INDIANAPOLIS — While Carmel was winning its 27th-straight girls swimming state championship Saturday, Wawasee sophomore Bre Robinson was looking for a couple individual titles. The Carmel Greyhounds won Saturday’s IHSAA state title at IUPUI in Indianapolis with 397 points, extending the nation’s longest streak of current state championships, with Penn finishing a distant second with 189 points. Carmel’s 27-consecutive titles is tied with the Michigan’s Pickford High School boys track and field team (1952-78), and only trails the national record of 29, set by Hawaii’s Punahou High School boys swim team between 1958 and 1986. “Carmel has a lot of things over the other teams, with one being they don’t need to taper down at all for their sectional,” Wawasee coach Julie Robinson said. “Their kids don’t even need to swim hard for their sectional. When they come into state, they’re completely fresh. Then, they live down here.” And Carmel’s future looks bright as two of its freshmen won the two events in which Bre Robinson swam in. In the 200 free, Carmel freshman Claire Adams, who swam the event in 1:48.19 at Friday’s prelims, and Robinson went back-and-forth before Robinson faded down the stretch. Adams won the event in 1:49.25, while Robinson was third in 1:49.71, sandwiching Western junior Summer Brown’s second-place time of 1:49.30. During the week, Robinson had said all she was gunning for was finishing under 1:50 and a win would just be ‘icing on the cake.’ However, once the race was over, she didn’t feel that way. “Definitely not,” she said when asked if she was content with breaking 1:50 but not winning. I wanted to win really bad. I did break 1:50, so I have to be happy with that.” Robinson had another shot at a championship, where, like the 200 free, she was seeded third. Getting off to a great start, Robinson led about 85 of the 100 yards, but Carmel freshman Veronica Burchill came back to win in 50.29, followed by Mt. Vernon sophomore Clara Baggett in second (50.46) and Robinson in third (50.67). After failing to win the 200 free title, Robinson seemed to remain upbeat, but the finish in the 100 free was more disappointing. “The 100 free is her favorite race,” Julie Robinson said. “She definitely wanted it more and she didn’t swim it as relaxed as her 200. I think it was just the pressure she put on herself.” As a freshman, Robinson finished second in the 200 free in 1:50.63 and third in the 100 free in a time of 50.74. This season, she entered Friday’s prelims as the top seed in both events, which may have led to her mind affecting her more than she had anticipated. “I felt really good in warm-ups and I was really excited,” she said. “I just think the difference between this year and last year was there was a little more pressure.” And her mom/coach noticed the pressure getting to her daughter during the stretch of each event she swam. “I’m so proud of her,” Julie Robinson said. “She came out here and she raced as hard as she could. When you get that excitement and you come in seeded first, the pressure that is on you is unimaginable. She’s had to deal with that all week, and you could see it in her races when she got a little tight at the finish.” Along with the tightness, the last 25 yards displayed the length of Robinson’s opponents, as she was at least a head shorter than all of them. “Bre is definitely tiny for her races,” Julie said. “When it comes to the finishes, it is a very big disadvantage for her. She doesn’t have the arm reach, but when you watch her swim, she swims tall. But those turns and finishes are hard to overcome.” Despite the height differential, Bre’s showed she can compete with the best, which will most likely result in a Division I scholarship. And after she was dressed and ready to leave IUPUI's Natatorium, she was able to reflect on the races, critiquing each yard. “I definitely tried to do my best, but looking back, I think there were little things I could have changed,” she said. With two more years left at Wawasee, she’s sure to have more opportunities.
