The 54th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 10-11, at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium.
The Division 2 championships will be held Friday, with the Division 1 championships to follow on Saturday. The Division 2 diving competition begins at 1:30 p.m., and the swimming finals are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. The Division 1 diving competition is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the swimming events to begin at 2:30 p.m. The swimming events will run consecutively following the first event's starting time on the respective days. Here is the order of events (all events in yards):
Order of Events:
1. Diving
2. 200 Medley Relay
3. 200 Freestyle
4. 200 Individual Medley
5. 50 Freestyle
6. 100 Butterfly
7. 100 Freestyle
8. 500 Freestyle
9. 200 Freestyle Relay
10. 100 Backstroke
11. 100 Breaststroke
12. 400 Freestyle Relay
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: Three individual events and all three relays feature former champions returning to the State Meet. Among the returning champions is sophomore Ella Antoniewski of Waukesha South/Mukwonago, who is the defending champion in a pair of events. She is seeking her second consecutive title in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. She should be considered the favorite to win both those events again based on her qualifying times. Her seed time of 1:49.08 in the 200 freestyle and her 4:50.33 in the 500 freestyle are the best in those events entering the State Meet. Senior Audrey Olen of Brookfield East finished fifth in the 200 freestyle and should again compete for a medal with the second swiftest time to Antoniewski at 1:51.85. There are a number of challengers to Antoniewski in the 500 freestyle, including senior Kennedy Rainwater of Brookfield Central, who is a four-time qualifier. She placed fourth last season, fifth in 2021 and ninth in 2020. Senior Tait Haag of Middleton and sophomore Bridget Corro of Muskego are also in position to medal after placing fifth and sixth a year ago, respectively. The other individual returning champion is senior Maggie Wanezak of Brookfield East, who is back to defend the crowns she won the past two years in the 100 backstroke after finishing runner-up in 2020. Her seed time of 52.21 is more than three seconds faster than the next best qualifying performance. Other experienced swimmers are that placed in the top 10 last season are seeking to contend for a medal in the event. Among those are senior Elizabeth Beam of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial, who was runner-up last year, fourth in 2021 and ninth in 2020; sophomore Emmy Meyer of Muskego, who was third in 2022; senior Karlee Marusik of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial, who was fourth last year, 16th in 2021 and seventh in 2020; senior Isabelle Barger of Germantown who was fifth last year and 12th in 2021; and sophomore Klare Pilger of Stevens Point, who was sixth. Wanezak is also the fastest qualifier in the 200 individual medley with a seed time of 2:01.33, which is nearly two seconds quicker than the next-fastest qualifier. Others challenging for medal finishes are a number of competitors placing in the top 10 in 2022. Among them are sophomore Haley Johnson of Arrowhead, who finished third; senior Allison Greeneway of Appleton North, who was fourth; and senior Gabi Augustyn of Eau Claire Memorial, who placed sixth. The 50 freestyle should be hotly contested with five swimmers returning from top-seven finishes in last year’s meet. Senior Olivia Wanner of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial is the top returner after placing third last year, fourth in 2021 and ninth in 2020. Senior MacKenzie Thomas of the Badger/Big Foot/Westosha Central/Williams Bay/Wilmot co-op is another four-time qualifier in the event, placing seventh last year and in 2021, and third in 2020. Other experienced swimmers competing for a title are sophomore Alyse Block of Oregon, who placed fourth last year; senior Averi Larsen of the Burlington co-op, who was fifth; and junior Jillian Holler of Madison Memorial, who was sixth the past two seasons. Wanner also possesses the quickest sectional time in the 100 freestyle at 49.82. She was third the past two seasons and sixth in 2020. To win the gold, she will need to fend off four returning swimmers that placed in the top 10, including Olen, who was sixth in the event the past two seasons. In the 100 butterfly, junior Sophia Brueggeman of Brookfield Central is the top returning qualifier after a runner-up finish last season after placing 10th in 2021. Junior Carley Larson of De Pere/West De Pere has the fastest qualifying time at 54.96 after she placed ninth two years ago. Three other returning competitors in the event looking to return to the awards stand this week are senior Isabella Gnewuch of Verona, who placed fourth in 2022; junior Julia Saxman of Germantown, who was fifth; and senior Dani Stemper of Arrowhead, who was sixth. It’s a crowded field of medal and title contenders in the 100 breaststroke as seven participants who finished in the top 10 last year have qualified again this season. Augustyn enters the meet with the fastest qualifying time of 1:03.76. Sophomore Haley Johnson of Arrowhead is the highest finisher returning after placing third last year. Among the other experienced contenders are Thomas, who placed fourth the past three seasons, and sophomore Annika Curran of Verona, who was sixth last year. In the diving competition, senior Wylde Chupich of the Badger/Big Foot/Westosha Central/Williams Bay/Wilmot co-op has finished runner-up the past two years. She enters competition with the best sectional qualifying score of 555.30. Junior Fynn Langley of Germantown is another strong contender for the championship, entering the meet with the second-best qualifying performance of 536.20 after placing third last year. Senior Clara Newman of Brookfield East also has her sights on another medal after placing fourth last season. Brookfield East is the returning champion in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays. The Spartans have won the past four titles in the 200 medley relay and the past three championships in the 400 freestyle relay. They have the top qualifying time in the 200 medley relay at 1:44.27 and the third-fastest 400 freestyle relay time at 3:30.10. The Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial co-op has the fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay, turning in a sectional time of 3:28.35. Arrowhead is the returning champion in the 200 freestyle relay, but it is the Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial relay that owns the best seed time at 1:35.44.
