(Chelsea Update would like to thank coach Dave Jolly for the information in this story.)
The Chelsea Men’s Swim & Dive Team continued to impress last week as they notched two more wins against strong teams from Milan and Adrian. (The Adrian swim results are in another post.)
Chelsea’s depth proved to be too much for the Big Reds from Milan as Chelsea won going away 104-76 and then traveled to Adrian winning 112-73.
Against Milan Chelsea got off to a quick start winning the 200 medley relay. Sam Almhiemid, David Alday, Max lonnemo, and Nick Deppner blasted to a time of 1:43.96. Chelsea’s B relay took third place overall as Jacob Hartman, Tom Olsen, Logan Simpson, and Carter Engler combined for a time of 1:52.10.
Alday was back up quickly and cruised to victory at 1:51.26. Ben Thoms was third with a time of 1:56.03. Both swimmers look to be poised to be forces at this year’s SEC Championships.
Hartman led the way for the Bulldogs in the 200 IM with a season best performance of 2:13.09 which took second place. Nick Burris was third in the event, stopping the clock at 2:14.24 and Zach Ousley swam a solid 2:25.36 to take fifth-place points.
Nick Deppner had a tough race in the 50 freestyle touching out Milan’s top sprinter with a time of 23.64 to take first place. Max Lonnemo was third with a 24.28 and Jonny Mangner was fourth at 25.07.
Joe Smith was precise on each of his 6 dives to take first place in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 225.85 points. Jake Burris was second for the mighty duo at 188.90 points. Sean Lyons, who just joined the team the previous week, finished fourth with 140.70 points. The addition of Lyons gives the Bulldogs three legitimate scores for this year’s SEC Championships.
Chelsea had a comfortable lead going into the 100-yard butterfly and sealed the meet with a 1-2-3 sweep in the event. Lonnemo won the event in a time of 59.08. Simpson was second at 59.72 and third was Burris in a time of 59.88. Each of these swimmers are in contention for All Conference honors as the end of the season creeps closer.
Almhiemid led the way in the 100-yard freestyle winning at 51.15. Mangner took fourth overall at 55.43 and Aunic Goodin was fifth in 56.24.
“This is an event that will need to be a focus for us as we make preparations for the end of the season,” said Coach Dave Jolly.
“We have not been as strong as we need (to be) here and Dexter is out in front of us right now and if we want to be serious about contending for the championship we will need to improve in our sprints,” Jolly said.
Thoms, who has really come on as of late, backed up his state cut time from late last week with an even better time winning the 500-yard freestyle in 5:12.55. His time was a career best for the impressive sophomore.
Drew Deppner showed he was on the move as well — swimming a season best as well at 5:31.69 to take fourth place. Austin Horn also scored in the event taking fifth place at 5:33.69.
Chelsea put the meet out of reach and sealed the win as David Alday, Max Lonnemo, Jonny Mangner, and Nick Burris combined for a 1:34.07 in the 200 freestyle relay.
What was super impressive and brought the crowd to their feet was Alday’s performance on the lead off of the relay. Alday became on the second swimmer in Chelsea history to qualify in all 11 swimming events in one season. In 2001, Andy Hack accomplished to feat.
“David (Alday) is a special athlete and is obviously extremely versatile,” Jolly said about the talented junior swimmer.
“Alday trains with focus and purpose each and every day and wants to be the best,” he said. “It sets him apart and impresses those that get to see him in action.”
What is scary about Alday’s state cuts, Jolly said, is that each would score at the state level.
Chelsea exhibitioned the final three events to not run the score up on Milan, Jolly said. In the 100 backstroke Almhiemid, Nick Deppner, and Hartman were 1,2,3. Almhiemid went 57.29, Deppner was 59.22 and Hartman was 59.93.
Alday cruised in at 1:07.50 in the 100 breaststroke to take second place. Tom Olsen was third overall at 1:09.81.
The meet concluded with Burris, Mangner, Deppner, and Almhiemid reaching the wall first at 3:35.64.
