Camden Taylor Breaks Ryan Held’s Illinois 100 Free Record; Hinsdale Central Rolls

2023 Illinois Boys’ High School Swimming & Diving State Championships

• February 24-25, 2023
• FMC Natatorium, Westmont, Illinois
• Short Course Yards (Prelims/Finals)
• Results (PDF)
• Team Scores (PDF)

The boys of Hinsdale Central are back on top in Illinois High School swimming, winning their first state title since 2015 and 19th overall title. That is the second-most in state history, behind only New Trier’s 24 wins.

New Trier was 2nd this year, more than 100 points back of Hinsdale Central, and the defending champions Stevenson finished 3rd with 122.50 points.

Top 5 Team Scores:

1. Hinsdale Central – 253
2. New Trier – 134
3. Stevenson – 122.5
4. Highland Park – 89
5. Maine South – 68

While this meet has moved to the larger FMC Aquatic Center from its former traditional homes, Illinois has kept with tradition in only running 6-lane A and B finals in the meet, putting second swims at a premium.

It was a dominating performance by Hinsdale Central, sweeping the day’s three relays and picking up an individual title as well.

They started the day by winning the 200 medley relay in 1:29.40, more than two-and-a-half seconds ahead of the runners-up from Linconshire. That winning relay included Vidar Carlbaum (22.88 – backstroke), Josh Bey (24.97 – breaststroke), Jeffrey Hou (21.40 – fly), and Andrew Gilbert (20.15 – free). That broke a State Meet Record of 1:29.53 that was set by New Trier in prelims in 2018.

Carlbaum, who has not yet announced a college commitment, had the fastest split in the A-Final by a margin of eight-tenths of a second.

Other fast splits included a 24.65 breaststroke leg from Naperville Central’s Alex Larkin, a 19.96 anchor from New Trier’s Max Lestina, and a 22.55 backstroke leg from Brady Johnson of the West Chicago Co-Op in the B-Final, where his team finished 8th.

Hindsdale Central again won by a big margin in the 200 free relay, with Andrew Gilbert (20.62), Carlbaum (20.11), Noah Priest (20.07), and Brody Marcet (20.46) combining for a 1:21.26. That swim also broke a state meet record – Glenbrook South was 1:22.15 in 2009.

The Red Devils wrapped the sweep with their biggest win yet, in the closing 400 free relay, where they touched in 2:59.61. That makes them the first relay in state finals history to break 3 minutes in that event. They also broke the State Meet Record that was set by New Trier at 2:59.76 in prelims – a relay that included Max Grofecki, Reed Malone, Jack Mangan, and Sam Skinner. That New Trier relay was about half-a-second slower in finals.

Hinsdale Central’s team on that final relay included Carlbaum (45.00), Jeffrey Hou (44.90), Noah Priest (44.86), and Andrew Gilbert (44.85).

New Trier was 2nd in 3:03.66, including an event-leading 44.26 anchor from Aiden Musick. He was the only non-Hinsdale Central swimmer to go under 45 seconds in the event, and in spite of having the best 100 free split there, he swam neither sprint freestyle event individually.

He did win the 100 fly individually, though, touching in 47.75. That most-of-a-second better than his lifetime best of 48.64 from Winter Juniors West in December.

He just out-touched Hinsdale Central’s Jeffrey Hou (47.83) by .08 seconds. Both swimmers are junior, which means they could square off again in this race next season.

That was Hou’s 2nd individual event of the day; in his first, he won the 200 IM in 1:47.49, leading a 1-2 finish with teammate Joshua Bey (1:48.91).

That was a best time for Hou, who is committed to Penn for 2024.

There were no individual double winners outside of the para-class events. Bey, the runner-up in the 200 IM, won the 100 breaststroke in 54.51. That is the third-best time in high school competition by a high school sophomore this season, behind only Finnley Conklin from Wisconsin and Wyatt Porch from Bolles in Florida.

He edged-out Alex Lakin in the final after Lakin was 54.50 in prelims, the fastest time of the day. Lakin swam 54.81 in the evening session to place 2nd.

Kevin Obochi from Highland Park won the 50 free in 20.34 ahead of Brady Johnson (20.50). Carlbaum, the aforementioned relay champion, was 3rd in 20.51 (Hinsdale Central had two swimmers in the A final, and racked up a lot of points that way).

Johnson later won the 100 back in 48.08, backing up his dominant relay split with an individual title.

In the 100 free, it was senior Camden Taylor from Rockford East who won in 43.72. That dipped .01 seconds under the State Championship Meet Record held by US Olympian and Olympic gold medalist Ryan Held, who swam 43.73 to win the 2014 title. Taylor is just the 4th swimmer to go sub-44 at the state meet.

Alex Parkinson from Neuqua Valley won the 500 free in 4:29.39. That race was about as close as you’ll ever see in a 500 free at the high school level – the top four were separated by about a second, including a .05 second margin between Parkinson and the runner-up Charlie Tracy (4:29.43). All of that top four returns next season, which means another great battle on the table next season.

Para-Class Winners

• Ryan Eidelman won the boys’ Class B 50 free in 26.37, the 200 free in 2:06.44, the 100 free in 57.34, and the 100 breast in 1:16.19. Last year, he was the runner-up in the three shorter events and 3rd place in the 200 free.