About that Waukesha South D1 sectional...

Maybe the Waukesha South pool is faster than the UW Natatorium.

What else explains the fall-off in the performance of the swimmers who qualify for state out of the Waukesha South sectional when they reach the state meet at the Nat?

Last fall, the top-three seeded teams for the girls D1 state meet were Hartland-Arrowhead, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego --all of which swam their sectional at the intensely competitive Waukesha South sectional. In the end, all three girls teams placed lower than their seed placements -- Arrowhead, although it still won the meet, dropped 22 points, and Waukesha South/Mukwonago dropped 69.5 points.

Would the same results play out at the state Div. 1 boys meet? Sure looks that way. The five highest-seeded teams coming out of the Waukesha South sectional all placed lower than their seeds have predicted. Hartland-Arrowhead (seeded 173, scored 160), New Berlin (dropped 23), Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial (dropped 47), Hartford (dropped 12), and Men. Falls/Germantown/Hamilton (swimmers seeded to score 44, scored 33) -- collectively the top teams coming out of the sectional dropped 106 points from their seeding.

It should be noted that many swimmers coming out of the Waukesha South sectional did improve their times at the state meet. But at the highest levels of the sport, among swimmers aiming to compete at the state meet, the final meet of the season is usually when they swim their fastest times. Their training -- or tapering in swim lingo -- is geared toward the final meet. For nearly all swimmers in the state, the UW Nat is the fastest pool they'll swim in all season. All of that leads --usually, and with most swimmers -- to time drops, often dramatic ones, at the state meet. So swimmers who don't drop time, or drop only modest amounts of time, can get bypassed at the state meet by swimmesrs dropping dramatic amounts of time.

So what gives with the Waukesha South sectional results, and the corresponding performance at the state meet? One or two programs failing to match their seed placements is one thing; eight teams over the course of two separate seasons seems to represent a trend. Explanations? Here's a few speculative ones:

-- The Waukesha South sectional, for both boys and girls, is probably the most competitive in the state, and certainly the deepest. In the midst of such intense competition, it's probably not unusual for swimmers to collectively swim faster times than other sectionals in the state. Top-flight competition tends to spur on fast times.

-- Because of the intensity and depth of the Waukesha South sectional, coaches are left with little choice but to taper their swimmers' training for that meet, instead of holding off those tapers until the state meet. Cut-off times to qualify for the state meet, and to make it into the top-scoring final heats, are getting lower and lower, with some dramatic drops this year in particular (both boys and girls). At Waukesha South, that trend is exacerbated by the quality and depth of the competition. Ergo swimmers who don't do extremely well at the meet risk being left behind, or not qualifying with as fast of a time. It's awfully tough to swim at the absolute highest levels of one's ability two weeks in a row; maybe the Waukesha South qualifiers are spent after the meet and don't have as much left for the state meet.

-- Maybe the pool is just that fast.

Other thoughts?