Dathan Wolf
Following the 100-yard backstroke event, Columbus East senior Dathan Wolf got emotional and celebrated the moment, embracing his teammates and boys swimming coach Doug Trueblood.
The reality sank in for Wolf that he wrote his name in the history book. He broke the school record with a time of 56.06 seconds to become to Hoosier Hills Conference champion.
“I wish my grandparents were here to see it,” Wolf said. “It means a lot to me, and I’m not done yet. We’ll see how the rest of the season goes, and hopefully, I can break it again.”
Wolf also was the HHC champion in the 100 freestyle with a time of 49.69.
“I’m ecstatic for what he did today,” Trueblood said. “He’s been working hard and hasn’t been swimming long. This is his third year and second with me as his coach. He’s been getting better and better every week… I’m super-proud of him because he’s been going after it putting the work in practice and showing the young guys and leading by example. He earned it and his teammates fed off of that”
The Olympians overall put up a spectacular performance and gave favorite Floyd Central a challenge. In the end, the Highlanders escaped with a 248-245 edge over runner-up East. Bedford North Lawrence finished third with 236. Jennings County was seventh with 92.
“I did not expect us to be second. I knew it was going to be tight with a lot of schools fighting it out. These guys stepped up, and they swam their hearts out,” Trueblood said. “Every one of these kids dropped some amount of time today, and it really shows that we were ready to race. I couldn’t be more proud of the team to get second place last year and fighting for first this year.
“We were three points off of a win. I couldn’t be more proud of what these guys did.”
Other winners for the Olympians were the 200 medley relay team of Judah Nickoll, Nisha Machavariani, Wolf and Todd Hundley with a time of 1:43.84 and the 400 freestyle relay team of Nickoll, Cavan Stilson, Machavariani and Wolf in 3:24.19.
Second place finishes included Nickoll in the 200 freestyle (1:49.66), Machavariani in the 200 individual medley (2:03.72) and 100 breaststroke (1:02.30) and Gavin Day in the diving competition (275.85).
Hundley, Rylan Perkins, Keaton Stephenson and Stilson of East finished fourth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:39.87). Hundley took fifth in the 100 backstroke (1:00.12), and Stilson was fifth in the 50 freestyle (24.22).
Jennings was led by Noah McFall’s sixth-place finishes in the 200 freestyle (1:58.09) and 500 freestyle (5:16.93). The Panthers placed fifth in the 200 freestyle relay (1:41.83) and sixth in the 200 medley relay (1:59.44).
