Rochester’s Wachtmann qualifies for final in 50 free, 500 free

Valley’s Whetstone, Bowers make finals in 2 events each

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tyson Wachtmann Brevin Nicholson Tanner Hamilton

WARSAW — Swimming in adjoining lanes, Rochester’s Tyson Wachtmann and Warsaw’s Jonah Potter continued to pick up speed in the final 50 yards of their 500 freestyle preliminary heat at the Warsaw boys swimming sectional preliminaries.

It was as if somebody forgot to tell them that the final is not until Saturday.

When it was over, Potter, a junior, was the top qualifier in 5:10.34, and Wachtmann qualified second in 5:10.45. Wachtmann swam the final 50 yards in 28.51 seconds while Potter went 29.15 to hold him off.

No. 3 qualifier Luke Blossom of Wabash swam a 5:14.64, and No. 4 qualifier Rourke Allen of Culver Academy swam a 5:15.67 to set up what could be a four-way race for a spot in the state finals Saturday.

Wachtmann’s swim was 15 seconds faster than his seed time. Rochester coach Stephanie Brown said Wachtmann, a freshman, executed the game plan as practiced.

“He did what we told him to do,” Rochester coach Stephanie Brown said. “He was right next to the number one seed, which is a good place to be. We told him to just stay right with him, and if he has some energy left at the end to try and pass him. He stayed with him the whole time. We said top eight’s the goal. Nobody gets a ribbon today. Nobody scores any points today. Top four is nice because you’re in the middle of the pool, so I just said stay right on his hip and put whatever you got in the last 50. He did exactly what I told him to do. … He feels really good about his swim.”

Wachtmann was the only Rochester swimmer to reach a final in an individual event. He also qualified for the final in the 50 freestyle, swimming a 23.61 and tying for the fifth fastest time.

Rochester swimmers who earned a spot in the consolation finals Saturday included Brevin Nicholson, who qualified 11th in the 200 freestyle in 2:10.10 and 10th in the 500 freestyle in 5:49.46; Tanner Hamilton, who swam a personal best in the 200 individual medley in 2:58.33 to qualify 15th; and Joshua Seuferer, who will join Nicholson in the 500 free consolation race after qualifying 16th in 6:56.94.

Rochester also qualified seventh in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay and advanced to the final in both. Brevin Nicholson, Tanner Hamilton and Joshua Seuferer joined Wachtmann in both relays.

“He took off … like two seconds in the 200 and about 10 seconds in the 500,” Brown said of Nicholson. “So he’s really done really well the last couple weeks in the 500 and improved his time a lot. We went in with the goal of breaking six minutes, and he did that a couple weeks ago. … We were focusing the last two weeks on a 5:45. Tyson, we’ve been focusing on a low 5. So they’re both right about where I thought they’d be, and if they can shave off another couple seconds on Saturday, great. If not, they swam great today.”

Hamilton also set a personal best 1:31.45 in the 100 breaststroke, and freshman Lucas Scorsone chopped nearly 18 seconds off his personal best in the 200 freestyle and nearly 11 seconds off his personal best in the 100 freestyle.

“The boys just worked really hard this season,” Brown said. “The taper works really well when they work really hard for four months and… then they do what they did. As a team, we took off 153 seconds. That’s over two minutes. So it’s not just the taper; it’s all the work that they put in before that.”

The 200 freestyle relay team consisting of Bentley Blackburn, Brayden Corning, Scorsone and Aaron Furrow qualified ninth in 2:37.98 and will swim alone in the consolation race Saturday.

Tippecanoe Valley

Valley’s Tucker Whetstone and Aaden Bowers will have two chances each to make state Saturday. Whetstone qualified second in the 100 butterfly in 54.48 seconds and will look to make up a 1.23-second deficit against Warsaw senior Joshua Warner.

Whetstone, a junior, finished sixth in the 100 fly in the 2024 sectional and third last year. Warner, a senior, has finished fifth each of the last two years.

Whetstone also qualified fourth for the 200 freestyle final after swimming a 1:53.50. Lewis Cass’ Jayden Ramer was the top qualifier in 1:52.98.

Whetstone will be looking to keep up a family tradition. His older brother Isaac, a 2025 Valley grad, won the 200 free at sectional each of the last two years.

Meanwhile, Bowers advanced to the final in both sprint freestyle races, qualifying fourth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle.

Bowers also swam the opening leg and Whetstone the anchor leg on the 200 freestyle relay team that qualified fifth. Sophomore Grayson Clark and senior Gavin Leininger swam the middle two legs.

Valley does not have a 200 medley relay or 400 freestyle relay.

Pioneer

No Pioneer swimmer advanced to an individual final, but sophomore Eli Hines advanced to two consolation finals. Hines made the 100 freestyle consolation final after swimming a 58.93 and qualifying 13th and the 100 backstroke consolation final after swimming a 1:07.60 and qualifying ninth.

Senior Hunter Bartling also earned another swim after qualifying 14th in 1:17.58 in the 100 breaststroke. Bartling also qualified 17th in the 50 freestyle in 28.02 and will be an alternate.

Pioneer did not have any relay teams.

Culver

Junior Arian Day was the lone Culver swimmer, and he swam a 2:24.64 to qualify 15th and make the consolation final in the 200 freestyle.

Warsaw boys swimming sectional preliminaries Thursday.

Diving preliminaries start at 9 a.m. Saturday. Swimming and diving finals start at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Sectional champions plus those meeting a difficult state qualifying standard will advance to the state finals in the swimming events plus those among the top 32 in their event who did not meet either of the first two criteria. The top four divers advance to the diving regional at Mishawaka at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Valley’s Leininger and Clark are the two area divers. Leininger finished fifth at last year’s sectional.

WARSAW GIRLS SWIMMING SECTIONAL PRELIMINARIES

Top eight in each event qualify for finals, 9th-16th qualify for consolation, 17th-18th are alternates

Top qualifiers plus all Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley, Pioneer and Culver results

200 medley relay

1. Warsaw (Waldo, Swinehart, Warner, Peddireddy) – 1:44.02, 7. Rochester (Brevin Nicholson, Tanner Hamilton, Tyson Wachtmann, Joshua Seuferer) – 2:13.83 (finals)

200 freestyle

1. Ramer (LC) – 1:52.98, 4. Tucker Whetstone (TV) – 1:53.50 (finals), 11. Brevin Nicholson (RHS) – 2:10.10 (consolation), 15. Arian Day (CUL) – 2:24.64 (consolation), 18. Lucas Scorsone (RHS) – 2:38.41 (alternate)

200 individual medley

1. Swinehart (WAR) – 2:01.00, 15. Tanner Hamilton (RHS) – 2:58.33 (consolation)

50 freestyle

1. Farrar (WAR) – 21.89 seconds, 4. Aaden Bowers (TV) – 23.59 (finals), t-5. Tyson Wachtmann (RHS) – 23.61 (finals), 17. Hunter Bartling (PIO) – 28.02 (alternate)

DID NOT ADVANCE

23. Christopher Houston (PIO) – 30.06, 24. Grayson Clark (TV) – 30.25, 25. Joshua Seuferer (RHS) – 32.52, 28. Simeon Skipper (TV) – 34.08, 30. Aaron Furrow (RHS) – 46.28

100 butterfly

1. Warner (WAR) – 53.25 seconds, 2. Tucker Whetstone (TV) – 54.48 (finals)

100 freestyle

1. Swinehart (WAR) – 48.87 seconds, 7. Aaden Bowers (TV) – 53.00 (finals), 13. Eli Hines (PIO) – 58.93 (consolation)

DID NOT ADVANCE

21. Christopher Houston (PIO) – 1:09.03, 23. Lucas Scorsone (RHS) – 1:11.50, 26. Bentley Blackburn (RHS) – 1:21.41, 27. Simeon Skipper (TV) – 1:24.38, 29. Brayden Corning (RHS) – 1:33.78

500 freestyle

1. Potter (WAR) – 5:10.34, 2. Tyson Wachtmann (RHS) – 5:10.45 (finals), 10. Brevin Nicholson (RHS) – 5:49.46 (consolation), 16. Joshua Seuferer (RHS) – 6:56.94 (consolation)

200 freestyle relay

1. Warsaw (House, James, Vander Bie, Swinehart) – 1:34.89, 5. Valley (Aden Bowers, Grayson Clark, Gavin Leininger, Tucker Whetstone) – 1:47.02 (finals), 9. Rochester (Bentley Blackburn, Brayden Corning, Lucas Scorsone, Aaron Furrow) – 2:37.98 (consolation)

100 backstroke

1. Turner (CMA) – 54.77 seconds, 9. Eli Hines (PIO) – 1:07.60 (consolation)

DID NOT ADVANCE

DQ. Brayden Corning (RHS), DQ. Aaron Furrow (RHS)

100 breaststroke

1. James (WAR) – 1:00.86, 14. Hunter Bartling (PIO) – 1:17.58 (consolation)

DID NOT ADVANCE

19. Tanner Hamilton (RHS) – 1:31.45, 20. Bentley Blackburn (RHS) – 1:41.76

400 freestyle relay

1. Warsaw (Waldo, Parrott, House, Warner) – 3:34.60, 7. Rochester (Tanner Hamilton, Joshua Seuferer, Brevin Nicholson, Tyson Wachtmann) – 4:13.01 (finals)