Sophomore Jake Smith helped the Ankeny boys’ swimming team to a 17th-place finish in the state meet on Friday and Saturday at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center in Iowa City. He scored points in both of his individual events.
Smith placed 15th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.54. He later took ninth in the 500 freestyle in 4:45.38.
Smith also helped Ankeny to a 19th-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. He swam the opening leg in 22.61 seconds as the team posted a time of 1:30.18.
Here is some inside info on Smith:
Congratulations on an outstanding season. Are you ready for a little time away from the pool, or will you resume your training right away?
I’m planning to get back into training right away. I like to keep the momentum going, and I’m motivated to build on what I did this season.
What did you think of your team’s overall performance at the state meet?
I thought we performed well. Everyone competed hard, and I think we represented our team in a positive way throughout the meet.
You advanced to the “B” final in both of your individual events. Were you happy with how you swam in Friday’s preliminaries?
I was happy with my prelim swims overall, especially because I made it back to finals in both events. However, I missed the “A” final by less than a second in the 500, which was a little frustrating, but it definitely motivates me to keep improving.
In the finals on Saturday, you swam more than 2 seconds slower in the 200 freestyle than you did the day before. Did you just not have a good race?
That race just didn’t come together the way I wanted. Sometimes things don’t click with pacing or energy, and that’s part of the sport. I just tried to refocus for my next event.
Later, you dropped .40 seconds from your time in the 500 freestyle while winning the “B” final. You even swam 6 seconds faster than the eighth-place finisher in the “A” final, Luka Fisher of Waukee Northwest. What was your goal for that race, and did you meet it?
My main goal going into that race was really just to hold my ninth seed since moving into the top eight wasn’t possible at that point. The time wasn’t my biggest focus in the moment, so being able to win the heat and finish ahead of Fisher was a great outcome.
Valley’s Will Van Zee lost a close race to Carroll’s Teagen Renze in the 200 freestyle, but he came back later to win the 500 freestyle by more than 12 seconds over Waukee’s Drew Dieke. Were you surprised that Van Zee was able to post such a fast time (4:22.76) when he wasn’t challenged by anyone?
It’s always impressive when someone can go that fast without being pushed in the race. At the state level there are a lot of talented swimmers so performances like that show how high the competition is.
In the 200 freestyle relay, your team missed out on scoring points by just .58 seconds. Were you happy with the time that you posted though?
Obviously we would have liked to score points, but I was still pleased with the effort and the way we swam. Relays are about trusting each other, and I think we all gave it our best.
You also swam on the 400 freestyle relay that was later disqualified in the final event of the meet. Coach Rhoads told me that it was a horrible call by the officials in his opinion. Did you have any idea that your team was going to be DQ’d, and what did you think of the call?
We didn’t realize anything was wrong during the swim, so hearing about the disqualification afterwards was disappointing. Situations like that are out of our control, though, and we just have to move forward.
Your freshman teammate, Logan Shwery, placed fifth in the 50 freestyle paralympic event. What can you say about his improvement this season, and do you get inspired by watching him compete?
He’s made a lot of progress this season, and it’s been great to watch. Seeing a teammate improve like that is definitely motivating and pushes everyone on the team to work harder.
Iowa City West edged Linn-Mar (Marion) by four points to capture the state title. Are those the teams that you expected to battle for the crown?
Those are both very strong programs, so it wasn’t surprising to see them competing for the title. Meets at that level often come down to a few points, which makes it exciting.
Your team will now have to replace a group of 10 seniors led by Bryer Pearson, who placed third in the 100 butterfly on Saturday. What will you miss the most about this year’s seniors?
I’ll miss the energy and atmosphere they brought to the team the most. They made practices and meets fun while still being competitive, and that had a big impact on the team environment.