Barrington’s Anslem sets sights on state swim title
Rylan Anslem is getting ready to make another splash.
After finishing fourth in the state in the 200-yard freestyle and 400 freestyle as a junior at Barrington last year, he's focused on winning titles at the IHSA meet in late February.
“Real bad,” Anslem said when asked how much he wants to be a state champ. “We've got the start of our championship season coming up here, so we'll see how that goes and hopefully I'll be really close to where I want to be. That's what we've been working for.”
Anslem, who will continue swimming at Penn State, has a work ethic that borders on unbelievable.
In addition to swimming for the Broncos' varsity, Anslem competes year-round with the Barrington Swim Club and was the Illinois Swimming open water male athlete of the year in 2021-22.
Oh yeah, he's also on Barrington’s water polo team.
“I get tired,” Anslem said with a laugh. “But I'm able to survive, and that helps motivate me.”
Alex Mikolajewski is in his first season as the Broncos' varsity boys swim coach, but he's been working with Anslem since he was 11 years old and just getting started at the Barrington Swim Club.
“It's very easy to coach him,” Mikolajewski said. “There are some moments, I've had to blink a couple times and make sure it's real life. I've been around some elite-level athletes that have gone on to the Big Ten, ACC, and there are moments with Rylan where I'm like, 'Is this real life?' more than anybody I've ever been around.”
It's the drive, and the trait was on display again during a morning practice on Saturday.
“There's no resistance whatsoever,” Mikolajewski said. “(Friday) was a tough day, this morning we came in and it was, 'We are going for it.' It's very obvious his goal is to win a state title. There is absolutely no negative notion. Not only that, he leads the way and does it incredibly.”
The Broncos will try defending their Mid-Suburban League title on Feb. 10. From there, it's sectionals at Stevenson High School and on to the state meet at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
“Just watching Rylan work out, we're in an excellent place right now,” Mikolajewski said. “I think when the moment comes, he's going to be able to step up and do his best times.”
Getting to the IHSA state meet is a long process, but Anslem is always on the go and he'll be ready to compete.
“I just have a competitive drive, a drive to win,” he said. “I had some really good teammates that helped push me. That was a big part, just wanting to beat them and being competitive in practice and then taking that into the meets and the state meet.”
After the state meet he'll return to racing for the Barrington Swim Club and play water polo for the Broncos. Then it's off to Big Ten swimming at Penn State.
After getting an offer from the Nittany Lions last February, the USA Swimming Scholastic All-American signed in the fall. Anslem also considered LSU, Utah and Miami (Ohio).
“I liked the campus,” Anslem said of Penn State. “The coach (Tim Murphy) was very personable, texting me and checking up on me. The other coaches, I just seemed like a number. Penn State made me feel special.”