Shorewood Swimmers Finish Sixth at State

All night long, everybody could see it coming.

 Shorewood’s boys swimming team was climbing the charts slowly but surely at the Division 2 State Swim Meet at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium in Madison.

The Greyhounds found themselves in fourth place with just one event to go, the 400 freestyle relay.

Despite finishing with what would have been a school-record time of 3 minutes, 16 seconds, good enough for fourth overall, everyone who was watching Shorewood’s lane two knew it wouldn’t stand as they committed a false start during the race.

“The guys swam well, exceptionally well today,” Shorewood head coach Rob McCabe said. “They just got excited on that exchange, but I can’t say enough about how we swam as a team.”

Had their time upheld, the Greyhounds would have finished with 159 points, good enough for fourth place, the same result the school accomplished last year.

Instead, after the disqualification, Shorewood fell to sixth place and was just on the outside of the podium.

Despite the final race, McCabe was proud of his team’s record performance in the pool.

“They dropped times,” McCabe said. “Kaz (Kasmir Bohannon) set a school record in the 100 free. Andrew Eder set a school record in both the 50 free and the 100 breaststroke. The 200 relay team set a school record. That would’ve been a school record, the 400 freestyle relay…It was a record day.

“We just had the ball rolling, but it’s just a little unfortunate," he said. "It stings here at the end a little bit.”

In the 50 freestyle, Andrew Eder set a school record with a time of 21.69 and finally beat teammate Bohannon (21.76) in the friendly rivalry they’ve been having all season. Unfortunately for both Shorewood swimmers, it was just short of the time posted by Fort Atkinson’s Evan Hill (21.48).

Other events Shorewood medaled in were the 200 freestyle relay (third), the 100 breaststroke (Eder, fourth), and the 100 freestyle (Bohannon, second).

McCabe said the team has been working toward the goal of doing well at state all year and despite the last race, he said you have to look at the big picture to really see how this team did.

“All season long we swam well,” McCabe said. ”We lost one dual meet all season long. We were third at conference. We won the sectional meet for the area for the first time in school history.

"In each meet, the kids were able to rise up and do their best performances at the highest level of competition, and that’s what you want as a coach and that’s what you want as an athlete,” he said.