Top Iowa high school girls’ swimming teams spread out among regionals

The Linn-Mar Aquatic Center will host one of the six Iowa high school girls’ regional swimming meets on Saturday.

However, there will not be as many Gazette-area teams in the field as one might expect.

There is at least one area school in four of the six meets, which actually gets underway on Thursday night with the diving competitions at 5 p.m.

Saturday’s swimming events all begin at noon.

Iowa City High, Iowa City West, Decorah and Tipton will be in the field along with the hosts at Linn-Mar.

Cedar Rapids Washington and Cedar Rapids Kennedy will swim at the Dubuque Hempstead regional with Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Vinton-Shellsburg at Ames. Williamsburg will compete at Johnston.

Linn-Mar Coach Tom Belin believes the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union tries to be as fair as possible.

“The IGHSAU does a good job creating regionals,” he said. “The approach isn’t perfect, but IGHSAU tries to balance regions and competition.

“This year five teams separated themselves from the pack. They got spread among the regionals. It’s unfortunate that some teams have to travel, but it does create more consistent competition across the state.”

For City High Coach Mandi Kowal, the plan for regionals is simple. She said it is really hard to know the reasoning of the assignments if you are not involved in the discussions.

“My approach is this, go where you’re assigned and do your best,” Kowal said.

At Linn-Mar, it appears No. 4 Iowa City West will be the team to beat. No. 10 Pleasant Valley and No. 11 Linn-Mar are the next highest ranked teams in the field.

Coach Kennedy Gilbertson’s Trojans are coming off a runner-up finish behind Cedar Falls at the MVC meet on Oct. 25.

West will look to divers Kamila Swanson and Rowan Russell to get things off to a good start on Thursday. Senior Averie Bilskemper and sophomore Hannah Geng have been West’s top performers this season with junior Gretchen Gerke and freshman Maggie Nguyen providing depth.

Gilbertson, in her first season as West’s head coach, said the approach for her team will be simple.

“The key thing for our swimmers is to stay present and do your best that day,” she said.

There is no doubt about the top individual competing Saturday at Linn-Mar. City High’s Grace Hoeper is a multi-time state champion. She has the state’s top times in four events but will have to make a choice on Saturday. Swimmers are limited to four events, no more than two of which can be individual.

"I'm feeling good (entering regionals)," Hoeper said. "I haven't really got into my taper yet, it has been all been mid-season type stuff, working through all the practices.

"That said, I am really looking forward to the postseason. I really feel like I still have some good things coming."

For Belin’s Lions, the goal will be to get as many swimmers to state as possible.

“We are all competing for limited spots at state,” he said. “Competition brings out the best in athletes, and I’m excited our regional has that.

“Podium positions are nice, but our goal is to get as many to state as we can. Our regional gives us that great opportunity to get girls to state.”

Iowa high school girls’ swimming and diving regional sites

At Linn-Mar: Burlington, Davenport Central, Decorah, Iowa City High, Iowa City West, Keokuk, Linn-Mar, Muscatine, Pleasant Valley, Tipton

Diving at Linn-Mar

At Dubuque Hempstead: Bettendorf, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Washington, Clinton, Davenport West, Dubuque Hempstead, Dubuque Senior, Dubuque Wahlert, North Scott.

Diving at Linn-Mar

At Johnston: Des Moines Lincoln, Des Moines Roosevelt, Indianola, Johnston, Perry, Sioux City West, Southeast Polk, Williamsburg

Diving at Johnston

At Mason City: Algona, Ankeny, Des Moines Hoover, Mason City, Spencer, Waterloo West, West Des Moines Dowling, West Des Moines Valley

Diving at Johnston

At Ames: Ames, Boone, Carroll, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Fort Dodge, Grinnell, Newton, Oskaloosa, Vinton-Shellsburg.

Diving at Waukee

At Waukee: Atlantic, Centerville, Council Bluffs Lewis Central, Des Moines East, Des Moines North, Marshalltown, Ottumwa, Waukee, Waukee Northwest

Diving at Waukee