Wisconsin Age Group State Championships
- March 1-3, 2024
- Pleasant Prairie, WI
- 25 yards (SCY)
- Meet Mobile “2024 WI Age Group State Championships”
Wisconsin age group star Maggie Dickinson, who just turned 14 in late February, posted a series of show-stopping times in her backstroke races at the Wisconsin LSC 11-14 Championships last weekend.
With best times across the board, Dickinson won all three of her individual races at the meet in addition to competing on three winning relays for Schroeder YMCA.
Dickinson kicked off her meet by taking home the 13-14 200 back title in a time of 1:57.78, a personal best in the event and nearly three seconds faster than her prelims performance. Her win landed her back-to-back victories in the event, as she placed first in 200 at the 2023 championships as well, just after entering the age group as a newly 13-year old swimmer.
She followed it up with a Schroeder victory in the 400 medley relay, on which she swam the backstroke leg. Dickinson turned in a time of 55.02 on her leadoff, another personal best for her and the fastest 100 back she would swim that weekend.
Both her 200 back performance and her 100 back leadoff performance easily secured her YMCA National Short Course Championship qualifying times and bumped her up in the national rankings for this season. Dickinson is now ranked 8th in her age group in the 200 back and 14th in the 100 back. She stands at 73rd in the all-time top times for the 13-14 200 back.
Dickinson continued to post top times throughout the remainder of the weekend. She went on to win the 100 back in a time of 55.29 and the 50 back in a time of 25.32. Her leadoff split in the 200 medley relay was even faster, as she threw down a time of 24.97 on the backstroke leg, another personal best for her.
Dickinson’s performance at this year’s championship proved a step up from last year; she was the runner up in the 50 and 100 back at the 2023 championships.
Dickinson is only the latest in a long line of top backstrokers to come out of Schroeder. The team has a history of turning out great backstrokers from its program, frequently seeing its men and women race at the YMCA Short Course National Championships and the YMCA National Short Course Championships in the 100 and 200 back; a few have even gone on to compete at Winter Junior Championships.
Recent big names to originate at Schroeder YMCA include high school junior Alana Berlin, who has committed to Stanford University, and senior Sam Lorenz, an incoming University of Wisconsin commit. The team has already sent a number of its backstrokers to swim at top universities, including Cal, Emory, University of Iowa and University of Tennessee.
Other Notable Performances
- Emma Sina, a 12-year old on the Verona Area Swim Team, smashed her event lineup, winning all six of her races and posting personal bests in three of them. She took home the title in the 100 free (55.26), 200 free (1:57.54 – PB), 1000 free (10:53.19 – PB), 50 back (28.34), 100 back (1:00.36) and 200 back (2:10.01 – PB). Her performance in the 200 free propelled her to 20th in the age group rankings for this season’s top times.
- 13-14 swimmer Max Garbacz turned in a series of victories for Madison Aquatic over the weekend. Like Sina, he won all of his races and achieved four new personal bests. Garbacz secured the 100 back (51.76), 100 breast (58.95 – PB), 100 fly (52.08 – PB), 200 breast (2:09.73), 200 IM (1:54.13 – ) and 400 IM (4:01.73 – PB). His time in the 400 IM earned him a ticket to the Futures Championship this summer.
- Aadin Terrazas, a member of Ozaukee Aquatics, swept the 13-14 sprint and mid-distance freestyle events, winning the 50 free (21.68 – PB), 100 free (47.49) and 200 free (1:44.77). He also secured a victory in the 50 fly (23.67 – PB).
- Aibhy King proved that Schroeder is not just good at turning out backstrokers; she swept all three 13-14 butterfly races and posted a best time in the 50 fly (25.83) and 100 fly (57.58). Her 200 fly finals performance saw her jump from 4th to 1st, winning with a time of 2:09.05.
Top 5 Girls Team Scores
- Verona Area Swim Team – 1154.5
- Schroeder YMCA Swim Team – 845.5
- Madison Aquatic Club – 707.5
- Badger Aquatic Club – 611
- Lake Country Swim Team – 562
Top 5 Boys Team Scores
- Madison Aquatic Club – 1197.5
- Badger Aquatic Club – 934
- Ozaukee Aquatics – 658
- Schroeder YMCA Swim Team – 649
- Elmbrook Swim Club – 621.5
In addition to Terrazas, Ozaukee’s Grant Freeze swept the distance freestyle events, winning the 500 (4:41.23), 1000 (9:41.12) and 1650 (16.18.93). The two freestylers combined with Kyle O’Connor and Luke Miller to win the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, making it a clean sweep for Ozaukee of all eight 13-14 freestyle events.