All-RTC4 boys swimming: Fast in the fly, Valley’s Whetstone is Swimmer of the Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

RTC Boys Swimmer of the Year Tucker Whetstone

Tippecanoe Valley junior Tucker Whetstone narrowly missed going to state in both the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, but his times were more than good enough to be our RTC4 Boys Swimmer of the Year.

Whetstone finished second in the 200 freestyle at both the Indiana Northern State Conference and sectional meets. He won the 100 butterfly by nearly seven seconds at conference, and then improved on that time by over a second and a half at the sectional and finished second there, losing out on a state trip to Warsaw’s Joshua Warner by 0.09 seconds.

The most noteworthy story in area boys swimming, however, might have been Rochester’s program rebounding in their first year at the renovated Rochester Middle School pool. The Zebras were 11th at last year’s sectional, but they finished in a tie for seventh this year.

Even better, all of their scoring at the sectional meet came from swimmers who are expected back next year.

We would like to thank area coaches for sharing their results with us. It is much appreciated in helping us compile this list. We would also like to thank area coaches for talking to us after meets and sharing their insights.

Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility. We place special emphasis on conference and sectional meets as those are the meets in which swimmers focus on their best events.

First team

• Tucker Whetstone (Tippecanoe Valley) (Swimmer of the Year) – Whetstone, who qualified for state previously as part of Valley’s 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relays in 2024 and the 200 freestyle relay in 2025, could well be a favorite to make state as an individual in 2027.

• Tyson Wachtmann (Rochester) – Wachtmann, a freshman, is the most recent star distance freestyler at Rochester, joining Jake Seuferer, Mason Beall, Eli Pugh and Patrick Kays. He was third in the 500 freestyle at the sectional, but what makes Wachtmann unique is that he is also excellent in the sprints, having gone under 24 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

• Aaden Bowers (Tippecanoe Valley) – Bowers, a junior, was sixth in the 50 freestyle in 23.54 seconds at the sectional and eighth in the 100 freestyle in 53.12 seconds in the 100 freestyle.

• Gavin Leininger (Tippecanoe Valley) – Leininger, a senior, finished third at the sectional and made diving regional, and that came after he won the INSC title.

Honorable mention

• Eli Hines (Pioneer)

• Brevin Nicholson (Rochester)

• Mitch Ramski (Culver)

• Arian Day (Culver)

RTC Boys Swimmer of the Year

• 2021 – Brandon Hoffman (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2022 – Marcus Smith (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2023 – Marcus Smith (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2024 – Carson Parker (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2025 – Marcus Smith (Tippecanoe Valley)

• 2026 – Tucker Whetstone (Tippecanoe Valley)