After a successful showing at districts, where 33 swimmers participated, the Allegheny Valley YMCA Gators sent 12 to the state competition held at the Mylan Park Aquatic Center on West Virginia University’s campus March 21-23.
“Everyone did a great job,” coach Nathan Petrak said. “Some swimmers hit their best times along the way, which by itself doesn’t sound all that impressive, but with swimming being a conditioning type of sport, we tapered leading into the district meet to make sure that we were swimming at our best heading into states.”
Out of those twelve swimmers who made it to states, four qualified for the finals in their events, the senior girls (ages 15-21) relay teams medaled in both their events, two swimmers had top-10 finishes and just missed the cut for finals and three team records were set.
“We were able to make some nice gains, and people placed higher than they were seeded,” Petrak said. “It was impressive to see.”
The way the state championships work is preliminary races are swum for individual events in the morning to determine seeding. The top eight swimmers after those preliminaries compete in the finals that are held in the evening. All eight swimmers are guaranteed a medal.
For the relay swims, there are no preliminaries, only finals, and they are all swam in the same evening.
The most accomplished swimmer for the Gators was Freeport senior Mary Anne Altman, who swam in five individual events and was a part of the girls 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams that medaled.
Her highest finish was in the 400 IM where she took sixth. She had a trio of eighth-place finishes in the 50 free (25.31), the 200 free (2:00.92) and the 200 IM (2:16.96).
“I had a goal set for this season, which was to medal in a relay and that’s all I wanted to do,” Altman said. “I ended up medaling in almost everything, which was insane for me. I was very proud of myself in that moment.”
The only event she didn’t qualify for the finals in was the 100 free, where she placed 10th with a time of 54.58.
Ironically, that is the same event she placed seventh in at the WPIAL championships and 13th at the PIAA championships.
“The 100 free is my best and most favorite event,” Altman said. “I had to forgive myself in that moment, because it wasn’t like I swam a terrible time. I learned a lot from the whole weekend.”
Even though it was a YMCA event, it still meant a lot for Altman to compete in it. But with the YMCA state competition sandwiched in between the WPIALs and the PIAAs, it was only natural for her body to hit the figurative wall.
“It was a longer weekend, longer meets and I felt like it took a bigger toll on my body and I’m actually sick right now from all the running around I’ve been doing the last couple of weeks,” Altman said. “Looking back on it, I don’t know how I found the energy to do it all.”
Probably the most rewarding for Altman was being a part of the previously mentioned girls relay teams that made some significant strides over that weekend.
The 200 free relay came in seeded 12th but finished in 1 minute, 42.90 seconds to claim seventh place. The 400 free relay was seeded eighth and finished fifth with a team-record time of 3:42.78, besting the previous record of 3:42.98.
“I was so proud of my girls in those relays,” Altman said of teammates Addie Imler, Olivia Walewski and sister Hannah Altman. “We worked very hard for those results.”
Walewski swam in three events and medaled in two. She finished fourth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:11.12, which is a team record, and placed seventh in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:18.21.
Imler made it to the finals in the 100 back and placed sixth with a time of 1:00.21, which broke her own team record.
Angelina George, who made it to her first state event, finished ninth in the 200 breast, just missing out on the finals. She was a district champion in the event at districts.
“She was one of those swimmers who saw their times creep up a little bit, which is to be expected coming off of the taper we put the swimmers through, but it’s never something to be alarmed about,” Petrak said. “She did very well, and it was very nice to see.”
Coach Petrak’s son, Brody, qualified for six events at districts and was another swimmer who saw his times go up slightly, but he was able to make it to finals in two of his events.
“He always has the expectation to make it to finals in all of his events, and sometimes that’s not always the case,” Coach Petrak said. “He had a great weekend, even though the results weren’t what he was looking for. At the time he was upset, but now that some time has passed, he’s more accepting and happier with his results.”
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Petrak, who swims on the 13- and 14-year-old team, finished seventh with a time of 2:09.22 in the 200 fly and swam a 4:37.43 in the 400 IM, good for eighth.
In his four other events, Petrak finished 20th in the 200 breast, 17th in the 100 fly, 13th in the 500 free and 12th in the 200 IM.
“I went up a bit in time in my 200 fly and even a bit more in the 400 IM,” Petrak said. “As the weekend goes on you continue to get more and more tired, but I was happy with how I swam and happy with my year overall.”
Indeed, it was a great year for Petrak, who didn’t finish lower than fourth in any of his events at districts and set team records in the 200 fly and 500 free.
“Over the years I’ve broken a few records, and it’s always a cool feeling to break those records that have been around for a while,” Petrak said.
Now that the season has ended, Petrak will take a few weeks off before he gets back into the water as the Y begins its spring session.
“As soon as summer starts, we have a team called the Sylvan Sharks, so I’ll swim with them for a while, do some long course,” Petrak said. “Then, I’ll do dryland on my own after Sylvan and practice about four or five days a week. Before I know it, the Gators season will be starting up again.”
Altman will not be returning next year for the Gators. She is off to swim at Cal (Pa.) in the fall.
“I’ve taken almost a week off, and I’ll take another week before I do the spring session with the Y, which will be my last final goodbye,” Altman said. “Then I’ll do long course in the summertime, like I did last year, to prepare for college.”
She will leave with the memories and friendships she’s made over the years and is thankful for the time spent swimming for the Allegheny Valley YMCA.
“I feel like the Y incorporates the best way for us to support each other,” Altman said. “It’s just an unmatched level of dedication that I almost take for granted. It’s very sad for me that this chapter is ending because they’re like my best friends, and this team has meant a lot to me.”