Boys swimming: Rubber duckies belong to Libertyville in win over Vernon Hills

Vernon Hills' senior Caleb Thomson remembers when he first tried out for swimming.

"I didn't like it at all. I remember I jumped in belly first, stopped halfway, took a big gulp, and then finished the lap," said Thomson, who went to Libertyville his freshman year and started swimming his sophomore campaign when he transferred to Vernon Hills.

"Ever since then, this has turned out to be one of my favorite sports. It's so underrated. I love the team aspect and would do anything for these guys. It's also refreshing and doesn't wear you out. I started liking it so much I quit football."

At first, Cougars' head coach Adam Lueken had his reservations.

"He was so sloppy and all over the place," the coach said with a smile. "But he had speed that we could work with."

Thomson, a star baseball player, will attend Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, where he'll play baseball as well as swim.

And now 2 years later and more than 16 seconds off his 50-yard freestyle time, the co-captain did all he could on Wednesday evening when Libertyville came calling for a nonconference dual meet.

Thomson helped get the Cougars off to a fast start after edging Libertyville's Mark Plunkett swimming anchor for the 400 freestyle relay, where he joined David Utsis, Ethan Phua, and Arjuna Vimalarajah to touch in 1:44.81.

"Swimming really helps develop your core," added Thomson, who just missed state last winter and is itching to get to New Trier in a little over a month.

"Hopefully tapering goes well because I really want to finish my senior year off with a bang."

In the last week, Thomson has broken 23 seconds twice, the first coming at the Cougar Invite last weekend.

And with rubber duckies on the line as a reward for the event winners, Libertyville pulled out the last event and a 98-88 decision.

"We finally have everyone here and healthy and really wanted to beat them (Vernon Hills)," said Wildcats' coach Amanda Pechauer, whose team improved to 1-2 in duals this winter.

"We have a lot of guys dropping times and we're excited to see what we can do this weekend at the (Glenbrook South) Titan Relays."

Andrew Bacilek and Mitch Madland are two Wildcats dropping significantly, according to Pechauer.

Madland's night included a victory in the 500 freestyle, where he finished in 5:23.43.

Richie Rush had a nice evening, winning the 200 freestyle (1:54.20) and 100 backstroke (57.26). He also swam anchor on the winning 400 free relay (3:29.41) where he paired with Lawrence Wang, Lukas Vla, and Bacilek.

Wang also won the 100 butterfly (55.28) and Isaac Paul took top honors in diving with 197.90 points over six dives.

Meanwhile, Thomson also won his bread and butter event, the 50 free, in 23.24, followed by the 100 freestyle (52.18). His night concluded with a victory in the 200 free relay, where he swam anchor while joining Preston Li, Alex Utsis, and Ethan Phua to touch in 1:33.94.

Phua also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.11.

Both teams left with six rubber duckies.

"It was something different and fun to do," said Lueken. "There are a lot of friends on both teams. They all swam hard tonight."

And fans of both Libertyville and Vernon Hills also combined to raise over $1,300 on the evening for the Max Schewitz Foundation. Proceeds help with testing and defining possible heart conditions in students.