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The arc of a sprinter: Rolling Meadows' Dellorto thinks fast

For Josh Dellorto, this weekend's boys swimming and diving state meet is the logical spot to confirm his continued evolution as an athlete.

Dellorto, a senior, will lead off Rolling Meadows' medley relay before attempting to score points in both of the sprint freestyles at Evanston Township High School.

His arc has been unique because of both its general consistency and its specific changes in direction.

Consistent, in the sense that he'll be racing as an individual in his fourth straight state finals.

And unique because of the sharp switch in event preference, which started midway through that run.

Dellorto came into high school with a clear aptitude for the distance freestyles, and he found plenty of success there, scoring points in the conference meet as a freshman in the 200 and 500 freestyles and qualifying to state in the 200 free in both of his first two high school seasons.

But a disappointing finish to his sophomore year ended up convincing him to head in a different, much shorter, direction.

Dellorto ended up focusing on the freestyle sprints.

"We had a discussion freshman year about him being a sprinter instead of concentrating on distance, and we made a deal about how he'd have to go about it," said Rolling Meadows coach Monika Chiappetta. "And he's really lived up to his end of the bargain."

There was much progress in his junior year, when Dellorto earned a spot in the state meet consolation finals in the 100 freestyle. It wasn't a perfect season, though, as a slip at the start of his sectional qualifying effort prevented him from even competing in the 50 free at the state meet.

But so far in his senior year, it would be hard to envision how things could have gone much better.

Dellorto has broken several pool records in his races. He was a double winner in the Mid-Suburban League meet, establishing conference and pool records in the 100 free.

In last weekend's Deerfield sectional, Dellorto won the 50 free in 21.34 and placed second in the 100 free in 46.32. With even a little improvement from those clockings, he has excellent changes to score state-meet points in both races.

Chiappetta bristles at the notion - common to swimming - that the elite performers have always been that way.

"He's worked so hard for everything he's achieved," said Chiappetta. "He's very meticulous by nature, and after I laid it out for him, he really went after it. He gets full credit for accepting the challenge and then acting on it."

Joining Dellorto at state are his program record-setting medley relay teammates, seniors Nate Pardini and Jake Pors and freshman Lukas Slifierz. Collectively, they've gotten over a disappointing near-miss on their attempt to qualify for the state meet in the 400 free relay.

Their hope is that a single relay, the only race of the day for Pardini, Pors and Slifierz, can lead to an even faster time than the 1:36.63 that got them into the meet. And even a little improvement would give them a legitimate chance at scoring points.

Pardini surprised himself with a terrific 21.23 freestyle anchor leg at the sectional. Likewise, Pors, who had a goal of 28.0 for his breaststroke leg, shattered that in producing a 27.1.

Slifierz aims to produce a fast butterfly leg in support of his senior teammates. He's keenly aware of the winning example they've set - especially by Dellorto.

"The thing is, when you see the way he works every day, it all makes sense," said Slifierz. "It's every day with him. And when it's time to swim, it's no nonsense, and he gets right down to business. It's just, 'All right boys, let's go.' "

Another metric by which to measure Dellorto's progress is decidely non-physical. He and Chiappetta both say that in the past, a harshly results-driven approach sometimes led him to a kind of paralysis by overanalysis.

"I used to get up on the blocks and see a really good guy and think, 'Well, it looks like I'm getting second,' " Dellorto said. "I don't think like that at all any more."

No, a more highly evolved version of Josh Dellorto will be racing at Evanston this weekend, and it seems likely the self-doubt battles will be left to others.

Ultimately, it's still about results, and he hopes for a pair of point-scoring performances. But sprinting seems to have liberated that pursuit by giving him a full voice in how the results are measured.

The look on Dellorto's face Wednesday as he prepared for one of his final high school practices spoke volumes.

"Whatever happens," he said with a grin, "I'll be OK with it. I just plan to go and have fun."

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