Five things to watch, including area qualifiers, in OHSAA state swimming, diving meet
CANTON — The emotions and psychology of an Ohio High School Athletic Association state swimming and diving championship meet can be all over the place for area qualifiers.
The meet runs Tuesday through Saturday at C.T. Branin Natatorium. Diving takes center stage the first two days and then it's on to the pool for the swimming prelims and finals.
Here's five things to know about the meet:
The human side of the OHSAA state swim championships
The big stage in Canton's famous swim house seldom gets taken for granted by a kid from Stark County, or any place close.
Some are justifiably thrilled to be there, and realistic about what can be done. For many over the years, the goal has been to reach the "B finals."
The "A finals" are for the eight fastest qualifying times from prelims, which are conducted the day before finals. All eight get photographed on an awards stand while a packed house generates a noise like none other, given the nature of Branin Natatorium.
The "B finals" are the eight next-best times from prelims. Places 1 through 8 in the "B finals" all score team points.
There are 32 qualifiers in the individual events and 24 in the four-person relays.
For Jackson head coach Doug Nist, like so many others, the anticipation is building.
"It should be exciting," he said. "There are teams from all around the area that are just really good. From a coaching standpoint, you hope you did the right things."
2023 OHSAA swimming, diving championships schedule
The annual OHSAA state swimming and diving championships will be conducted at C.T. Branin Natatorium, near the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here is the schedule:
Tuesday: Boys Division II diving, 9 a.m.; boys Division I diving, 3 p.m.
Wednesday: Girls Division II diving, 9 a.m.; girls Division I diving, 3 p.m.
Thursday: Boys and girls Division II swim prelims, 5 p.m.
Friday: Boys and girls Division I swim prelims, 9 a.m.; boys and girls Division II swim finals, 5 p.m.
Saturday: Boys and girls Division I swim finals, 3 p.m.
Hoover, Jackson Green top locals in Division I girls swim meet
The Federal League is not expected to produce a state champion in the girls Division I meet, but there are plenty of contenders for All-Ohio honors.
Here is the complete list of area qualifiers, according to where they are seeded in their respective events:
Hoover: 200 medley relay (Halle Ellis, Anna Helmuth, Marie Lochridge, Amanda Fetsko), No. 6; 200 freestyle relay (Fetsko, Ava Carosielli, Kate Baxter, Annabelle Nixon), No. 6; 400 freestyle relay (Fetsko, Carosielli, Lochridge, Nixon), No. 8; Nixon, 200 freestyle, No. 8, and 100 freestyle, No. 9; Helmuth, 100 breaststroke, No. 9, and 200 IM, No. 17; Lochridge, 100 butterfly, No. 25; Amanda Fetsko, 100 freestyle, No. 27; Jenna Fetsko, 500 freestyle, No. 32
Green: Sydney Peterson, 100 butterfly, No. 7; 200 medley relay (Olivia Scheibelhoffer, Olivia Elgin, Peterson, Anne Shroyer), No. 8; Elgin, 100 breaststroke, No. 7, and 100 freestyle, No. 12; 400 freestyle relay (Peterson, Swartzwalder, Scheibelhoffer, Elgin), No. 13; Landry Torres, diving, No. 22; Laina Swartzwalder, 500 freestyle, No. 27
Jackson: Nina Shulik, 200 freestyle, No. 9, and 500 freestyle, No. 15; 400 freestyle relay (Abra Manofsky, Annika Ham, Alexis Lewis, Shulik), No. 17; Emmalie Mitzel, diving, No. 19; Manofsky, 50 freestyle, No. 25
Perry: Sophie Baker, 100 backstroke, No. 27
GlenOak: Maya Bautista, diving, No. 28;
Jackson heads area boys Division I seeds
Federal League champion Jackson sends the strongest group of contenders into the boys Division I meet. Here are the area qualifiers and their seeds:
Jackson: Luke Vickers, 100 breaststroke, No. 3, and 200 IM, No. 5; 400 freestyle relay, No. 5; 200 medley relay, No. 6; Ezra Herring, 100 butterfly, No. 10 and 50 freestyle, No. 21; Levi Helllman, diving, No. 10; Holden Nist, 200 freestyle, No. 21, and 500 freestle, No. 23; Andon Haines, diving, No. 23; Daniel Ham, 100 freestyle. Note: Vickers, Ham, Herring and Nist are the swimmers in both relays.
Green: Caleb Carr, 100 breaststroke, No. 8; 200 freestyle relay (Carr, Seth McMillen, Riley Sumption, Camden Doerrer), No. 11; Doerrer, 100 freestyle, No. 21, and 200 freestyle, No. 26; McMillen, 100 breaststroke, No. 31
Hoover: Peter Helmuth, 100 backstroke, No. 9; 200 medley relay (Helmuth, Jack Katigbak, Xavier Allshouse, Carter Black), No. 23
GlenOak: 200 freestyle relay (Noah Fitzsimmons, Kyle Swarny, Blayne Maurer, Alex Click), No. 17
Lake: Michael Blawas, 100 butterfly, No. 29
Marlington, Alliance, Dover, South state swim qualifiers
Three Marlington girls qualified for the state meet in two individual events and two relays. In the Division II boys meet, Dover's Lucas Layne will be among the top handful of swimmers in the pool.
Here are the area qualifiers and their seeds in Division II:
Marlington girls: Claire Cox, No. 2, 100 breaststroke, and 100 freestyle, No. 7; Leah Guess, 100 butterfly, No. 5, and 100 backstroke, No. 8; 200 medley relay, No. 11; Caitlin Cox, 500 freestyle, No. 12, and 200 freestyle, No. 20; 400 freestyle relay, No. 13. Note: Megan Montgomery joins the others in both relays.
Dover girls: 400 freestyle relay, No. 10; Holly Perkowski, 100 butterfly, No. 14, and 200 IM, No. 26; Elizabeth Lane, 100 freestyle, No. 16, and 200 freestyle, No. 31; 200 medley relay, No. 19; 200 freestyle, No. 22; Jenna Leeper, 100 butterfly, No. 29
Dover Boys: Lucas Lane, 100 freestyle, No. 1, and 200 freestyle, No. 2; 400 freestyle relay, No. 6; 200 freestyle relay, No. 8; Cameron Marshall, 500 freestyle, No. 29
Alliance boys: Ben Craig, 100 backstroke, No. 14, and 100 freestyle, No. 22
Canton South boys: Henry Hupp, 100 breaststroke, No. 30
This article originally appeared on The Repository: What you need to know about OHSAA state swimming championships
