Duluth swimmer Joey Zelen able to make his ‘own stories’ – Duluth News Tribune

DULUTH — It’s not precisely straightforward to face out in a household filled with elite swimmers, however Duluth’s Joey Zelen is discovering a method.

His mother and father each swam at North Dakota, as did oldest brother Tyler, till this system was reduce after his sophomore 12 months. Tyler transferred to Wisconsin and

finally brother Ryan adopted him there

. The boys all have barely completely different specialities within the pool, however all of them have one occasion in widespread.

“In our family, whoever has the fastest 50 freestyle time is a big achievement,” Will Zelen, the youngest of the household, mentioned.

Currently, Tyler holds the household report of 19.59 seconds, in keeping with Will, however Joey has been dominant all season within the 50-yard dash. He’s been the “top-ranked” swimmer within the occasion all season, coach Cliff Knettel mentioned, and he set part, pool and group information on the best way to profitable each the 50 free and the 100 yard freestyle on the part meet final weekend.

In reality, Zelen’s time within the 50 of 20.15 seconds was not simply the most effective time to date this season in Minnesota’s Class A by greater than half a second, it routinely certified him as an All-American.

His time of 44.93 seconds within the 100 earned him All-American consideration, and there’s practically as large a niche between him and Mounds View’s Danny Bai as there was between he and Anoka’s Dante Framke within the 50 free.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Like his older brothers, Joey will swim on the NCAA Division I degree. He gained’t do it as a Badger, however with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the place he plans to take over the household report.

“There’s nothing better than a little family Big 10 rivalry,” he mentioned. “I might as well make my own stories.”

Last season,

Zelen completed second 100 free on the Class AA meet final 12 months and third within the 50 free.

“He did very well at state, but I think he felt like there was definitely work yet to be done,” Knettel mentioned. “He set a goal for being a state champion. He’s put in the work in the offseason and during this season to make sure that happened.”

Zelen’s swimming schedule — to not point out faculty — may be grueling. The group practices two hours 4 days per week after faculty, with meets sometimes scheduled on Thursday and Saturday.

Two or three days per week, they may follow earlier than faculty and three days per week he’s lifting weights.

The offseason schedule is “not nearly as intense,” in keeping with Joey.

“It’s just one (pool) session every day for about an hour and a half with our club team and I lift about three days a week,” he mentioned.

It wasn’t simply Joey that has leveled up his follow, all the group appeared to make an analogous dedication this 12 months.

“The practices we’ve done every day have been tough,” senior Lucas Warren mentioned. “That’s the standard that the whole team set this year. All the guys out there — me, Madden (Stone), Will, Keegan (Persons) — all of us have been swimming those same practices.”

The additional work appears to have paid off for the Duluth swimmers. Not solely did two relay groups — the 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle — additionally qualify for state, the 200 freestyle group additionally turned within the prime time in Class AA earlier than the state meet.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

In addition to Joey, the group consists of Will, Stone and Warren — all three of whom certified individually as properly. Will may even compete within the 500 freestyle, Stone within the 200 freestyle and Warren within the 200 particular person medley and the 100 butterfly.

After graduating 9 seniors and sending its most swimmers ever to the state meet in 2025, Knettel thought this might be “a rebuilding year” for Duluth. The group had 27 new swimmers this season, eight that certified for the part meet.

Jed Carlson / Duluth Media Group

Still, the probabilities for Duluth’s first particular person state swimming championships

since Grant Wodny in 2022 when he gained within the 200- and 500-yard freestyle occasions

lie with Joey and his relay teammates. A top-seeded relay group is sort of unprecedented for Duluth swimming and a state champion can be town’s first relay win since a group from Duluth Central in 1955.

The teammates all have their very own abilities within the pool, however just like the Zelen brothers, additionally they have one factor in widespread.

“There’s a bit of diversity among them, but they all happen to be good freestyle sprinters,” Knettel mentioned. “They’re all tremendous athletes and very adept at all strokes. Free sprinting was the one thing they all had in common.”

After one other season the place he rewrote the information he set final season, there’s actually just one factor left for Joey to do in a highschool pool — win a state championship.

“It’s exciting, but it’s scary,” he mentioned. “There’s no second chance — there’s no next year.”

Jamey Malcomb has a been highschool sports activities reporter for the Duluth News Tribune since October 2021. He spent the earlier six years overlaying information and sports activities for the Lake County News-Chronicle in Two Harbors and the Cloquet Pine Journal. He graduated from the George Washington University in 1999 with a bachelor’s diploma in historical past and literature and in addition holds a grasp’s diploma in secondary English schooling from George Mason University.