Rosary needs to swim faster for shot at 5th straight state title

Looking at raw numbers, Rosary did just about everything it needed to do in order to defend its state title last week at the Metea Valley sectional.

The Beads qualified a large number of swimmers for this weekend’s state meet in Evanston, and did so without resting those athletes. So when preliminaries start Friday and the finals take place on Saturday, the hope is that Rosary is well-poised to win its fifth straight championship.

But there’s another side to all this accomplishment. The Beads’ seeds in every event are in the middle of the pack. Pre-meet scoring means little, though it does give a sense as to which teams are in the hunt for the title. Based on that, New Trier has 175 points, Lake Forest sits on 127 and Downers Grove North “scores” 118. Rosary is 10th with 53 points.

“It was interesting,” Rosary coach Bill Schalz said. “We did a great job getting everyone qualified. We had one swim we thought we’d get in and didn’t. We won the meet and felt it was a great meet, but it was frustrating. The kids who had cuts didn’t swim as fast as we thought they would.”

If the Beads are to move into contention, they clearly need to swim faster in the state meet. Given that the team’s tapered resting period is coming to a close, those time drops are almost guaranteed. But will it be enough?

“Because our top swimmers are all upperclassmen and have done this before, we might have overlooked the sectional a bit maybe,” Schalz said. “Clearly they’re looking at state and at the end of the day, that’s a good thing.”

In order to improve to the point they need to, the Beads will have to swim fast from outside lanes. There is a difference of opinion as to whether this is a hindrance or not. Evanston has a six-lane pool, as opposed to New Trier, the other school which hosts state swim meets, which has an eight-lane pool. Heats are set for six swimmers.

When a swimmer moves through the water, she displaces that water with her stroke. The best 18 swimmers swim in “the circle” and get middle lanes from which to swim in prelims. A swimmer who moves ahead of the pack from a middle lane swims through the calmest water available, which means less resistance to the swimmer and creates the setting for fast swimming.

On the edges, displaced water heads to the wall and moves back though drainage gutters help.

“I think the biggest challenge for us is that we’re going to be doing some racing on Friday,” Schalz said. “We’re going to have to get up and swim. There are pros and cons to the outside lanes. Even in those lanes, if you get ahead, you’ll be in calm water. With a good gutter system, the water might hit the wall but then go into the gutter. Some coaches feel the outside lanes are actually faster.”

Schalz said lane placement, overall, doesn’t matter so long as the swimmer is ready to perform.

“Psychologically, there is an advantage if you’re in the circle,” Schalz said. “Really, it doesn’t matter, because we can’t sit and worry what lanes they’re in. They have to go and swim fast to get into finals on Saturday.”

Athlete by athlete, Schalz said he thinks his team can move up from its pre-meet unofficial placing.

“We start with Rachel Burke in the 100 (yard) and 200 free and she was in the finals in both a year ago,” Schalz said. “Sarah Sykstus was in the 50 and 500 and scored. This year, she’s in the 200 IM and the 100 fly. She scored in two events last year that weren’t her best events, and this year, she’s swimming her best events.

“Molly Coonce transferred from Iowa and swam for a small team in Illinois her freshman year and has the strong potential to score. Emily Launer scored in both her events last year. Grace Miller is diving very well and is a contender to finish in the top 12. And then there is GiSun Pak, who qualified last year and Katherine Hare, who will swim all three relays for us.”

Add it up and Schalz said the potential is there though New Trier and the other schools ahead of Rosary must drop points even as the Beads gain them.

“All of our kids can score,” Schalz said. “We have swimmers in every event who are capable of scoring and we’re going to need every kid to step up and swim. We’re going to need a full-team effort to win the state meet.”

St. Charles East and St. Charles North do not harbor ambitions of lifting a state trophy this weekend, but each has lofty goals for personal as well as team achievement.

At St. Charles East, the Saints swam through the sectional meet unrested, which is a psychological barrier to cross as the team moves back toward its place among the state’s elite.

Individually, the Saints’ best hopes for a top 6 finish rest with junior Emma Smith, who is seeded fourth in the 200 individual medley and fifth in the 500 freestyle.

“Like everyone, she’s had her struggles this season and has come out on the other side in good shape,” St. Charles East coach Joe Cabel said. “We didn’t taper much for last weekend. We’re trying to get back pointing toward the state meet and we struggled last week to get through it.”

Smith has the misfortune of swimming in two of the more competitive events in what is sure to be, like always, a very fast state meet.

“Those events will be filled with All-Americans across the board,” Cabel said.

Helping Smith is her mental approach to the sport, Cabel said. The Saints are, overall, a very intelligent team. They garnered the highest GPA among all the school’s teams in 2009-10.

“They all want to understand the science behind the sport,” Cabel said. “They know there’s a practical application to making changes. (Smith’s) very smart about how she swims.”

Cabel said Smith likes to enjoy time with her teammates, but transforms behind the blocks into a terrier.

“If she’s not having fun, she’s probably not too much interested in it,” Cabel said. “But when she’s behind the blocks and has her game face on, I wouldn’t want to be in the water next to her.”

Cabel also named sophomore Nicole Chapko and freshman Stephanie Garvin as swimmers who could make an impact this weekend.

“We set our goals at the start of the season, the girls did it,” Cabel said. “They turned in that they wanted to be a top 10 team, and right now, we don’t look like top 10 material. But I think we’re going to go faster on Friday and get 50-60 points and get into the top 10. I know that’s a bold statement, but I think there’s a lot left in the tank.”

St. Charles North finished second to St. Charles East at sectionals a week ago. The North Stars have unrested relays set to drop a lot of time at Evanston and individuals such as Lauren Zima and Jennifer Clay ready to score highly as well.

“You want to go to the state meet and succeed regardless of whether you’re in the team race or not,” Rooney said. “We’re going to go there and aim to get lifetime bests and measure ourselves against the best swimmers in the state.”

Clay, a senior, comes into the meet unrested in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.

“She came up to me a couple of weeks ago and said that she swam great last year at sectionals and only OK at state,” Rooney said. “She said ‘I want to shave and rest for state.’ She swam in the sectional in a ratty old suit in true old-fashioned form. Her seeds aren’t the greatest, but I think she could do something surprising.”

A junior, Zima missed qualifying in the 100 butterfly by two-tenths of a second last year. She is seeded 10th in the event this year and also qualified in the 500 freestyle.

“She has been a rock,” Rooney said. “Her thing is confidence and’s got it. She got confidence this summer when she made the national cut in the 200 butterfly. She’s been a leader all year long. The 100 fly is a tough race, but she’s got the stroke and the ability to do some good things.”

Rooney also said freshman Allie Smith could be a star in the making as she swims on all three relays.

“We still have that core group swimming,” Rooney said. “The relays are not rested, and that’s a positive thing. Some of them wore their fast suits but they were not rested.”