Whitefish Bay repeats at WIAA Division 2 state ladies swim and dive

• The Whitefish Bay ladies swim workforce gained its second consecutive WIAA Division 2 state title.
• The workforce gained eight of 12 occasions and set three Division 2 state meet information.
• Senior Anne Dickinson set two particular person state information whereas honoring a late swimmer from a rival college.
• Whitefish Bay’s senior class was credited by coaches for altering this system’s tradition and main it to back-to-back championships.

(This story was edited to appropriate a mistake referring to a fourth place end for Kate Antonelli)

After a breakthrough 2024 season led to this system’s first WIAA state title, Whitefish Bay let the statewide ladies swim neighborhood know it’s right here to stick with a dominant repeat efficiency Nov. 14 at Waukesha South Natatorium.

The Blue Dukes gained eight of the 12 occasions on the 56th annual WIAA ladies swimming and diving championships, setting three WIAA Division 2 state meet information whereas scoring 22 extra factors than the 2024 title-winning workforce.

The information started to fall within the first two swim occasions, beginning with a 200-yard medley relay workforce of sophomore Maggie Dickinson, senior Kate Antonelli, junior Aibhy King and sophomore Julia Burrall that gained in 1:44.32. The time bested the earlier D2 state file set by Edgewood of 1:44.51 in 2019.

Senior Anne Dickinson adopted within the 200 freestyle with a win in 1:47.60, which was .04 of a second sooner than Edgewood’s Izzy Enz’s 2022 file time of 1:47.64. Later within the 500 freestyle, Anne gained by greater than 30 seconds along with her time of 4:44.09, which additionally eclipsed Autumn Haebig of Grafton’s 2016 file time of 4:47.79.

Whitefish Bay coach Douglas Dickinson was notably proud to see his daughter Anne stroll away along with her fifth particular person profession gold and ninth together with relays.

“(Anne) wasn’t sure she was gonna be able to break the 200 record she did. She knew she was gonna break the 500 record and she crushed it, so that was just 12 months in the making,” coach Dickinson mentioned.

The Indiana University commit was a part of a senior class that have been the collective lynchpin of the repeat effort. Antonelli added a fourth within the 200 IM (2:11.28), a fifth within the 100 breaststroke (1:07.27) and led off the profitable 200 freestyle relay workforce (1:37.47) additionally together with sophomore Vivian Utschig, junior Cassidy Shanks and Anne Dickinson.

“We only lost one senior last year, so we knew we were going to be in a good position,” coach Dickinson mentioned. “This is a senior-driven team between Anne and Kate and Annika and Maddie. They pretty much led the crew the whole way.”

Fellow Blue Dukes coach Jenny Holtzen went a step additional when summing up the contributions of the seniors over the previous few years main as much as this system’s first two state titles.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say a lot of our seniors are program-changing, culture-changing. The way the program was when they came in versus how they left it is just completely different, and I think it’s just a testament to what they were able to build upon,” Holtzen mentioned.

Whitefish Bay will nonetheless carry loads of expertise into 2026, led by King. Her effort within the 2025 state meet included a person win within the 100 butterfly (:54.92), a second within the 200 IM (2:08.09), a leg of the record-setting 200 medley relay and main off the profitable 400 freestyle relay workforce (3:27.06) additionally that includes Shanks and each Dickinson sisters. Maggie Dickinson repeated as gold medalist in each the 50 freestyle (:23.60) and 100 backstroke (:53.70), Burrall completed third within the 100 backstroke (:58.36), Shanks took fourth within the 100 freestyle (:53.69) and Utschig positioned fifth within the 200 freestyle (1:57.44).

“I think we’ve kind of figured out our formula now, where we know how to kind of push the girls and get them to swim well,” Holtzen mentioned. “Being state champions is awesome, but there’s that aspect of just trying to swim faster than you did the last time.”

The pursuit of a 3rd straight title would require that subsequent wave of leaders to step up, and King mentioned she is amongst these prepared to just accept the problem.

“Really the team is what makes (high school) so special. As a senior, I would absolutely love to be one of those mentors and somebody people can look up to, because I think that’s what makes it so fun and special,” King mentioned.

Anne Dickinson carried late Nicolet swimmer’s reminiscence to state gold

Written on Anne Dickinson’s proper forearm was a easy eight-letter tribute to a late buddy and fellow member of the Milwaukee swim neighborhood who was misplaced earlier this yr.

“For Grant”

The message referred to late Nicolet High School swimmer Grant Freeze, who died of accidents sustained in an Oct. 1 automotive accident. He was 16 years outdated.

“I talked to his mom like a month ago and she said that he was trying to set as many pool records as possible, so I kind of wanted to carry on his legacy, be able to swim as fast as I could for him, because he really loved the sport of swimming,” Anne Dickinson mentioned. “I got it done tonight. That was really special for me.”

The Nicolet and Whitefish Bay High School swim groups gathered to recollect Freeze on Oct. 7, with attendees holding indicators, a second of silence and group hugs for the 2 applications separated by lower than three miles.

“It showed how much strength that we have and how much love for each other. It was a tough thing to go through for a lot of members of our team, but overall it was just really a lot of celebration of his life and love for the sport,” Anne Dickinson mentioned.

Brown Deer/University School’s Nordstrum wins 1-meter dive

A season after she burst on to the scene as a freshman with a fourth-place end at D2 state, Elsa Nordstrum discovered her technique to the highest of the rostrum. It was a wire-to-wire title win for Nordstrum, who endured a late push from Whitefish Bay senior Annika Leinweber to win by one tenth of a degree, 421.75-421.65. Nordstrum was in command after the preliminary spherical, 208.00-200.95 over Wauwatosa West’s Jessica Thompson. By the semifinal spherical, her lead had ballooned to 327.70-304.60 over Thompson. Leinweber was not far behind after the semifinals with a rating of 297.75 and made her transfer with a robust ultimate spherical of dives. Thompson (407.85) fell to 3rd, whereas Tosa West freshman teammate Allison DiCastri positioned fifth (337.60).

Shorewood locations fourth as workforce, led by Miota, Simon and Quandt

The Shorewood Greyhounds (197) positioned fourth, matching their finest workforce end on the state meet courting again to 2021. Among the main performances have been a second within the 100 butterfly by junior Tess Miota (:58.46), thirds within the 200 (1:56.70) and 500 (5:16.49) freestyle occasions by junior Lauren Simon, and fifths within the 100 freestyle (:54.03) and 100 backstroke (:58.92) by sophomore Addison Quandt. The Greyhounds additionally had a 200 freestyle relay workforce of Miota, Quandt, sophomore Nina Neumyer and Simon place third (1:39.02), a 400 freestyle relay workforce of freshman Anna Kim, junior Heidi Lotter, Neumyer and Simon place fourth (3:40.12) and a 200 medley relay workforce of Quandt, sophomore Hannah Pagels, Miota and Neumyer place fifth (1:51.95).

Other space podium highlights

• Port Washington freshman Amanda Lotz completed second in each the 200 freestyle (1:51.95) and 100 backstroke (:57.09).
• Whitnall junior Mya Miles positioned sixth within the 100 freestyle (:54.14).
• Wauwatosa West junior Kaia Kunz took sixth within the 100 breaststroke (1:07.84).