SYRACUSE – Members of the Wawasee High School girls swim team are prepping themselves for a trip to the state finals. Led by sophomore Breanna Robinson, the Lady Warriors will be represented in three individual events and two relays at Friday’s IHSAA girls state swim meet at IUPUI in Indianapolis. The preliminary round will take place Friday night at 6 p.m., with the top 16 qualifiers advancing to Saturday’s finals, beginning at 1 p.m. Along with Robinson going for titles in the 100 free and 200 free, Wawasee freshman Betsy Bowen will compete in the 100 back, while Robinson anchors the 200 free relay of sophomore Rachel Rozow, sophomore Kendra Miller and freshman Kayla Hershberger, as well as the 400 free relay of Hershberger, Betsy Rozow and Miller. Competing in four events, Robinson claims it’s the relays she’s looking most forward to. “Just because more people are excited for it,” she said. “The relays are definitely the most fun for me.” While the relays may be more fun, her best shot at a state title will be in the individual races. Finishing second in the 200 free at last year’s state finals and third in the 100 free, Robinson has been one of the top-ranked swimmers in those events this year. However, she doesn’t pay much attention to what others think she can do. “I’d say there’s pressure, just because you have everyone looking at you, kind of guessing what you’re going to do,” she said. “The thing is, I really need to focus on myself. I really want to drop time this year and break 1:50 (in the 200 free) and :50 (in the 100 free) this year. That’s kind of my main focus right now and winning a race would be the icing on the cake.” Robinson qualified for the state finals by winning the Northridge Sectional’s 100 free in 51.29 seconds and the 200 free in 1:50.76. At the state meet, she’s the top seed in each event. As a freshman, Robinson lost to Zionsville’s Zoe Mattingly in the 200 free, while Chesterton’s Olivia Kabacinski and Mattingly finished first and second in the 100 free, respectively, followed by Robinson in third. With Mattingly and Kabacinski now graduated, it would seem logical that Robinson would be a clear-cut favorite this year, but that’s not the case. Coming into the 200 free with a seed time of 1:50.76, Robinson is followed closely by Carmel freshman Claire Adams’ 1:50.82 time. In the 100 free, another Carmel freshman is looking to spoil the party, as Robinson’s see time of 51.29 is just faster than Veronica Burchill’s 51.53. “I swam with a lot of them during age group, so I’m familiar with the girls,” Robinson said. “Everybody seems to be swimming really fast, so I’m going to go down and give it my all. I would really love to win a race this year.” The freshmen bursting onto the scene is kind of expected, and Wawasee coach Julie Robinson doesn’t think it’s a trend that will end anytime soon. “In the next couple of years, you’re going to see even more freshmen come in that are amazingly fast,” Julie Robinson said. “Like Breanna said, she’s swam with a lot of those girls (during the club swimming season), and they’re just getting faster and faster.” One thing Robinson will have over the freshmen is experience, having made the journey last year and achieving success at the same time. “I think she’s going to be able to handle the Friday-night pressure better,” Julie Robinson, the mother of Bre, said. “She handled it so well last year, but I give Brittany (Robinson) a lot of credit for preparing her for Friday night. That’s where you see a lot of freshmen struggle. Brittany had her prepared. This year, she’s done it before, so hopefully she’ll be able to go down and swim her best.” Brittany is Bre’s older sister, who’s now swimming at Louisville and swam in eight individual races at state, winning last year’s 100 fly championship. With Brittany gone this year, Julie doesn’t think Bre will feel lost out there. “Bre is a very unique individual,” Julie said. “She’s been very goal oriented. She’s always led herself and never really had to have someone pull her along. She’s very independent, both in and out of the water. For her, she set her goals at the beginning of the season, and like last year, she’s continued to work toward those goals.” At state, many swimmers will take themselves out of relays to focus on their individual races, but that’s not the case for Wawasee. “Both of Bre’s individual races come before the relays,” Julie said. “She will already have those done. We’ll see how it goes. She’ll definitely swim the 200 free (relay) and if the evening changes and she changes her mind, we can always opt out and put an alternate in.” In-between the 200 free and 400 free relays will be the 100 back, where Betsy Bowen is seeded 30th. With just the top 16 advancing on to Saturday’s finals, she knows there’s a chance, but she’ll have to have a career night. “It’ll be a long shot, but I have a shot,” Rozow said. At the sectional, she won the 100 back in 1:10.48, and whether or not she advances to Saturday’s finals, her coach is pleased with what she’s seen. “Betsy has done amazingly well this year,” Julie Robinson said. “She has continued to drop times. She worked hard. For her as a freshman to go down in an individual event is exciting.” Including relay alternates, Wawasee will have nine swimmers at the state meet – five sophomores and four freshmen. With such a young team, its coach hopes to build on success, as the team finished 13th at the state meet a year ago “We have a couple good 8th graders coming in next year, so we’re going to keep building our team each year,” she said. Warsaw will be represented at state by juniors Ashley Van Wormer and Cynthia Juarez. Juarez won the 500 free in a time of 5:31.72 at the Warsaw Sectional, while Van Wormer advanced by winning the 100 breast in 1:07.75.
