THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Alternate Season Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Tuesday, April 6, at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium. The price of admission for the limited number of tickets afforded to schools for the championships is $11.
MEET INFORMATION: The alternate season opportunity was created by the Board of Control for school sports programs opting out of fall participation to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic. There is one division of competition in the alternate season Tournament Series. The diving competition begins Tuesday, April 6 at 12:30 p.m., with the swimming finals scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Here is the order of events (all events in yards):
Order of Events
1. Diving
2. 200 Medley Relay
3. 200 Freestyle
4. 200 Individual Medley
5. 50 Freestyle
6. 100 Butterfly
7. 100 Freestyle
8. 500 Freestyle
9. 200 Freestyle Relay
10. 100 Backstroke
11. 100 Breaststroke
12. 400 Freestyle Relay
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: Each event winner from four sectionals and the next eight best times or scores in the events from all sectionals combined will be added to the heats in each event.
BY THE NUMBERS: There were 54 teams that declared to participate in the alternate season for girls swimming & diving this spring with 41 participating in the Tournament Series.
2019 STATE TOURNAMENT: The last time the teams participating in the alternate season would have competed in State Championships was in 2019. Brookfield East won the Division 1 title with 243 points. Arrowhead was second, 23 points behind at 220. In Division 2, Edgewood won the title for the fifth straight season by scoring 290 points. McFarland was runner-up for the second straight season, compiling 163.5 points.
MEET HISTORY: The WIAA began girls swimming and diving championships in 1970 and moved to a two-division format in 1992. Madison area schools have dominated the championships through the years. Either Madison West or Madison Memorial won all the championships through 1983 and all but one of the Division 1 titles since the inception of the two-division format in 1992 up until 2002. Overall, Madison West has won 15 titles, and Madison Memorial has won 14. Arrowhead has captured 11 titles, and Shorewood has seven championships. This is the first time an alternate opportunity, outside the traditional fall season, has been offered.
EVENT NOTES: Four events feature the 2019 champion or champions competing, including three relays. Two of the relays have both the 2019 Division 1 champion and the Division 2 champion qualifying. The 200 and 400 freestyle relays feature Sun Prairie, the 2019 Division 1 champion, and Edgewood, the Division 2 champion. The Crusaders have actually won five straight Division 2 titles in the 200-yard freestyle relay and four straight in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Edgewood enters competition with the fastest qualifying time in the both the freestyle relays at 1:36.61 in the 200 and 3:30.61 in the 400. Middleton and Sun Prairie are the second and third fastest qualifying relays in both events, respectively. The Crusaders also won the 200 medley relay in Division 2 in 2019. They are seeded second in that event this season with a time of 1:46.70. Sun Prairie, which placed third in Division 1 in 2019, has the best time entering the meet at 1:46.55.
Senior Hallory Domnick of Ashwaubenon won the Division 2 title in the 500 freestyle in 2019. She is seeded third this year, behind Sophomore Izzy Enz of Edgewood, who has the quickest qualifying time of 4:57.55, and sophomore Peyton Drexler of Edgewood, who placed ninth in Division 1 in 2019 for Verona/Mount Horeb.
Domnick is also the top finisher from the State Meet in the 100 butterfly, having placed runner-up in 2019. She possesses the second-best qualifying time in the event this season at 56.54. Neverman is the fastest qualifier in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.97. Enz also has the fastest qualifying time in the 200 freestyle recorded at sectionals with a time of 1:50.74. She looks to capture gold after earning the Division 2 silver medal in the event in 2019.
Drexler stakes claim to the top qualifying time in the 200 individual medley at 2:04.11. She should expect a challenge from both lanes beside her. She’s flanked on one side by sophomore Bailey Ratzburg of Milton with the second-fastest qualifying time at 2:04.61, and on the other by junior Brigitta Neverman of Green Bay Southwest/East/Preble/West, who was third in Division 1 in 2019.
The 50 freestyle field is led by junior Abby Reid of Edgewood. She enters competition with the swiftest qualifying time of 23.79 after a Division 2 runner-up finish in 2019. Reid also placed second in the 100 freestyle in 2019; however, freshman Sienna Nitke of Ashwaubenon has earned the top seed in the event this season with her sectional time of 51.50. Junior Mara Freeman of McFarland may also contend for the title in the 100 freestyle after placing sixth in Division 2 in 2019.
Freeman is also among the top qualifiers in the 100 backstroke. She enters with a time of 56.07, which ranks third-fastest in the event this season. She was the Division 2 runner-up in the event in 2019. Senior Faith Sill of Beloit Memorial owns the top time in the event this season with at 55.67. Junior Anna teDuits of Edgewood should also be considered a serious title contender in the event with the second-fastest qualifying time of 55.96 after placing third in Division 2 in 2019.
Freshman Allison Greeneway of Appleton North recorded the best sectional time in the 100 breaststroke at 1:04.85, which is just a shade better than senior Sydney Hoff of Stevens Point, who is seeded second with a time of 1:04.88.
Senior Julie Rebek of Fond du Lac/Oakfield posted the top qualifying score in the diving competition with a 470.75. She’ll need to contend with, among others, senior Bailey Schroeder of Neenah for the title. Schroeder has the second-best qualifying score of 454.85 from sectionals, and she has quality experience at State as well, finishing third in Division 1 in 2019.
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