An Olympic-sized, 50-meter pool has been proposed in the village of Pleasant Prairie, near Kenosha. Details here:
http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPool.pdf
and here:
http://www.wisconsinswimming.org/LakeViewRecPoolPlans.pdf
A few thoughts:
-- This is certainly good news for swimming in general, as it provides only the second competitive indoor long-course pool in the state, along with the 30-year-old Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center in Brown Deer. It also could provide a venue for major high school meets, including the southeastern D1 and/or D2 sectionals now held in Kenosha and Cudahay.
-- Is it a candidate to host the state high school meet? Probably not; the proposed pool's seating capacity is listed at 1,000, or 500 fewer than the UW Natatorium, viewed by many as undersized for hosting the state swim meets.
-- The center of competitive swimming, at least when it comes to high-quality pools, continues to shift toward southeastern Wisconsin. SE Wisconsin a year from now will have the state's two competition-based Olympic-sized pools, plus the Waukesha South HS pool, one of the best short-course pools in the state. Madison is left with just the short-course Natatorium. Add in the first-rate pool at Carthage College in Kenosha, and SE Wisconsin has an abundace of first-place facilities for meets. The UW pool does have its assets; it's still a very fast pool, and the atmosphere for the state meet -- where the 1,500 fans that can fit in the place are literally sitting on top of each other -- is top-notch. But it still an undersized pool for a top-tier NCAA swim program, and talk at the recently held girls state meets hinted the UW was probably five years away from building a natatorium that is on par with the likes of those at the University of Minnesota.
(Thanks for Jon and Becky Duffey for the tip on the new Pleasant Prairie pool.)
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Girls season recap
Another girls high school season is in the books, with Hartland-Arrowhead (D1) and DeForest (D2) winning state titles. For HA, it was their sixth title in the past seven years; for the Norskies, it was their third title in a row.
Look for more of the same next year. If any two teams are poised to repeat their titles, it's HA and DeForest. HA returns nearly everyone who scored points at the state meet -- 139 points in individual races, all members of the team's three relays that scored 96 points, and two divers who contributed 14 points. HA is quite young -- two-time 100 fly state champ Emma Goral is only a sophomore, and HA got major contributions this season from freshmen Hailey Pietila, Kate Jones, and Stephanie Hein. That's an awfully strong foundation for at least two years to come.
Meanwhile, many of HA's chief rivals will be losing some significant swimmers. Madison East, state champs in 2007 and runner-up this year, returns most of its swimmers but graduates eight-time state champ Ruby Martin, who is headed to the University of Wisconsin. Madison Memorial returns two-time state champ Jackie Powell and a host of strong swimmers, but must replace veteran sprinters Kayla Smith and Mackenzie King, along with Kendra Loch and Kelsie Saxe. Waukesha South/Mukwonago, meanwhile, must replace sprinter Arriana Gorenc and several mainstays of its relays.
DeForest graduates state meet veterans Molly Anderson, Karmyn Vandewettering, and Lark Egen, but the team returns arguably its four best swimmers -- versatile junior Lindsey Verhulst, sophomore Casey Wolter (a top-five finisher at state in both the 200 and 500 frees) and freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz, both of whom swam exceedingly well down the stretch of the season. The Norskies return 98.5 points from this year's state meets, and have the depth to fill spots on their relays filled this year by seniors.
Several D2 teams as well will graduate longtime state-meet stalwarts -- Grafton's Brianna Dietz, Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz and Ashley Majewski, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, and Milton's Hailey Foss and Kaitlyn Kincaide. If any team can compete with DeForest next year, it might be Edgewood. The Crudaders graduate Beth Schramka, a four-time qualifier for the state meet, but return a strong corps of sprinters and a solid group of freshmen swimmers.
Look for two other topics to continue to percolate during the off-season -- the much-debated switch of the girls and boys swim seasons (see:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons.html and
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons-chap-2.html
and the controversy over the use of fast suits (see:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html
Look for more of the same next year. If any two teams are poised to repeat their titles, it's HA and DeForest. HA returns nearly everyone who scored points at the state meet -- 139 points in individual races, all members of the team's three relays that scored 96 points, and two divers who contributed 14 points. HA is quite young -- two-time 100 fly state champ Emma Goral is only a sophomore, and HA got major contributions this season from freshmen Hailey Pietila, Kate Jones, and Stephanie Hein. That's an awfully strong foundation for at least two years to come.
Meanwhile, many of HA's chief rivals will be losing some significant swimmers. Madison East, state champs in 2007 and runner-up this year, returns most of its swimmers but graduates eight-time state champ Ruby Martin, who is headed to the University of Wisconsin. Madison Memorial returns two-time state champ Jackie Powell and a host of strong swimmers, but must replace veteran sprinters Kayla Smith and Mackenzie King, along with Kendra Loch and Kelsie Saxe. Waukesha South/Mukwonago, meanwhile, must replace sprinter Arriana Gorenc and several mainstays of its relays.
DeForest graduates state meet veterans Molly Anderson, Karmyn Vandewettering, and Lark Egen, but the team returns arguably its four best swimmers -- versatile junior Lindsey Verhulst, sophomore Casey Wolter (a top-five finisher at state in both the 200 and 500 frees) and freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz, both of whom swam exceedingly well down the stretch of the season. The Norskies return 98.5 points from this year's state meets, and have the depth to fill spots on their relays filled this year by seniors.
Several D2 teams as well will graduate longtime state-meet stalwarts -- Grafton's Brianna Dietz, Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl, Waukesha Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz and Ashley Majewski, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, and Milton's Hailey Foss and Kaitlyn Kincaide. If any team can compete with DeForest next year, it might be Edgewood. The Crudaders graduate Beth Schramka, a four-time qualifier for the state meet, but return a strong corps of sprinters and a solid group of freshmen swimmers.
Look for two other topics to continue to percolate during the off-season -- the much-debated switch of the girls and boys swim seasons (see:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons.html and
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/10/switching-seasons-chap-2.html
and the controversy over the use of fast suits (see:
http://wiscswim.blogspot.com/2008/11/fast-suits.html
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Anatomy of a start
The 50-yard freestyle is the rawest and most elemental of swimming events. It’s a quick race -- one trip up the lane, and another back – with a razor-thin margin of error. It’s maybe the most nerve-wracking of all events; some swimmers candidly admit in private to not liking it much. Success often hinges on executing three elements – the start, the turn, and the finish. A late start, a slip on the turn, a gliding finish – all can spell the difference between finishing first, or not.
In the recently concluded Division 2 state meet, Monona Grove’s Hayley Martin entered the final heat as the favorite in the 50 free. She’d been undefeated all season in the event, earned the top seed for the meet, and drew the coveted lane 4. Next to her in lane 5 was chief rival Maggie Smith of Whitefish Bay, who had finished second in the event last year. Martin ended up winning, with a time of 24.19, just ahead of Smith’s 24.35, and she essentially won the race with her start.
Here’s a look at the start of the 50 free final. Martin, in lane 4, is just about to enter the water. Smith, to her right in lane 5, also got off to a solid start, but was slightly behind Martin – a deficit she would never make up. To the left of Martin is Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol’s Taylor Trelka, who finished T-7th, in part because of what her coach described to the Door County Advocate newspaper as an indifferent start: “"She got too high on her start and fell about a half-body length behind the leaders," said Mike McHugh. "She made up some ground, but that's a lot to overcome in a short race like that."
(Thanks to Chuck Martin, Hayley's father, for use of the photo.)
Monday, November 17, 2008
D1 state meet recap
Hartland-Arrowhead apparently likes its hardware. After its run of five straight state titles was snapped last year, HA reclaimed the first-place state trophy at the UW Natotorium Saturday afternooon. It won with a score of 256-240 over defending champs Madison East.
HA's win was similar to DeForest's D2 win the night before. HA won only one event -- Emma Goral in the 100 fly -- but combined terrific depth and top-four showings from all three of its relays for the win. HA's two divers also contributed 14 points to the win. In truth, HA swam well but not great -- the team scored 22 fewer points than its seed times -- but the team had swimmers in the final heat of all but one event, and that usually ensures a fair amount of points.
East came up just short in its bid to repeat, but, golly, it was fun to watch them try. East won six of the 12 events at the meet, set two state records in doing so (200/400 free relays), came close to state records in a few others, and swam better than any other team at the meet. East improved its position by 68 points, more than any other team in either divison of the state meet, but simply didn't have enough swimmers to get past HA. Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout both won two individual events, with Van Hout setting a record in the 500 free (4:48.60) by more than five seconds. East's strong run was also fueled by Ivy Martin and Becca Soderholm, both of whom came from the second-to-last heat to garner top three finishes in individual events. East's medley relay also moved up eight places from its seeding.
In fact, the second-to-last heat of the opening swim event, the medley relay, showed what kind of night it would be for both East and Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. The two relays squared off in a great race, with Memorial winning the heat and improving its seed time by more than five seconds. It was the start of a terrific day of swimming by the Spartans as well, as they nearly equaled East's performance; Memorial improved 65 points over its seeding placement, and moved up from a 6th place based on seeding to finish 3rd overall. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who concluded an outstanding season with wins in the 200 free and 100 back. In the 200 free, she became just the fourth swimmer in state history to break the 1:50 barrier, winning with a time of 1:49.21.
A few other observations:
-- Do Big Eight coaches know something the rest of the state does not? The top four Big Eight teams -- East, Memorial, Middleton and West -- all dramatically improved their performances at the state meet. Middleton ended up in 7th place overall, improving on its seeding by 48 points, while West finished 9th with a 38-point improvement. Coming out of sectionals, the top three teams based on seed times were HA, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego, with East in 4th place and Wausau East in 5th. All but East dropped in points, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago having a particularly tough meet, dropping 69.5 points.
-- How fast were those East relays? For starters, their winning times broke records set by relays from probably the best team in state history, the 2005 Hartland Arrowhead squad (which won all but one swimming event that year, and set state records in all three relays). East also beat the HA records pretty handily -- by 1.53 seconds in the 200 free relay, and 1.14 seconds in the 400 free relay. In fact, East came within less than a second of the national record in the 200 free relay (1:33.63; 1:32.77 national record) and less than two seconds from the national record in the 400 free relay (3:24.80; 3:23.10 national).
-- One of the hardest doubles in swimming is the 500 free/200 free relay combination. One is a marathon, all about sustained pacing, and the other an all-out sprint with only a few breaths taken during the race. The two events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule, and because they are so dissimilar, only a handful of swimmers attempt it. Few do it well. That's what made Van Hout's times at the state meet all the more remarkable. After swimming the 500 free in a record time of 4:48.60, she quickly cooled down in the diving well of the Natatorium, lined up for the 200 free relay with her teammates, then anchored the winning East relay with a split of 22.62 -- the fastest split posted by any 200 free relay or medley anchor swimmer.
HA's win was similar to DeForest's D2 win the night before. HA won only one event -- Emma Goral in the 100 fly -- but combined terrific depth and top-four showings from all three of its relays for the win. HA's two divers also contributed 14 points to the win. In truth, HA swam well but not great -- the team scored 22 fewer points than its seed times -- but the team had swimmers in the final heat of all but one event, and that usually ensures a fair amount of points.
East came up just short in its bid to repeat, but, golly, it was fun to watch them try. East won six of the 12 events at the meet, set two state records in doing so (200/400 free relays), came close to state records in a few others, and swam better than any other team at the meet. East improved its position by 68 points, more than any other team in either divison of the state meet, but simply didn't have enough swimmers to get past HA. Ruby Martin and Aja Van Hout both won two individual events, with Van Hout setting a record in the 500 free (4:48.60) by more than five seconds. East's strong run was also fueled by Ivy Martin and Becca Soderholm, both of whom came from the second-to-last heat to garner top three finishes in individual events. East's medley relay also moved up eight places from its seeding.
In fact, the second-to-last heat of the opening swim event, the medley relay, showed what kind of night it would be for both East and Big Eight rival Madison Memorial. The two relays squared off in a great race, with Memorial winning the heat and improving its seed time by more than five seconds. It was the start of a terrific day of swimming by the Spartans as well, as they nearly equaled East's performance; Memorial improved 65 points over its seeding placement, and moved up from a 6th place based on seeding to finish 3rd overall. The Spartans were led by junior Jackie Powell, who concluded an outstanding season with wins in the 200 free and 100 back. In the 200 free, she became just the fourth swimmer in state history to break the 1:50 barrier, winning with a time of 1:49.21.
A few other observations:
-- Do Big Eight coaches know something the rest of the state does not? The top four Big Eight teams -- East, Memorial, Middleton and West -- all dramatically improved their performances at the state meet. Middleton ended up in 7th place overall, improving on its seeding by 48 points, while West finished 9th with a 38-point improvement. Coming out of sectionals, the top three teams based on seed times were HA, Waukesha South/Mukwonago, and Muskego, with East in 4th place and Wausau East in 5th. All but East dropped in points, with Waukesha South/Mukwonago having a particularly tough meet, dropping 69.5 points.
-- How fast were those East relays? For starters, their winning times broke records set by relays from probably the best team in state history, the 2005 Hartland Arrowhead squad (which won all but one swimming event that year, and set state records in all three relays). East also beat the HA records pretty handily -- by 1.53 seconds in the 200 free relay, and 1.14 seconds in the 400 free relay. In fact, East came within less than a second of the national record in the 200 free relay (1:33.63; 1:32.77 national record) and less than two seconds from the national record in the 400 free relay (3:24.80; 3:23.10 national).
-- One of the hardest doubles in swimming is the 500 free/200 free relay combination. One is a marathon, all about sustained pacing, and the other an all-out sprint with only a few breaths taken during the race. The two events fall back-to-back on the swim schedule, and because they are so dissimilar, only a handful of swimmers attempt it. Few do it well. That's what made Van Hout's times at the state meet all the more remarkable. After swimming the 500 free in a record time of 4:48.60, she quickly cooled down in the diving well of the Natatorium, lined up for the 200 free relay with her teammates, then anchored the winning East relay with a split of 22.62 -- the fastest split posted by any 200 free relay or medley anchor swimmer.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
D2 state meet recap
In what will be remembered as the fastest D2 state meet in history, two-time defending champ DeForest -- as expected -- won its third straight title without the aid of a single win in any event.
DeForest's depth overwhelmed the competition, as the Norskies scored 236.5 points to easily outdistance Grafton (180). DeForest's win was both impressive and somewhat underwhelming; the team scored nearly 30 points fewer than their seed times predicted (going into the meet, DeForest was seeded to score 263 points). The Norskies, who qualified 15 individual entries for the meet as well as all three relays, display a depth of talent that no D2 team can match. Several DeForest swimmers did improve their seed times, but their time drops weren't nearly at the level displayed by other swimmers at what was a very fast meet.
In the end, DeForest essentially won the state meet the week before, when they overwhelmed a very good Baraboo sectional and qualified nearly every swimmer they entered. There is more than one path to a state championship -- DeForest two years ago came from behind to win by having nearly every swimmer peak at state -- and the Norskies proved that loading up and swimming well the week before state is one way of doing it. Congratulations to the Norskies -- they graduated a lot of top-flight talent last year, but rallied around a strong returning corps of swimmers.
As for the rest of the D2 state meet:
-- It was fast and got faster as the night went on. A pretty good indication came in the 200 freestyle, when Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark went 1:50.27 to win, just missing the all-time state D2 record by .33 seconds. She was followed closely by Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, who touched out in 1:50.87 -- both times were faster than any of the seed times for the D1 state meet in the 200 free.
-- Three all-time state records were broken: Monona Grove's 200 free relay (Kelsey Millin, Tess Becker, Elizabeth Emmerich, Hayley Martin, 1:38.95; 1:39.08 old record); Green Lake/Berlin's Siri Smits in the 100 backstroke (55.83; 56.48 old); and Plymouth freshman sensation Kate Criter in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.31; 1:05.54). The breaststroke was certainly the most impressive event of the night; Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan broke the old state record swimming out of lane 5 in the first heat. Three other swimmers besides Kriter then topped the old record in the final heat. How fast was it? Two-time defending state champ Jennah Haney of Milton dropped more than two seconds off her seed time, beat the old state record by 1.8 seconds, and still finished runner-up to Criter. In addition, Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain came within .06 seconds of the all-time state record in the 200 IM (she swam a 2:03.95, cutting nearly seven seconds off her seed time), and Hojan-Clark just missed the state record in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.18 (.24 seconds off the record).
-- The night's most poignant moment came during the 100 free, won by Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl. The 5th-seeded Diehl (who had an oustanding night) out-touched MG's Martin, who was coming off a win in the 50 free earlier in the meet and had dominated the 100 free all season long, by a mere four-hundreths of a second. Martin, initially disappointed in the loss, looked over to see who had beaten her, and then raced over to congratulate Diehl, like Martin a senior swimming in her last high school meet. The two have been competing against each other, at conference and sectional swim meets as well as state, for four years, and have developed a close friendship. After the race, as teams were gathering for the 200 free relay, Martin and Diehl sat off to the side, away from all of the other swimmers, chatting away. "She got a gold medal, and so do I," Martin said after the race. "I'm so proud of her." Both swimmers came away with a second gold medal, with Martin anchoring the winning MG 200 free relay, and Diehl splitting an anchor leg of 51.79 to lead her Sauk Prairie 400 free relay team to victory.
-- Why so fast? D2 swimming has gotten faster in the past several years, as qualifying times for state for the most part are lower than they were five years ago. It's pretty clear the benefits of year-round club swimming -- a staple of top D1 programs -- have filtered down to the D2 level, where most of the top swimmers come out of strong club programs. D2 has also benefitted from an influx of top-flight talent in the last two years; five of the eight individual events at the state meet this year were won by freshmen or sophomores. But it's also hard not to think the newly available fast suits don't have some role -- nearly all of the top finishers at the meet wore some version of the new suit technology, and the times posted (and the depth of fast times registered at the meet) leads one to conclude the suits do play a role in generating extra speed.
DeForest's depth overwhelmed the competition, as the Norskies scored 236.5 points to easily outdistance Grafton (180). DeForest's win was both impressive and somewhat underwhelming; the team scored nearly 30 points fewer than their seed times predicted (going into the meet, DeForest was seeded to score 263 points). The Norskies, who qualified 15 individual entries for the meet as well as all three relays, display a depth of talent that no D2 team can match. Several DeForest swimmers did improve their seed times, but their time drops weren't nearly at the level displayed by other swimmers at what was a very fast meet.
In the end, DeForest essentially won the state meet the week before, when they overwhelmed a very good Baraboo sectional and qualified nearly every swimmer they entered. There is more than one path to a state championship -- DeForest two years ago came from behind to win by having nearly every swimmer peak at state -- and the Norskies proved that loading up and swimming well the week before state is one way of doing it. Congratulations to the Norskies -- they graduated a lot of top-flight talent last year, but rallied around a strong returning corps of swimmers.
As for the rest of the D2 state meet:
-- It was fast and got faster as the night went on. A pretty good indication came in the 200 freestyle, when Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark went 1:50.27 to win, just missing the all-time state D2 record by .33 seconds. She was followed closely by Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, who touched out in 1:50.87 -- both times were faster than any of the seed times for the D1 state meet in the 200 free.
-- Three all-time state records were broken: Monona Grove's 200 free relay (Kelsey Millin, Tess Becker, Elizabeth Emmerich, Hayley Martin, 1:38.95; 1:39.08 old record); Green Lake/Berlin's Siri Smits in the 100 backstroke (55.83; 56.48 old); and Plymouth freshman sensation Kate Criter in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.31; 1:05.54). The breaststroke was certainly the most impressive event of the night; Delavan-Darien's Emily McClellan broke the old state record swimming out of lane 5 in the first heat. Three other swimmers besides Kriter then topped the old record in the final heat. How fast was it? Two-time defending state champ Jennah Haney of Milton dropped more than two seconds off her seed time, beat the old state record by 1.8 seconds, and still finished runner-up to Criter. In addition, Shorewood's Clare Chamberlain came within .06 seconds of the all-time state record in the 200 IM (she swam a 2:03.95, cutting nearly seven seconds off her seed time), and Hojan-Clark just missed the state record in the 500 free with a time of 4:54.18 (.24 seconds off the record).
-- The night's most poignant moment came during the 100 free, won by Sauk Prairie's Abby Diehl. The 5th-seeded Diehl (who had an oustanding night) out-touched MG's Martin, who was coming off a win in the 50 free earlier in the meet and had dominated the 100 free all season long, by a mere four-hundreths of a second. Martin, initially disappointed in the loss, looked over to see who had beaten her, and then raced over to congratulate Diehl, like Martin a senior swimming in her last high school meet. The two have been competing against each other, at conference and sectional swim meets as well as state, for four years, and have developed a close friendship. After the race, as teams were gathering for the 200 free relay, Martin and Diehl sat off to the side, away from all of the other swimmers, chatting away. "She got a gold medal, and so do I," Martin said after the race. "I'm so proud of her." Both swimmers came away with a second gold medal, with Martin anchoring the winning MG 200 free relay, and Diehl splitting an anchor leg of 51.79 to lead her Sauk Prairie 400 free relay team to victory.
-- Why so fast? D2 swimming has gotten faster in the past several years, as qualifying times for state for the most part are lower than they were five years ago. It's pretty clear the benefits of year-round club swimming -- a staple of top D1 programs -- have filtered down to the D2 level, where most of the top swimmers come out of strong club programs. D2 has also benefitted from an influx of top-flight talent in the last two years; five of the eight individual events at the state meet this year were won by freshmen or sophomores. But it's also hard not to think the newly available fast suits don't have some role -- nearly all of the top finishers at the meet wore some version of the new suit technology, and the times posted (and the depth of fast times registered at the meet) leads one to conclude the suits do play a role in generating extra speed.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Fast suits
The Wisconsin State Journal has weighed in on the fast suit controversy; details here:
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/314156
A few thoughts:
-- The WIAA has been very clear about this; the Oct. 24 WIAA Bulletin addressed the issue. See this under "High-tech suits:" http://www.wiaawi.org/rules/swimming/swimrulesqa.pdf
-- DeForest did create a buzz in the Baraboo sectional crowd when they came out for warm-ups in the blueseventy nero wetsuit. But most of the buzz wasn't about their legality; it was how much it cost to outfit an entire team in the suits, which run at least $350 a piece. But DeForest wasn't the only team sporting the suits; two of Milton's best swimmers (Jennah Haney and Hailey Foss) sported them, as well.
-- The cost issue is a bit of a red herring. Having spent time recently wandering around University Ridge golf course at the state golf tournament, there was a wide range of equipment used by tourney competitors. The issue is endemic whenever equipment (broadly defined) comes into play for a sport -- tennis (raquets), baseball (bats), basketball (shoes), hockey (sticks). Let's face it -- when parents (and/or booster clubs or even schools themselves) want their athletes to compete at the highest level of the sport, they are likely to seek (within legal means) any advantage they can, and that includes top-of-the-line equipment.
-- Do the suits make a difference? Probably -- the evidence is pretty clear that times this year at sectional meets in both divisions were faster than a year ago, before the new high-tech suits became widely available. Did it give DeForest (and others who wore them) an unfair advantage? Not likely. It's not as if DeForest came out of the blue with its performance; the team has won two state titles in a row -- and is favored for a third this week -- and the team is known for peaking (tapering, in swim lingo) at the very end of the season, when it matters most. The two Norskies who arguably swam the best at the Baraboo sectional -- freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz -- did have eye-popping performances, based on their season performances, but it's not all that unusual for freshman in swimming (especially girls swimming) to dramatically improve toward the end of their first season.
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/314156
A few thoughts:
-- The WIAA has been very clear about this; the Oct. 24 WIAA Bulletin addressed the issue. See this under "High-tech suits:" http://www.wiaawi.org/rules/swimming/swimrulesqa.pdf
-- DeForest did create a buzz in the Baraboo sectional crowd when they came out for warm-ups in the blueseventy nero wetsuit. But most of the buzz wasn't about their legality; it was how much it cost to outfit an entire team in the suits, which run at least $350 a piece. But DeForest wasn't the only team sporting the suits; two of Milton's best swimmers (Jennah Haney and Hailey Foss) sported them, as well.
-- The cost issue is a bit of a red herring. Having spent time recently wandering around University Ridge golf course at the state golf tournament, there was a wide range of equipment used by tourney competitors. The issue is endemic whenever equipment (broadly defined) comes into play for a sport -- tennis (raquets), baseball (bats), basketball (shoes), hockey (sticks). Let's face it -- when parents (and/or booster clubs or even schools themselves) want their athletes to compete at the highest level of the sport, they are likely to seek (within legal means) any advantage they can, and that includes top-of-the-line equipment.
-- Do the suits make a difference? Probably -- the evidence is pretty clear that times this year at sectional meets in both divisions were faster than a year ago, before the new high-tech suits became widely available. Did it give DeForest (and others who wore them) an unfair advantage? Not likely. It's not as if DeForest came out of the blue with its performance; the team has won two state titles in a row -- and is favored for a third this week -- and the team is known for peaking (tapering, in swim lingo) at the very end of the season, when it matters most. The two Norskies who arguably swam the best at the Baraboo sectional -- freshmen Leah Winckler and Chelsea Statz -- did have eye-popping performances, based on their season performances, but it's not all that unusual for freshman in swimming (especially girls swimming) to dramatically improve toward the end of their first season.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Previewing the state D2 meet
Can anyone stop DeForest from winning its third straight state D2 title? Maybe, but it's going to take a Herculean effort.
Here's how the top six teams are seeded for the D2 meet:
1) DeForest -- 263 points
2) Grafton -- 176 points
3) Waukesha Catholic Memorial -- 174 points
4) Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol -- 134 points
5) Monona Grove -- 133 points
6) Shorewood -- 132 points
It's hard to overstate how well DeForest swam at the Baraboo sectional. They won the meet going away, qualifying 15 of their 18 swimmers for state. This in a sectional which proved to be the deepest in the state, as Baraboo sectional swimmers make up 40 percent of the swimmers who qualified for the D2 meet. Add in: DeForest's usual depth in the distance events (they qualified seven swimmers combined in the 200 and 500 frees); their strength across the board (qualifying swimmers in each of the 11 swimming events); and the quality of their relay teams (seeded 4th or better in all three relays). Add it all up, and the Norskies certainly seemed poised to capture another title.
However, titles are won in the water, and not on paper. Here are some factors that might come into play:
-- Second-seeded Grafton is the only team competing for a state title that qualified divers -- three of them. A strong performance by the team's divers could give Grafton a boost going into the swimming portion of the meet.
-- A whopping 10 teams qualified all three of their relays for the state meet. DeForest leads the way with three relays seeded to finish 4th or better, but Grafton, Sturegon Bay/Sevastopol and Monona Grove all could move up in the standings with strong showings from their relays.
-- D2 state meet fans will be seeing a lot of Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, Grafton's Sadie Nenning, Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz, and Milton's Jennah Haney. Sellinger (200 free/100 fly) and Martin (50/100 frees) own top seed times in two events, and swim on two relay teams that will be swimming in the final heats of those events. Nening (backstroke, where's she's the defending state champ) and Meinholz (100 breaststroke) own top seeds in their specialties, as well as top-three seeds in the fly (Nening) and IM (Meinholz). They, too, swim on relay teams that will be fighting it out in the last heat of those events. Haney is seeded third in the 100 breaststroke, where she's the defending state champ, and second in the 200 free. She, too, will be a featured performer on two of Milton's relay teams. Other individuals to keep an eye on are Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark (seeded 1st in the 500 free and 3rd in the 200 free), Baraboo's Shannon Keeling (1st in the 200 IM, 5th in the fly), and Milton's Hailey Foss (seeded 2nd in both the 200 IM and 500 free).
Here's how the top six teams are seeded for the D2 meet:
1) DeForest -- 263 points
2) Grafton -- 176 points
3) Waukesha Catholic Memorial -- 174 points
4) Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol -- 134 points
5) Monona Grove -- 133 points
6) Shorewood -- 132 points
It's hard to overstate how well DeForest swam at the Baraboo sectional. They won the meet going away, qualifying 15 of their 18 swimmers for state. This in a sectional which proved to be the deepest in the state, as Baraboo sectional swimmers make up 40 percent of the swimmers who qualified for the D2 meet. Add in: DeForest's usual depth in the distance events (they qualified seven swimmers combined in the 200 and 500 frees); their strength across the board (qualifying swimmers in each of the 11 swimming events); and the quality of their relay teams (seeded 4th or better in all three relays). Add it all up, and the Norskies certainly seemed poised to capture another title.
However, titles are won in the water, and not on paper. Here are some factors that might come into play:
-- Second-seeded Grafton is the only team competing for a state title that qualified divers -- three of them. A strong performance by the team's divers could give Grafton a boost going into the swimming portion of the meet.
-- A whopping 10 teams qualified all three of their relays for the state meet. DeForest leads the way with three relays seeded to finish 4th or better, but Grafton, Sturegon Bay/Sevastopol and Monona Grove all could move up in the standings with strong showings from their relays.
-- D2 state meet fans will be seeing a lot of Shorewood's Elli Sellinger, Monona Grove's Hayley Martin, Grafton's Sadie Nenning, Catholic Memorial's Elle Meinholz, and Milton's Jennah Haney. Sellinger (200 free/100 fly) and Martin (50/100 frees) own top seed times in two events, and swim on two relay teams that will be swimming in the final heats of those events. Nening (backstroke, where's she's the defending state champ) and Meinholz (100 breaststroke) own top seeds in their specialties, as well as top-three seeds in the fly (Nening) and IM (Meinholz). They, too, swim on relay teams that will be fighting it out in the last heat of those events. Haney is seeded third in the 100 breaststroke, where she's the defending state champ, and second in the 200 free. She, too, will be a featured performer on two of Milton's relay teams. Other individuals to keep an eye on are Brookfield Academy's Kelsey Hojan-Clark (seeded 1st in the 500 free and 3rd in the 200 free), Baraboo's Shannon Keeling (1st in the 200 IM, 5th in the fly), and Milton's Hailey Foss (seeded 2nd in both the 200 IM and 500 free).
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