INDIANAPOLIS
State records were falling like rain during the IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving State Finals at the IU Natatorium on Friday night — and it was only the preliminary round.
Franklin managed to keep up with the blistering pace, positioning itself well for a strong finish this afternoon.
“We knew there was going to be a lot of noise going on, things that didn’t really pertain to us,” Franklin coach Zach DeWitt said. “It was real easy to potentially get caught up in all the hoopla. … We weathered the storm, and we’re really excited for (today).”
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Grizzly Cubs got off to a strong start, with its 200-yard medley relay quartet of Griffin Edwards, Michael Couet, Maxwell Kramer and Jacob Destrampe placing sixth to earn a spot in today’s championship final. Destrampe then turned around and earned another championship berth in the 200 freestyle, where he finished second with a time of 1:40.24. (Carmel’s Drew Kibler blew away the field, swimming a 1:33.30 to obliterate the previous state record by nearly four seconds.)
Destrampe also will be the No. 2 seed today in the 500 freestyle after winning his heat in 4:30.58. He was nearly 10 seconds better than his sectional time of 4:40.18, which had positioned him eighth coming in.
He will be a big underdog against Kibler today, but he’s hoping the challenge will push him to swim a faster time.
“You just try to stay up with him as long as you can,” Destrampe said. “And if you can, you go like, (personal) best time minus four seconds.”
Couet swam the 100 breaststroke in 58.42 seconds to place 16th, good for a spot in the consolation final. Edwards placed 15th in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.35 to advance to the consolation final in that event, and just missed out on advancing in the 200 individual medley, hitting the wall in 1:54.52 to finish 18th.
The foursome of Destrampe, Aaron Lamm, Kramer and Edwards then finished the evening in style for Franklin, placing fifth in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:08.33.
If all goes smoothly today, Destrampe will earn four state medals.
“I did not even think about it that way,” DeWitt said. “Even his brother (Adam), who probably is the greatest swimmer in Franklin history, did not do that — so that is pretty special.”
Center Grove senior Noah Tallman posted a time of 50.99 seconds in the 100 butterfly, good for 12th place and a spot in the consolation final. Indian Creek’s Tucker Brock narrowly missed joining him, swimming a 51.83 to finish 18th.
Tallman also finished 23rd in the 500 freestyle and swam on Center Grove’s 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The Trojans finished 24th and 21st, respectively, in those races.
Franklin’s Lamm finished 24th in his lone individual swim, the 200 freestyle.
Kibler set another state mark in the 100 free with a time of 43.25 seconds, and Zionsville’s Jake Franzman (who also bested the previous 100 mark but was second to Kibler) established a new standard of 19.85 seconds in the 50 free.
Carmel also broke the old record in the 200 freestyle relay.
