Breaking Down the State Swimming Meet
Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports
Swimmers from City High and West High traveled to Johnston for a district meet last Saturday where they earned spots at the state meet.
The trip is much shorter for area swimmers this week.
The state swimming meet gets underway on Friday at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City.
Competition opens at 5 p.m. on Friday evening with the top 16 performers from eight qualifying events advancing to the finals on Saturday.
Action begins on Saturday at Noon with the 200 Medley Relay starting competition at 12:30 p.m.
Before swimmers hit the water on Friday here is a quick look at the state meet with a focus on Your Prep Sports area qualifiers.
The Swimmers
Area Individual Qualifiers/Event
Philip Berry-Stoelzle, Soph., City High, 200 IM, 100 Freestyle
Braydon Calonder, Soph., City High, 200 Freestyle
Joe Polyak, Sr., City High, 200 IM, 100 Breaststroke
Holden Carter, Sr., West High, 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke
Winston Fan, Soph., West High, 200 IM, 100 Breaststroke
Max Gerke, Sr., West High, 50 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly
Hayden Hakes, Jr., West High, 500 Freestyle
Oliver Mikulski, Soph., West High, 100 Backstroke
Brennen Westphal, Sr., West High, 100 Breaststroke
Area Relay Qualifiers/Team members/District Finish/Time
West High 200 Medley (Hayden Hakes, Winston Fan, Holden Carter, Max Gerke), 1. 1:33.64
City High 200 Medley (Lars Hackathorn, Philip Berry-Stoelzle, Grant Bumsted, Charlie Pfohl), 4. 1:42.97
City High 200 Freestyle (Joe Polyak, Braydon Calonder, Grant Bumsted, Charlie Pfohl), 2. 1:28.81
West High 200 Freestyle (Winston Fan, Joshua Trent, Rhys Long, Oliver Mikulski), 3. 1:30.04
West High 400 Freestyle (Max Gerke, Hayden Hakes, Holden Carter, Ethan Landon), 2. 3:14.03
City High 400 Freestyle (Philip Berry-Stoelzle, Charlie Pfohl, Braydon Calonder, Joe Polyak), 3. 3:16.09
Returning State Champions
Event, Athlete
200 Freestyle – Jacob Pins, Sr., West Des Moines Valley 1:37.52
200 IM – Joe Polyak, Sr., City High 1:48.94
500 Freestyle – Jacob Pins, Sr., West Des Moines Valley 4:33.49
Swimmer to Watch
City High senior Joe Polyak had his breakthrough season a year ago winning his first state title in the 200 IM and adding a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke as a junior after top six finishes in both events as a sophomore.
This season Polyak has emerged as one of the best in the state.
A Regina student that competes at City High Polyak enters the state meet with top-two times in the state this season in three events.
Polyak owns the top time in the state in the 200 and 500 freestyle and has the second fastest time this season in the 200 IM at 1:53.05 clocked at the district meet in Johnston last week.
A Minnesota signee, Polyak will seek to defend his title in the 200 IM and was runner-up at the district meet in the 100 breaststroke last week in a time of 57.52 that ranks sixth fastest in the state this season.
Event to Watch
West High seniors Holden Carter and Max Gerke should both be in the thick of what figures to be a tight race for the 100 butterfly title.
Carter was runner-up in the event last season behind departed Ankeny senior Lance Swanepoel in a time of 48.66.
Carter won the 100 fly title at the district meet last week and enters with the third fastest time in the state this season at 49.9.
Gerke has the fifth fastest time at 50.6 and was third at the district meet last week behind Carter and Waukee junior Dylan Alt.
Carter, Alt and Gerke were separated by .57 seconds at last week’s district race and are expected to join Linn-Mar sophomore Parker Macho in the title hunt this week.
Macho was fifth in the event at state last season and has the fastest time in the state this season at 49.64.
Relay to Watch
West High won the 200 Medley relay for the second straight season in 2022 in a state record time of 1:30.87 but was disqualified in an attempt to win a third consecutive 200 Medley crown last season.
The Trojans will attempt to get back on top in the 200 Medley this season.
Carter, Gerke, Winston Fan and Hayden Hakes clocked the fastest time in the state this season at 1:33.64 while winning the district title last Saturday.
Carter is seeking a third 200 Medley relay title after swimming on the Trojans title teams in 2021 and 2022.
West Des Moines Valley (1:33.81) is right behind West High while Waukee (1:34.12) was runner-up to the Trojans at the district meet.
The Teams
District Champions
Sioux City West; Waukee; Dubuque Hempstead; Linn-Mar; Cedar Falls; West Des Moines Valley
2023 Top 5 Team Finishers – 1. Waukee 304; 2. West Des Moines Valley 214; 3. Ames 176; 4. Ankeny 160; 5. Pleasant Valley 159
Last 5 Team Champs
2023 – Waukee
2022 – Waukee
2021 – Waukee
2020 – West High
2019 – Ankeny
What to Watch in the Team Race
Waukee is seeking a fourth consecutive state title and enters as the favorite to continue its reign atop the state standings.
West Des Moines Valley scored 522 points, the most of any team at a district met, on its way to winning a district title and will be at the top of a list of teams that includes Mississippi Valley Conference squads Linn-Mar and Cedar Falls seeking to dethrone Waukee.
City High and West High will each be seeking to improve on top-10 finishes from last season.
West High was eighth a year ago, the ninth top-10 finish for the Trojans in the past 10 seasons.
City High was 10th last year and is seeking a fourth top-10 finish in the past five seasons.
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