Tough way to finish for Fremd's Shivakumar

Each year at the state meet there are a handful of swimmers that come agonizingly close to making the championship finals cut. Erik Maczko was off by .03 in the 100 back. Barrington was four-hundredths from advancing past preliminaries in the 400 free relay.

But if you really want to know how difficult it is to miss out on a state medal by the slimmest of margins, go ask Fremd's Varun Shivakumar. The junior had one slip through his hands on Saturday afternoon -- literally.

Although his ninth-place qualifying time on Friday (53.09) prevented him from meeting his goal of top-six in the 100 back, Shivakumar was guaranteed another state medal in the event by making the top-12 cut.

Well, not so fast.

Shivakumar's start to Saturday's consolation finals was not picture-perfect -- the cringe on Fremd coach Nicole LaBeau's face was evidence of that -- but he finished strong between Bloomington's Justin Wolfe and Naperville North senior Conor Handley.

"It was a bad race -- it was nowhere near where I needed to be," said Shivakumar, who took 12th in the event last season in 54.85.

But where he thought he was supposed to be next -- on the blocks to accept a state medal -- was in question. With Shivakumar and St. Ignatius senior Chris Tracz (53.68) playing hot potato with the medal and neither knowing where to go, Shivakumar finally grabbed the 12th-place prize, placed it around his neck and stood on the blocks.

"When the announcer got ready to announce 11th place, I happened to notice it was the Fremd kid so I went over there and said, 'Whoa, wait a minute,' " said meet referee Joe Plack. "The swimmer was disqualified (for a false start) and it was announced."

Shivakumar apparently didn't hear that announcement.

"I was in shock after I found out," he said. "I wish after the race they actually would tell me before I step up on the blocks."

LaBeau tried to offer a positive take to a situation that was anything but.

"He still had a good race, and he knows that," she said. "It wouldn't be any better if he was touched out by a thousandth of a second."

But already having the medal around his neck, Shivakumar might not necessarily agree with that.