial won its fourth consecutive team championship and its 14th title overall, claiming the Division 1 championship with 319 points. Madison West finished runner-up for the second consecutive season, compiling 216.5 points. In Division 2, Edgewood won the team title with 294 points, and McFarland placed second with 242 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 Memorial is next on the list with 14 championships, and Madison West third with 13. Wauwatosa, before it became two separate schools, and Shorewood have compiled nine championships. Arrowhead and McFarland have claimed six team championships. All six of McFarland’s Division 2 titles came in succession from 2007-12. Madison Memorial has produced the most event champions with 79, surpassing Waukesha which won 77 titles before it split into a multi-school district. Madison West has won 62 events, and Wauwatosa has won 61. Ryan O’Donnell of McFarland has won the most State event titles in a prep career with 14. Three individuals have won 10 State titles, including Ben Anderson of Arrowhead, Jay Mortenson of Madison West and Tom Wanezek of Brookfield East.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: Eight event champions from last season return to defend their titles this year.
Sophomore Paul DeLakis of Eau Claire Memorial/North accounts for two of those champions returning to defend their titles. He won the 200 individual medley last year and is an overwhelming favorite to repeat with a qualifying time of 1:50.40, which is five seconds faster than the next closest qualifier. He’s also the top qualifier in his quest to repeat as champion in the 100 breaststroke. His qualifying time in the event of 56.57 is almost a second faster than the next swiftest qualifying time. Junior Ben Gebhart of Madison Memorial won the 100 butterfly in 2014 and returns to defend his title. He enters the meet with the third-fastest time of 51.62. Junior Ivar Iverson of Kenosha Bradford is clocked with the quickest qualifying time at 50.42. Gebhart’s teammate and classmate Justin Temprano is the returning champion in the 100 backstroke. He is seeded fourth with his qualifying time of 51.91. Senior Rick Perez of the Greenfield Co-op possesses the fastest qualifying time in the event at 50.37 after placing third in the event last season. Senior Nick Plachinski of Cedarburg captured the crown in the 200 freestyle last year. He is back in an attempt to retain the title with a qualifying time of 1:43.53, which ranks fourth among qualifiers in the event. It is senior Nate Somers of Oshkosh West who owns the fastest qualifying time of 1:42.41 in the event after placing 16th a year ago. In addition, Plachinski just missed winning the title with a runner-up finish in the 500 freestyle last season, he returns to the event this year for another attempt at the championship. He is clocked with the second-fastest qualifying time at 4:41.56. Junior Connor Rumpit of Brookfield East/Central enters the State Meet with the top qualifying time in the 500 freestyle with an effort of 4:37.70 after placing ninth last year. In addition to the 200 freestyle, Somers also possesses the best qualifying time in the 100 freestyle at 47.00. Junior Aidan Meara of Madison West is just .27 seconds behind Somers’ qualifying time after placing sixth in the event last year. The 50 freestyle will be a highly competitive event. Senior Reilly Donnellan of Neenah has qualified with the top time of 21.07 in the event after placing tied for 14th in 2014. Last year’s top returning finisher is senior Alex Peterson-Weber of Madison Memorial. His qualifying time of 21.61 ranks him fourth among State qualifiers this year. Junior Matt Munns of Madison West has turned in the best qualifying performance in the diving competition. He recorded a score of 532.95 in the sectionals after placing fifth last year. The Madison Memorial 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams aim to extend their run of titles this weekend. The medley relay seeks its fifth straight title and is the fastest qualifying quartet with a sectional time of 1:36.22. The 200 freestyle attempts to win its fourth consecutive crown. Its qualifying time of 1:27.15 ranks second to Cedarburg’s time of 1:26.35. The Arrowhead 400 freestyle relay attempts to make it two straight after snapping a four-year run by Madison Memorial in the event. However, Cedarburg also has the fastest time in this event entering the State Meet at 3:08.76. Arrowhead’s qualifying time of 3:11.58 ranks third, behind both Cedarburg and Madison Memorial.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 2: Seven event champions from last season return to defend their titles this year. Headlining the group is senior Joe Kaszubowski from Whitefish Bay. He is the three-time defending diving champion and is an overwhelming favorite to win his fourth title with an event-best qualifying mark of 632.80. He attempts to become just the fourth person to win four titles in the same event and only the second diver. Senior Kevin Van Cleave of Brookfield Academy attempts to win consecutive titles in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 500 freestyle. He enters the State Meet with the fastest qualifying time in the medley with a time of 1:57.62, which is more than three seconds better than the next fastest time. He seeks a third straight gold medal in the 500 freestyle. After winning the title outright in 2013, he and senior Nick Potter of DeForest finished in a rare tie last season to share the title. Potter has the top qualifying time this year at 4:43.84, and Van Cleave enters with the third-fastest time of 4:52.57. Freshman Ben McDade of Monona Grove splits the pair with the second-fastest time of 4:46.42. Senior Zach Soper of Shawano is also attempting to defend multiple titles. He won the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly events in 2014 and is in prime position to defend those titles. He has qualified with the fastest times by almost four seconds over the next swiftest entry at 50.63 in the backstroke, and his 51.65 sectional time in the butterfly edges the seed time of last year’s runner-up, junior Michael Perry of Shorewood, by .02 of a second. Potter, Perry and McDade appear to be the frontrunners for the championship in the 200 freestyle. Potter has the top qualifying time at 1:45.25. Perry and McDade fall in right behind Potter with times of 1:45.54 and 1.46.62, respectively. Junior Bailey Bodart of Grafton has some unfinished business to attend to in the 50 freestyle. He finished runner-up last year and is in position to capture the title this season with the fastest qualifying time of 21.69. Sophomore Eric Doll of Monona Grove has recorded the best qualifying time of 48.44 in the 100 freestyle entering the meet. He’ll need to contend with a host of challengers, including Bodart, junior Maxwell Donagan of McFarland and senior Nick Garcia of Lakeland, who placed fourth last year. A host of State-experienced swimmers are expected to challenge for the gold in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Zach Hammond of Shorewood has posted the fastest qualifying time at 1:00.99 after placing 11th last season. However, he should expect competition for the crown from senior Sam Mischio of McFarland, junior Mitchell Roberts of Milton, senior Alex Van Dyck of Ashwaubenon and sophomore Jack Senczyszyn of Grafton. All finished in the top seven a year ago. The Edgewood 200 medley and 200 free relays return to defend their titles. However, it is McFarland that possesses the quickest times in each of those events at 1:39.28 in the medley relay and 1:27.92 in the 200 freestyle relay. Last year’s 400 freestyle relay runner-up Monona Grove enters the meet with the top time among the qualifiers with a time of 3:14.95, almost two seconds faster than the next swiftest relay.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaawiswimdive. Also follow daily recaps on Facebook.
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.
Compiled by WIAA Communications