(WIAA) – The 56th Annual Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Girls Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14-15, at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium.
MEET INFORMATION: 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
HOW THEY QUALIFIED: In Division 1, each event winner from six sectionals and the next 18 fastest times or scores in the events from all sectionals combined will be added to the heats in each event. In Division 2, each event winner and the next 12 fastest times or scores from all of the four sectionals combined qualified.
BY THE NUMBERS: There are 136 teams sponsoring girls swimming and diving this fall, including 81 in Division 1 and 55 in Division 2.
LAST YEAR: Middleton earned the Division 1 team championship for the second consecutive season, compiling 334 points. Runner-up Verona finished with 211 points. Whitefish Bay won the Division 2 team championship by accumulating 360 points. Edgewood was runner-up with 270 points.
MEET HISTORY: The WIAA began girls swimming and diving championships in 1970 and moved to a two-division format in 1992. Madison area schools have dominated the championships through the years. Either Madison West or Madison Memorial won all the championships through 1983 and all but one of the Division 1 titles since the inception of the two-division format in 1992 up until 2002. Overall, Madison West has won 15 titles, and Madison Memorial has won 14. Next on the list is Arrowhead, which has captured 12 team championships, while Edgewood has eight championships and Shorewood has seven.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 1: Four individual events and all three relays feature their returning champions. The most decorated among the returning champions is senior Ella Antoniewski of Waukesha South/Mukwonago, who is the three-time defending champion in a pair of events. She is seeking her fourth title in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. She is attempting to become the 19th girl to win four championships in an event and only the second to accomplish the feat in two different events. She is again considered the favorite to win both those events based on her qualifying times. Her seed times of 1:49.79 in the 200 freestyle and 4:56.25 in the 500 freestyle are the best in those events entering the State Meet. Senior Olivia Sina is the 2024 champion in the 100-yard backstroke. She qualifies in the event this season with a sectional time of 54.84, which is the swiftest among all qualifiers in the event. Senior Kendall Rummell of Divine Savior Holy Angels returns to defend the title in the diving competition she won last season. She enters with a qualifying score of 505.25, which ranks second among qualifiers. Freshman Hanna Jodlowski of Middleton has the best qualifying score of 508.55. The 200 individual medley is loaded with competitors returning to compete for the gold medal. Five of the top nine finishers in the event last season have qualified again this season, including senior Alyse Block of Oregon, last year’s runner-up, who has the fastest qualifying time in the event with a time of 2:01.16, which is more than two seconds faster than the next-best seed time. Sophomore Jane Garlock of Middleton is the top qualifier in both the 50 and 100 freestyles. She qualifies with a time of 23.38 in the 50 freestyle after finishing third last season. Senior teammate Sulia Miller of Middleton is the highest placing returner after a runner-up finish in 2024. She enters the meet with a qualifying time of 24.20. Garlock has the fastest time in the 100 freestyle at 49.70 after she swam to a second-place finish a year ago. Block may pose the stiffest challenge for the title in the 100 freestyle with experience and the second-fastest relay time of 49.70 after placing third last season, second in 2023 and seventh in 2022. The race for the 100 butterfly title should be competitive with four of the top eight finishers last year returning to the event this season. Among them is senior Caroline Wanezek of Brookfield East, who has recorded the fastest qualifying time of 55.44 after placing fifth last year and in 2023 to go with an eighth-place standing in 2022. Senior Addison Palmer of Badger/Big Foot/Westosha Central/Williams Bay/Wilmot Union is the top returning finisher from last year’s butterfly event, placing fourth. She enters action this week with a qualifying time of 57.00. Junior Brynn Sundell of Middleton could also contend for the title in the butterfly with a time .30 of a second behind Wanezek. Senior Annika Curran of Verona is poised to make a step up on the 100 breaststroke medal stand after finishing runner-up the past two seasons and a sixth-place standing in 2022. She possesses the swiftest qualifying time of 1:02.18. Senior Lauren Konarske could also be in the mix for the title in the breaststroke with a qualifying time of 1:02.18. The four-time qualifier was third last year, seventh in 2023 and eighth in 2022. Middleton is the returning champion in all three relays, and they have the quickest qualifying time in two of those relays. The Cardinals’ 200 freestyle relay enters the meet with the top qualifying time of 1:37.90 and the 400 freestyle relay possesses a seed time of 3:26.26, which is more than three seconds faster than the next-best qualifying time. Oregon has the best qualifying time in the 200 medley relay at 1:44.26, but Middleton’s sectional time is just .22 of a second off that pace.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES-DIVISION 2: There are seven individual events and three relays that feature returning champions seeking additional gold medals. The Dickinson sisters account for four of those individual events. Senior Anne Dickinson returns to the 200 and 500 freestyles after swimming those titles a year ago. She possesses the fastest qualifying time in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.43, which is more than five seconds quicker than the time posted by the next-swiftest competitor, and in the 500 freestyle at 4:46.23, which is more the 32 seconds faster than the next-fastest qualifier. At sectionals last weekend, sophomore Maggie Dickinson recorded a seed time of 23.43 in the 50 freestyle. The next-fastest qualifying time is almost one second off her pace. She also owns the fastest qualifying time in the 100 backstroke after racing to the title last year. She enters competition this week with a seed time of 54.27, more than three seconds better than the next-best time. Senior Hannah Tubbs of Black River Falls/Blair-Taylor/Alma Center Lincoln returns to defend her championship in the 100 freestyle she earned last season after placing sixth in 2023. She has the top qualifying time in the event at 53.54. Junior Aibhy King of Whitefish Bay is in a position to win her second consecutive title in the 100 butterfly after placing fifth in 2023. She enters competition this week with a time of 55.11, which is almost four seconds faster than the next-best qualifying time. Senior Cheyenne Borroughs of Stoughton has sights on a second gold medal in the 100 breaststroke. She qualifies for the championships this week with a time of 1:04.69, which is almost two seconds quicker than the next-fastest seed time. Borroughs just missed securing a position at the top of the awards stand of the 200 individual medley last season, finishing runner-up. She will again contend for the title this season with the fastest qualifying time in the event at 2:08.64, which is more than two seconds better than any other qualifier. Five of the top 10 divers last year return to compete for the title, including sophomore Elsa Nordstrum of Brown Deer/University School of Milwaukee. She is this season’s top qualifier sectional with a score of 397.70 after placing fourth a year ago. Senior Annika Leinweber of Whitefish Bay may also contend for the gold medal after placing third in 2024, entering competition with a qualifying score of 344.15, which ranks sixth among the qualifiers. Whitefish Bay is the returning champion and fastest qualifier this season in each of the relays. The Blue Dukes have posted seed times of 1:45.32 in the 200 medley relay, 1:37.90 in the 200 freestyle relay and 3:31.59 in the 400 freestyle relay.
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