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Tiger Sharks ready to take a bite out of state
Whether it's the first time or the fourth, qualifying for the IHSAA Swimming State Finals is special for any swimmer.
So it is with the four Greencastle Tiger Sharks making the trek to the IUPUI Natatorium on Friday evening for the prelims of the state meet.
It is the fourth and final state appearance for senior Nash Firebaugh, while teammates Nathan Gardner, Taylor Secrest and Elijah Brattain are making their first trip to the finals.
Firebaugh is seeded seventh in the 100 butterfly, while the 200 freestyle relay is seeded 26th.
"It's really exciting. It's been a dream for a while and it's a great way to end my senior year," Gardner said. "We've been training together for like four years and it's so exciting to go, finally, all together."
Gardner and Firebaugh will finish their high school swimming careers at state this weekend, a chance only the best swimmers get.
"It's a big accomplishment to get to go the fourth time," Firebaugh said. "I've always wanted to go with a relay, so that's a big accomplishment for our team."
Even as juniors with another chance to make it to state next year, Brattain and Secrest are savoring the experience.
"I'm feeling pretty confident. Unlike sectionals, we don't have a whole lot to lose," Brattain said. "There's not a whole lot of pressure on us or anything. We already got the school record, so I think we're just going in with the mindset of just beat our own record and see if we can make it to Saturday or not."
Secrest had not set foot inside the IUPUI Natatorium before a Wednesday practice session at the facility. He was impressed but believes he is now past any initial awe he had of the place.
"It was really exciting," Secrest said. "I'd never been in a space so big as that. It was really breathtaking to see the stands and how large the place was.
"I feel comfortable in that pool after swimming up there for a couple of hours," Secrest added. "It's refreshing. That pool is kind of cold, actually. But it's totally different, and I feel like the atmosphere will help me perform in my swim."
Coach Kent Menzel took the team to Indianapolis for a practice session for precisely this reason. While three of the four swimmers have experience in the pool, Menzel said it is good to get acclimated to the pool again.
"It helped to learn a lot about the environment, the blocks and using the walls," Menzel said. The far wall in particular, which is a bulkhead rather than an actual wall, is "visually very different" from many of the pools the high school swimmers are accustomed to.
Add the motivation of a large natatorium with loads of history and it was a good trip to Indianapolis. It also did not hurt that the GHS swimmers had the competition pool to themselves during the practice period.
"Our own world-class natatorium, just for us," Menzel said.
With no competing traffic, the GHS swimmers even had their pick of lanes.
"That was really exciting," Gardner said. "We got in our lane that we're going to be in tomorrow, which was really cool that we got to practice in it. Just nailing everything perfect so that we're really ready."
The relay of Firebaugh, Secrest, Gardner and Brattain will swim in lane five of the second heat of the 200 freestyle relay. Their seed time of 1:28.48 puts them second-fastest in the heat, .03 seconds behind Twin Lakes.
In the 100 butterfly, Firebaugh will be in lane three of the fifth and final heat.
His seventh seed at a time of 50.60 is a testament to the state of competition in Indiana this season. A year ago, his seed time was .7 seconds slower and he was seeded sixth.
Likewise, Firebaugh qualified for state in the 50 freestyle last season, but a sectional time a half-second faster left him on the outside looking in this season.
"It kind of was a disappointment not to go in the 50, but it's fine," Firebaugh said. "My main event's the 100 fly and it's the best shot I had at the top eight.
"It's going to be a fast state meet."
The senior also said that having three teammates training with him this week has helped his preparation.
"It makes it a lot easier, the whole week just practicing," Firebaugh said. "The last couple of years there's only been a couple teammates just swimming for fun and to keep me happy. It's hard to swim by yourself. It's a lot of fun."
His two teammates who will return next year look to keep Greencastle swimmers coming back in the future.
"We have to have some other teammates step up because we're graduating two of our other relay members," Secrest said. "But I'm pretty confident we'll make another relay back there to the state meet next year."
Brattain feels even better about his team's chances.
"We're obviously losing a lot of our seniors this year, Brattain said, "but we also have some freshmen coming up and some sophomores this year that are going to be a key part of our team next year and upcoming juniors that are going to be seniors next year to make a good core of the team.
"I think, honestly, next year we'll have some individuals move on as well as have some relays move on. So it's some good prepping for next year as well."
The IHSAA State Finals begin at 6 p.m. Friday at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.