Lansing places third at Section IV Championships

Postseasons are the exception, not the rule this year in high school athletics. Fortunately, for boys swimming, virtual competition allowed for both IAC and Section IV Championships, the latter of which took place from Feb. 25 to 27. Lansing had a strong performance, finishing third out of eight teams at the Class C level after a fourth-place finish last season.

Many Lansing swimmers will be back next year to continue improving on those results, with only one senior on this year’s roster. One, in particular, is junior Xander Tavares, who placed third in the 100-yard backstroke and was part of two fourth-place relay teams at the Section IV Championships.

This year, every school competed at its own pool, and times were compared after the fact. While Tavares had positive results in both championship events, finishing second in the 100-yard backstroke at the IAC Championships, he missed the big-event feel of the championships of years past.

“It was certainly far different,” Tavares said. “Something I noticed more than pretty much anything else was how quiet it was. Usually, you have double the people, if not triple, yelling for their teammates and cheering them on. It didn’t feel as competitive because you only had the same people to go against each time. [The championships] felt not as grand as they were. They just felt almost like a time trial set. A higher energy, but otherwise, not much different [than the regular season].”

In fact, with the lack of true competition and a shorter schedule, Tavares feels that this year was a step back. But with more seniors set to be on the roster next year than they’ve had for multiple seasons, good things are coming for Lansing boys swimming.

“Next year, we’re going to try to recruit more guys,” Tavares said. “We’re going to have at least four or five seniors. We’re just going to try to expand the swim team because we’re only losing one guy.”

While the team remained socially distant, Tavares feels they grew closer together. There were challenges that came with virtual competition and competing during COVID-19 that the team was able to overcome.

“It definitely got us to adapt,” Tavares said. “We had to figure that out. I feel like we got closer together as a team, more bonded. We usually host a pasta party before every meet, for example, and we figured out how to do a virtual version of that using video calls.”

The feeling that Tavares described when discussing next season was one of relief. A return to normalcy is exactly what he is looking forward to next time he and the Bobcats enter the pool. Looking back at this year, though, he was happy with how everything went.

“I’m just really, really proud of everyone who participated in [the season],” he said. “I know there were a few people who didn’t, but it was great for those who did. Generally, even if we didn’t perform quite as well, I think it was a successful season.”

Looking at Lansing’s results from the Section IV Championships, the team’s lone senior, Samuel Debbie, placed third in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke. Junior Zachary Hwang was a standout swimmer for the Bobcats as well, placing second in the 100-yard butterfly and third in the 200-yard freestyle. Tavares, Debbie and Hwang were joined by Daniel Dedrick in the 200-yard freestyle relay, finishing fourth out of 15 teams.

In Tompkins County, Dryden competed at the Class B level with a small eight-person team and finished eighth in team standings. Ithaca was unable to defend its Section IV Championships win at the Class A level, placing fourth out of seven teams. Xuyan Dong and David Guan achieved second-place finishes for Ithaca in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley, respectively.

It was a challenging year in boys swimming. With all competition being virtual, there was no frame of reference during a race. Athletes had to move as fast as possible and hope for the best, typically not receiving results until the following day, if not days later. Expect a strong amount of energy at the first swim meet next season, when teams should be able to see their opponents once again.