For the Star Journal

Four athletes represented the Rhinelander Swim Club (RSC) at the state championship meets recently.

The 12 and under age group swam Feb. 26 – 28 in Madison.
Jack Antonuk, age 11, broke two RSC records at the meet with his time of 2:52.46 in the 200 Breast, taking 23rdplace, and 1:09.79 in the 100 Butterfly for 17th place. He also took 22nd in the 50 Breast (36.06), 35th in the 100 IM (1:14.53), 28th in the 100 Breast, (1:20.72) and 31st in the 50 Butterfly (31.73).

James Heck, 10, won two ribbons for placing 12th in the 50 Free (31.04) and 16th for 50 Fly (35.33). He also won two ribbons with relay teams, placing fourth in the 200 Medley Relay (2:21.06) and fourth in the 200 Free Relay (2:04.20). He took 21st place in the 100 Free (1:10.21).

Abi Winnicki, nine, broke two of her own records with her time of 6:32.29 in the 500 Free and 2:27.54 in the 200 Free. She won three individual ribbons for placing 14th in the 500 Free, 13th for 200 Free and 14th in the 100 Free (1:06.79). She won two ribbons with relay teams, placing 16th in the 200 Medley (2:27.28) and sixth in the 200 Free Relay (201.68). She also placed 27th in the 100 Butterfly (1:25.49), 22nd in the 200 IM (2:52.72) and 39th in the 100 Back (1:20.23).

“It was a wonderful meet for Abi, Jack and James,” Coach Megan Cihla said. “They all seemed to have surprised themselves at some point throughout this enduring three-day swim meet. It was very fast and competitive, and they were ready for it. Everything we’ve worked on this season just seemed to come together. As one of their coaches, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Ethan Brown, 18, competed last weekend at the age 13 and over state championship meet in Brown Deer. At this meet, each competitor swims in a preliminary session and, depending on placement/qualification, will swim again in finals. Brown swam the preliminary session in the 100 Back (breaking a RSC record with his time of 55.22), 100 Fly and the 200 Back. He placed in the top 16 in the 200 Back during preliminaries (breaking a RSC record with his time of 2:00.09), which qualified him to swim again that evening. He took 13th place in that event, with a final time of 2:01.49.
“For Ethan to come off the boys’ high school season just a couple weeks prior and still continue to drop time is incredible,” Coach Cihla said. “This meet captured how much dedication and love he has for the sport. He is a great influence and role model for the younger swimmers and it will be fun getting to watch him finish out his career over the next few months.”
RSC has 18 swimmers who will participate in the Midwest Regional meet at the University of Minnesota the first weekend in April.