CFC meeting focuses on new Barrington Greenway Initiative
• The following is part of an ongoing series of articles in celebration of Libertyville High School's 100th anniversary.
When asked early this month if he can think of a past Libertyville swimming human interest story, longtime LHS swim coach Greg Herman said we just had one the previous week.
On Jan. 30, senior swimmer Billy Bennett broke the LHS pool record for the 100-yard breaststroke. This is a record Billy's father had broken himself back in 1986.
When Bill Sr. broke the pool record in high school, the previous record holder was John McLaughlin from the Class of 1981. The meet was the conference tournament hosted by LHS. Bill's time was 1:00.55. He dropped his time down to 1:00.33 at the 1986 state tournament and finished in sixth place, earning All-State honors. The LHS team finished in 11th place.
Bill Sr. went on to swim for a season at Auburn University, then chose to step away to concentrate on school. After a family emergency, he transferred to the University of Illinois to finish his civil engineering studies. He graduated in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering.
In 1993, he earned his master's in civil engineering. He currently works in construction, building high-end residential and some light commercial projects. In addition to Billy, he has an LHS sophomore daughter, Sarah, (who swims) and a seventh-grade son, Christopher, (who doesn't swim).
Bill Sr.'s record lasted until 1995 when sophomore Eric Van Goethem broke it. Van Goethem broke his record several times, finishing as low as 59.84 as a senior in 1997. He finished with two 100-yard breaststroke state titles and a runner-up finish.
From LHS, Van Goethem went to swim for Auburn University. He earned five All-American finishes, helping his team finish third in the 2002 NCAA tournament.
Van Goethem's LHS pool record held up for 21 years. Billy Bennett broke the record in a meet against Zion-Benton. His time was 58.67. As the season nears its end, all swimmers drop their times as they taper for the state tournament. Van Goethem finished with a school record time of 56.49 before graduating LHS.
Last weekend Billy won the 100-yard breaststroke sectional title with a 57.86 time. He will be going to the state tournament with an eye on breaking Van Goethem's school record time, as well as his father's 1986 sixth-in-the-state finish. The state tournament is this weekend.
Billy hopes to swim in college. His top college choice is Xavier, where he would be following in the footsteps of former LHS swimmer Bobby Snader. He is also considering the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
He is considering Auburn as well, but realizes he might have a hard time contributing to Auburn's swim program with their fast times. His hope is to finish with a degree in computer engineering.