Four state records fall as the going gets tough at New Trier

For any fan of swimming, it was a state meet session to remember on Friday at New Trier.

With four state records broken and another handful in danger of becoming history in Saturday's final sessions, it was a breathtaking display.

Glenbrook South's 200-yard freestyle relay had the performance of the day with a time of 1:22.63. That bettered the existing state record by almost a second and also eclipsed the national high school record of 1:22.80 set in 1996.

Two state records came from New Trier, which produced superlative swims across the board to take control of the team race. Trevians senior Michael Dominski produced a state record time of 48.19 in the 100 butterfly, and even the second-fastest time in the event, a 48.65 produced by Riverside-Brookfield's Graham Risley, would have bettered the existing state mark.

New Trier's 200 medley relay finished in 1:31.78, more than a second and a half better than Oak Park's record from 1997.

Neuqua Valley senior Kevin Overholt broke the state record in the 100 free, finishing in 44.11. That's a shade faster than Olympic gold medalist Matt Grevers was in 2003.

And even with all the terrific top-end performances, what might be most noteworthy about this meet is the incredible depth in the events.

That meant very few opportunities to advance for area teams.

Fremd managed to deliver season-best times in all three of its relays, but none of them advanced to Saturday's action.

The Vikings will be represented by seniors Varun Shivakumar, who finished ninth in the 100 backstroke in a season-best 52.01, and Sam Childs, who is 11th after a season-best 46.88 in the 100 freestyle.

"The same two as last year," said Fremd coach Nicole LaBeau, noting that both Shivakumar and Childs were Fremd's second-day swimmers last year. "We've got nothing to be disappointed about - all our times were faster. It's just that this year ... the times are incredible."

Fremd's Evan Ruggiero had the top diving performance among area entrants. He finished 15th at 257.25.

Schaumburg senior Chris Corbett raced in the final qualifying heat of the 100 backstroke and was still in the water as the scoreboard announced that he'd advanced into the consolation finals. After a brief celebration in the water, he started his preparation for his last high school race.

Corbett finished in 52.25, putting him 11th.

"Hey, I'd love to be in finals, but in a year like this, just swimming again is fine," said Corbett, who trimmed almost two seconds off his qualifying time.

Corbett's lifetime best of 1:55.97 in the 200 IM placed him 17th.

Prospect's Charlie Mau wrapped up his high school swimming career with a lifetime best of 51.69, a nice drop from his sectional time but one that placed him 17th. The Knights' other two competitors also delivered bests in the 100 breaststroke, senior Andrew Bowman (1:01.63, 42nd) and junior Tyler Bengtsen (1:01.69, 43rd).

Buffalo Grove junior Brad Lotzer continued to improve, placing 29th in 48.27.

Barrington didn't see the time drops it was hoping for and advanced no competitors to Saturday's action. Senior Justin Yu completed his career with a season-best effort in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.00).

Cary-Grove's team had a most memorable performance.

Senior Brent Curtis led the way, delivering a time of 46.23 in the 100 free to qualify for the fastest championship heat in state history. He was in the same heat as Overholt during qualifying, but didn't let the fact that he was trailing discourage him. Curtis essentially kept pace with Overholt over the second half of the race and turned in the fifth-best time of the day.

Success like this doesn't just happen on a whim, as coach Jim Andriakos explained:

"That swim you just saw, that started back in September," he said. "We were eating together in a restaurant, and we started talking about how to swim this race, what it would take. We went over it in detail, writing down what had to happen - and it was almost exactly what happened here today. We can fine-tune a few things for finals and see if he can go faster."

Curtis also qualified for the consolation heat of the 100 breastroke in 58.97, and another senior Michael Kinross, advanced to the consolation heat of the 100 butterfly. Kinross had the 11th-best qualifying time in the 100 fly, 51.18 - a time that in many years would win the event outright.