(WIAA) – The 102nd Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 20-21, at Waukesha South High School in Waukesha, Wis.
TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for each tournament session are $9 plus online fees, and they are only available to be purchased on-line on the WIAA website through GoFan, the WIAA ticketing partner, at: https://www.wiaawi.org/Tickets#42691538-boys-swimming
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 1:30 p.m., and the swimming finals will follow at 5:30 p.m. The Division 1 diving competition will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m., with the swimming events scheduled for 2:30 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
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
CHAMPIONSHIPS LIVE ON WIAA.TV: Every event of the WIAA State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships will be streamed live on the WIAA.TV portal of the NFHS Network on a subscription basis. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $12.99 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the “Subscribe Now” link located at the top right area of the page. Archived streams of the meets will be available on demand on the NFHS Network 72 hours after the tournament with a subscription.
BY THE NUMBERS: There are 111 teams in the 2026 Boys Swimming & Diving Tournament Series. The largest 67 programs are in Division 1, with the remaining 44 programs in Division 2.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: Schools are assigned directly into sectional competition with six sectionals in Division 1 and four in Division 2. The winners of each event at the sectional meet qualified for the State Meet. Also qualifying are the next 18 (Division 1) and 12 (Division 2) best individuals/relays/divers–not including sectional winners–from all the sectionals combined.
LAST YEAR: Middleton won the Division 1 team championship for the third straight season by compiling 273 points. Verona was second with 175 points. In Division 2, McFarland won the team championship for the second consecutive year with 283 points, and Rhinelander placed second in the team standings with 235 points.
MEET HISTORY: The WIAA began the boys swimming and diving championships in 1925 and moved to a two-division format in 1993. Madison Memorial has won 16 championships to lead all member schools. Waukesha, before it was split into three schools, captured 15 team titles with seven of those coming in succession from 1964-70. Madison West is tied for second on the list of titles with 15. Shorewood and Wauwatosa, before it became two separate schools, have compiled nine championships. McFarland has claimed eight team titles, and Arrowhead has earned six team championships. Madison Memorial has produced the most event champions with 92. Madison West has won 78 events and Waukesha, before splitting into three schools, won 77 titles. Whitefish Bay is next on the list of individual champions with 63. Competitors from Wauwatosa, before dividing into two high schools, won 61. Ben McDade of Monona Grove has won the most event championships in a prep career with 15, and Ryan O’Donnell of McFarland is next on the list with 14. Four individuals have won 10 State titles, including Ben Anderson of Arrowhead, Jay Mortenson of Madison West, Tom Wanezek of Brookfield East and Paul DeLakis of Eau Claire Memorial/North.
EVENT NOTES-DIVISION 1: Three individual events feature their 2025 champion attempting to retain the State title, and all three relays have last year’s champion attempting to win consecutive titles. The three returning individual champions are all from Middleton. Senior Sam Wolf won the 100-yard breaststroke last season and returns this season with the event’s fastest qualifying time of 55.35, which is almost one second quicker than the next-fastest qualifier, junior Ryan Wanner of Waukesha West/Mukwonago, who enters action with a time of 56.31 after placing fifth last year and seventh in 2024. Senior Caden Van Buren was the champion in the 50 freestyle a year ago. He enters competition with a seed time of 20.73. Junior Logan Loppnow of Brookfield Central/East possesses the swiftest qualifying time in the event at 20.31 after finishing fifth last year. Senior Max Carter is the third Middleton swimmer attempting to repeat as champion. He won the 100 freestyle last year, and he enters the meet with the sixth-best qualifying time at 46.85. Again, it is Loppnow that has the best time entering the meet in the event at 45.67 after placing fourth last season and fifth in 2024. Caden Van Buren is also seeking the gold in the 100 butterfly with the event’s fastest qualifying time of 48.52. He just missed climbing to the top of the awards podium the past two seasons with runner-up finishes. Ryan Wanner has the top seed time in the 200 freestyle at 1:39.59. He should anticipate a challenge for the title from Wolf, whose qualifying time is just .05 seconds off his qualifying pace. Sophomore Max Garbacz of Madison West appears to be the frontrunner for the gold medal in the 200 individual medley. He is the top returning finisher from last year, having placed third, and his time of 1:50.12 is almost three seconds faster than the next swiftest competitor. The race for the 500 freestyle title should be competitive. Senior Cody Carlson of Menomonee Falls/Hamilton has recorded the fastest seed time of 4:38.02, and he comes into the meet as the top returning finisher from last year, placing fifth. Garbacz and junior Declan Foy of Marquette may also contend for the title with their qualifying times of 4:39.68 and 4:39.79, respectively. The 100 backstroke features several swimmers that gained experience last season. Senior Will Van Ermen of D.C. Everest finished fourth last season, which is the highest finish of any returning competitor in the event. The best qualifying time at sectionals last week was recorded by sophomore Brecken Curran of Verona at 49.42, after he placed 16th in 2025. Sophomore Benjamin Wisotzke of Waukesha West/Mukwonago placed sixth a year ago, and his time is half of a second behind Curran’s qualifying time. AJ Beard of Madison Memorial was runner-up in the diving competition last season and fifth in 2024. He qualifies with the second-best qualifying score of 528.0. Senior River Reeves of Oshkosh North Co-op possesses the top sectional score with a 545.70 after placing third the past two seasons and 11th in 2023. Middleton has the distinction of having the fastest qualifying time in two of the three relays in defense of the three titles the Cardinals won in the relays last season. They are the four-time defending champions in the 400 freestyle relay and the three-time defending champions in the 200 medley relay. They again appear to be in position to contend for the title in the 200 medley relay with the event’s quickest qualifying time of 1:32.60. The Cardinals will need to cut time in the 400 freestyle if they want to extend their streak of dominance in the event. They enter the meet with a seed time of 3:12.31. Brookfield Central/East possesses the fastest seed time at 3:05.89. Brookfield Central/East will also attempt to dethrone Middleton in the 200 freestyle relay with the fastest sectional time of 1:24.19. The Cardinals will be defending the gold they won last year in the event with the second-swiftest qualifying time of 1:24.71.
EVENT NOTES-DIVISION 2: Four of the 12 events feature last year’s champion seeking another title, including one individual event and three relays. Junior Cale TeBeest of McFarland seeks his third straight championship in the 100-yard butterfly. He qualifies with the fastest seed time of 49.77, which is .85 faster than junior Ethan Kim of Shorewood–the next-fastest qualifier–who placed third last year. Cale TeBeest is also a top contender to win the 200 freestyle, possessing the swiftest seed time of 1:41.67, which is almost two seconds faster than the next-best time. Staying in the family, junior Blake TeBeest will transition from the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke this season after winning those events the past two seasons. He has qualified with the fastest sectional times in two events. His time of 20.03 in the 50 freestyle is more than one second better than the second-best performance in the event. Others that will challenge for a position on the medal stand in the 50 freestyle are Steven Camacho of Whitefish Bay, who placed third last season; Ethan Kim, who was fifth a year ago; and junior Ethan Goodman of Sauk Prairie/Wisconsin Heights, who was sixth. Blake TeBeest also enters the meet with the fastest qualifying time in the 100 freestyle at 55.92, which is almost three seconds faster than the rest of the field. Senior Gavin Reiser of Stoughton has the distinction of posting the quickest qualifying times in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley this season with times of 56.23 and 1:54.98, respectively. He placed fourth in the breaststroke last year and third in 2024. He’ll need to contend for the crown with senior Charlie Prince of Port Washington, who has the second-fastest seed time at 57.96. Prince placed third in the breaststroke a year ago, and fourth in both 2024 and 2023. In addition to Reiser, senior Jack Prahl of Edgewood is also expected to be among the top finishers in the 200 IM with the second-best qualifying time of 1:56.99 after placing fourth last year. Junior Jude Hill of Nicolet should contend for the title in the 100 backstroke after turning in the fastest qualifying time at sectionals last week at 51.22 and finishing runner-up last season. The event features a crowded field of experienced qualifiers as seven of the top 10 finishers last year return this year, including Miles Jakowski of Whitefish Bay. He has the second-fastest qualifying time at 51.34 following a 10th-place finish in 2025. Senior Carter O’Leary of DeForest leads all qualifiers in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:39. 43. Junior Grayson Rudich of Cedarburg is the next-fastest competitor in the event with a time of 4:43.84 after placing fourth last year. Sophomore Quinn Edwards of Cedarburg is back for another shot at the title in the diving competition. He was runner-up last season and enters the meet with a qualifying performance of 344.10. Sophomore Collin Heller of Plymouth possesses the best qualifying score at sectionals last week with a score of 453.30. Senior George Powers of Edgewood could also challenge for a medal with a qualifying score of 358.95 after finishing fourth last season and eighth in 2024. McFarland is the returning champion in all three relays. The Spartans have their sights on a fourth straight title in the 400 freestyle relay. Their qualifying time of 3:15.01 is more than three seconds faster than the 3:18.10 turned in by Whitefish Bay, the next-fastest qualifier in the event. McFarland has won three straight 200 medley relays, but Whitefish Bay has the fastest qualifying time in the event at 1:35.73, more than two seconds better than the 1:38.05 time the Spartans recorded to qualify this year. Whitefish Bay also has the swiftest qualifying time in the 400 freestyle relay at 1:27.40, an event won the past two seasons by McFarland. The Spartans will need to improve on their seed time of 1:30.40 to win their third straight championship in the event.
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