Naperville North’s Eiken shines
They finished the four preliminary races at Thursday’s Aqua Pentathlon at Waubonsie Valley.
They reseeded everyone for the big race, the 200 freestyle.
And then it was Andrew Eiken time.
The Naperville North senior won the 200 free in 1:46.16.
Of course, that wasn’t surprising because Eiken had finished fourth in state in that event as a sophomore.
It was the second meet back for Eiken, who also finished eighth at state in the 100 free.
He missed all of last year with a shoulder injury and then sat out the first month of this season with an injured foot.
“I’m a little tired,” Eiken said. “It’s a long meet, five individual races. It was tough to wait for the 200 free. The 50 free and the 100 fly were good for me, and I just had to get through the breast and the backstroke. But it was a chance for me to try things out.”
Because the Naperville North varsity schedule was filled, the Huskies entered a junior varsity team in the Aqua Pentathlon and Eiken was permitted to swim because he had missed a few meets. He finished ninth in the final individual standings in the meet, won by Michael Hamann of Cary-Grove.
Oswego East finished first in the team standings with 20,357 points. Waubonsie Valley was fifth with 18,839 and Naperville North was seventh with 15,482.
“Andrew is swimming strong and doing well,” said Naperville North coach Andy McWhirter. “He came through at the end.”
In his first meet of the season, last Tuesday’s Naperville North College Events meet, Eiken broke the meet record in the 100 freestyle with a 47.98 and he led off the winning 800 freestyle relay.
Host Waubonsie Valley’s top two swimmers in the Aqua Pentathlon, Stephen Ernst and Michael McWhirter, finished 11th and 13th, respectively.
McWhirter won the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.30, while Ernst finished fourth. McWhirter was also third in the 50 freestyle and Ernst was seventh in the 100 butterfly.
“I think we found a breaststroker today,” said Waubonsie Valley coach Nick Arens about McWhirter, who has made his name as a sprint freestyler. “We have a lot of sprinters and we need to find some other pieces. This will give us more options on the medley relay because Stephen is strong in the breaststroke, but he can also do a lot of other things for us. Now, Mike has shown that he can be more than a sprinter.”
“It’s nice to get more variety,” said McWhirter, the son of the Naperville North coach. “I was a breaststroker when I was young, but my knees started bothering me and I wanted to focus on the freestyle.”
McWhirter said he will have to train a little differently in the breaststroke, but Arens believes it’s just a matter of getting used to some changes in technique.
“He’s been a 50 free guy so long it will be a little bit of a mental thing to incorporate the breaststroke,” Arens said. “I know Mike will respond to the challenge.”
McWhirter and Ernst, both juniors, have been close friends for years and they have a friendly rivalry.
“We’re like brothers,” Ernst said. “We push each other. Mike pushes me in the 50 free and I do the same for him in the 100-yard races.”