The Last Chance Meet took place at South’s Boll Natatorium on Tuesday, Feb. 27. South, Dakota and Dexter swimmers were scrambling for the last chance to get a state-qualifying time. At this meet, they are not swimming against each other but against the clock.
Swimmers Joey Drawbaugh and Vince Maffesoli ’24 both competed in the 50 freestyle fighting to get a 22.79 and compete at the state championship. Drawbaugh went a 22.91 and Maffesoli went a 22.83. Since neither swimmer achieved the cut, they decided to time trial the event and swim another 50 yard freestyle. This time around ,they got help from their teammate Ben Bryan ’24 who already has the state cut to pace them, but neither swimmer got the cut. Both swimmers scored a spot on the state team and they will both be on the 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay.
Paul Kaminski ’24 competed in the 100 butterfly to get a 54.99 but just barely missed the cut with a 55.51. Kaminski had a great season and a great 50 butterfly split, which scored him a spot on the state team doing butterfly on the 200 yard medley relay.
Owen Mulcahy ’25 had an entry time of 58.04 in the 100 backstroke but had to go a 57.89 to qualify individually for states. Mulcahy decided to time trial the event and went a 58.1 and had a personal best 50 freestyle split. Mulcahy ’25 had a great meet and scored a spot on the state team for a relay.
This meet was the deciding factor for who was going to participate on each relay. Swimmers had to race each other to earn a spot and going into the state meet the relays are looking strong.
