RICE LAKE – The Tomahawk High School (THS) boys’ swim team recently took part in the WIAA Division II Sectional swim meet at Rice Lake, where a pair of Hatchets punched their tickets to State.
“As the smallest team in the pool, we knew there was no chance of finishing in the top three, but we had hopes and goals of swimming fast enough to qualify somebody to State,” said coach Theresa L’Esperance.
The Hatchets set 14 personal records while achieving their goal of qualifying two swimmers for the State meet.
Sophomores Connor and Aidan led the team by swimming four personal records in their four individual and relay attempts, according to L’Esperance. They both broke their time of the 26 barrier in their 50 free, and they both broke their individual events in the 100 freestyle and the 100 free relay by breaking a minute in both of those events.
L’Esperance said Toby was only in three events, but he managed to set personal records in his 100 freestyle, his 50 freestyle relay and his 100 backstroke.
“He set a huge personal record in taking seven seconds off his individual 100 freestyle,” L’Esperance stated. “I couldn't be more proud of someone who has worked very hard this year and achieved these goals.”
Sophomore Max set three of four personal records in his events. L’Esperance said Max supported the medley relay team by swimming the butterfly, and he also could have swum the100 breaststroke.
“We just chose to swim him in the 100 freestyle,” L’Esperance said. “Max is great at swimming all four events. We are now going to start focusing on some of his speed. Max is also part of the great sophomore class who has really achieved great success in their two years of swimming.”
L’Esperance noted that the sophomore group achieved the honor of standing on the podium in the 200 freestyle relay. Connor, Aidan, Max and junior Toby all set new personal records and improved their seed time by eight seconds.
“And, they did this without our top two swimmers, Bruce and Dane,” L’Esperance added. “I couldn't be more proud of this group of swimmers.”
Entering into the building that day, L’Esperance said she knew that the team had everyone fully tapered for Sectionals, with the exception of two swimmers: Bruce Peetz and Dane DeKiep.
“They wanted to taper slightly for sectional, but more for State,” L’Esperance said. “I explained that it is possible, but you have to have a really fast time, and it's not going to be what you're expecting, because you are not fully tapered. Both first events for Bruce and Dane did not go as they had hoped. I reminded them they needed to dig deep just to qualify for the State meet. I also reminded them that we were a second half team, and we worked hard all season to acquire that long-lasting goal of staying sharp until the end of the meet.”
Bruce entered his last individual event, the 500, the event that he has swam consistently since his freshman year.
“We had a plan of going out as fast as he could in the first 100 and then sit and settle in at about 30 seconds, but never more than 31 seconds in each 50,” L’Esperance stated. “Then, he would finish off with a really fast 75 to complete the 500. He did exactly that and set a new school record in the 500 of 5:07.13. I secretly believed that this time would be enough to qualify for the State meet, and it was.”
L’Esperance said Dane entered the backstroke confident in what he was about to do. Dane was extremely focused on his turns.
“During practice, he had focused on pushing his streamline longer,” L’Esperance said. “The team as a whole had also focused on their turn work this past week. At the 50 mark, Dane was holding his own with the best in the section. In fact, Dane's first 50 was faster than his arch nemesis, Charlie from Rhinelander, a State medalist in the backstroke. At the 75, he was right there, neck and neck, fighting for second place. Every turn was textbook perfect. He just ran out of gas the last six strokes. His time of 56.41 was good enough to qualify for the State meet. And a side note, his time is also faster than what he swam at Sectional last year. He also knows that he wasn't fully tapered and will be shooting for a new school record at the State meet.”
The last event was the 400 freestyle relay, which L’Esperance said is her favorite event of the day.
“From previous years, we know how strong and how fast the 400 relay will go during Sectional,” she stated. “Both Connor and Aiden continued to shine by swimming personal records in their stage of the relay. Bruce and Dane knew that this event was going to really burn, as they were exhausted. This group of hard-working boys took 15 seconds off their seed time, but just slightly out of qualifying for the State meet.”
Tomahawk finished in 7th place out of 10.
“If we had fully tapered Dane and Bruce, we would have finished up in a higher position, probably at 5th place, but we are heading to the State swim meet,” L’Esperance said. “This young and small but mighty team has proven to everyone in the Northwoods that we will make our mark in swimming.”
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