By Becky Walz,
He’s headed to state.
Decorah swim team member Drew Chamberlain blazed his way to a spot at the state swim meet.
The senior will dive into the water in two events at state, which is Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12, at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
Events are qualified on the fastest 32 individual swimmers and 24 relay teams from district competition. There are no classes for swimming; all schools compete against one another.
As a team, the Vikes finished fifth in team standings at the Hempstead district meet Saturday. Decorah put up 183.50 points. Iowa City West claimed the district title with 488 points.
Moving on
In the second event of the day — the 200 free, Chamberlain placed third in the event at districts in 1:47.13. His time was the 20th fastest time in the state, qualifying him to compete in Iowa City. George Holesingler of Dubuque Hempstead won the district title in 1:41.45.
The senior also put up the runner-up time in the 100 back to qualify for a second event at state. Chamberlain touched the wall in 52.78 seconds, just behind Iowa City West’s Holden Carter who stopped the clock at 52.30 seconds. The Decorah swimmer’s time has him seeded 12th entering the state meet.
1. Iowa City West 488; 2. Dubuque Hempstead 323; 3. Cedar Falls 308; 4. Iowa City City High 284; 5. Decorah 183.50; 6. Dubuque Senior 146; 7. Waterloo West 128; 8. Clinton 65.50
Individual race results
*Denotes state qualifier
200 medley relay – 5. Drew Chamberlain, Isaac Knaack, James VanderVelden, Dylan Hogan, 1:44.03
200 free – 3. Chamberlain 1:47.13*; 12. Dominic Bigalk 1:57.01; 14. Gareth Sweet 2:00.18
200 IM – 11. Simon Kutz 2:11.61; 13. Knaack 2:17.13
50 free – 14. Quinn Baumann 24.55; 15. Douglas Bentley 24.66
100 fly – 8. Kutz 58.89; 11. Sweet 59.60; 13. Nat Roberts 1:01.58
100 free – 14. VanderVelden 54.16; 16. John Starrett 54.35; 16. Hogan 54.67
500 free – 10. Bigalk 5:17.73; 12. Mason Cote 5:38.81; 15. Reid Kuehner 5:59.05
200 free relay – 6. Baumann, Starrett, Kutz, Hogan, 1:35.04
100 back – 2. Chamberlain 52.78*; 17. Starrett 1:08.78; 18. Baumann 1:09.32
100 breast – 13. Knaack 1::06.90; 16. VanderVelden 1:09.02; 17. Cote 1:09.51
400 free relay – 5. Knaack, Kutz, Sweet, Chamberlain, 3:29.66
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