Bining representing Benet at state

Benet's Connor Binnig expects to put up a faster time in the 100-yard breaststroke at state this weekend than he did at last Saturday's Naperville Central sectional, when he qualified for state despite just about everything going wrong.

Binnig, a junior who was the only Redwing to make the cut for the state meet, is disappointed that his teammates won't be on the deck, but he's still a little in shock that he was able to qualify.

Shortly before the meet Binnig became sick to his stomach after chugging a health drink in order to get "pumped up."

Feeling queasy, he went into the breaststroke knowing that his race and the 400 freestyle relay that followed were the Redwings' only chances to send someone to state.

"I felt nauseated on the blocks," Binnig said. "And then when I dove into the water, my goggles filled up with water and fell down to my mouth, and that's how I swam my first 50."

At the turn Binnig tilted his head back and worked the goggles down around his neck, which helped him breathe better but created another problem.

"My contacts dried up and I couldn't see," Binnig said. "I couldn't see the wall. First, I had to keep from freaking out. I've been swimming the breaststroke since I was 9, so my instincts just kicked in. I was in the right rhythm and I stayed focused. I had a good feel for the stroke and where the wall should be."

When he touched, he looked up at the scoreboard and after a few seconds he realized that he qualified, barely. He made the state cut by .06 of a second.

He swam in the 400 freestyle relay shortly after that, but the Benet team missed the cut by two seconds.

So Binnig in the breaststroke is the Benet team at the state meet -- one swimmer, Binnig; and two coaches, head coach Mike Rigali and his father and assistant Dr. John Rigali -- will be the Redwings contingent.

"My greatest memory of the day," Binnig said. "Was that after the meet my teammates were shaking my hand and saying they were supporting me. Even though I was still nauseous it made me feel good that they could be so positive after such a rough day."

In fact a few of the Redwings will go to Evanston today to try to get tickets to the state meet.

Binnig, who qualified for state in both his freshman and sophomore years, expects to drop his breaststroke time when he expects to be swimming without the nausea or the equipment malfunction.

"My ultimate goal is to drop two seconds off my time and make it to the top 12," Binnig said. "I've never scored before, so I'd like to pick up a couple of points for Benet.

"I told Connor, that if he does everything the same next week, he has to swim faster," Mike Rigali said.

That disappointing sectional was not the way it was supposed to be for Benet, which finished 12th at state last year.

The Redwings had to overcome the loss of four senior state qualifiers, including Binnig's older brother Collin and Nick Garvy, but there was a solid nucleus of veterans returning from that team.

However, injuries to Dave Vandendorpe and Mark Vandlik during the season prevented them from being at their best at sectionals, and they and other racers came up short of qualification, as did all three relay teams.

"When we started the year, I felt certain that we would get our relays in," Binnig said. "We were looking forward to a great end-of-year result, but it didn't happen."

Binnig, who qualified for state in both his freshman and sophomore years, has been getting a lot of attention at school this week.

"A bunch of guys wrote up an announcement about my qualifying," Binnig said. "At school Tuesday they made the announcement about how I swam with my goggles in my mouth. A lot of teachers have been congratulating me and the students have been wishing me good look. They even thought about making up a state T-shirt, the kind where everyone's name is usually on it. Except this one would just be for me.

"I appreciate that my teammates have been able to look past their initial disappointment and give me that support."

Binnig is also excited about next year, when Benet's younger swimmers will be more mature and eager to join him at state.

"Our seniors didn't end their careers the way they wanted, and that is disappointing to me," Mike Rigali said. "I wanted to send them out the right way. But we've got to take heart that a lot of our younger guys had an outstanding sectional. So next year should be better."

Boys swimming state meet

Today: Diving preliminaries begin at 9 a.m., swimming preliminaries at 3:30 p.m.

Saturday: Swimming and diving finals begin at 1 p.m.

Where: Evanston High School.