Boys Swimming: Hinsdale Central takes home New Trier Relays title

WINNETKA – Tradition is important to the teams competing in the New Trier Trevian Relays, now in its 67th year.

So is getting off to a fast start.

Hinsdale Central proved that Jan. 14 in Winnetka, winning the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay.

That triumph, in a time of 1:34.28, propelled the Red Devils to an invitational team victory among a strong field with a score of 212.

Stevenson was second at 195, followed by the host Trevians (173).

Vidar Carlbaum, Nojus Bertulis, Brody Marcet and Nate Harris were the Hinsdale Central relay swimmers who excelled to begin the invite.

“We were just pumped up for the relays,” said Harris, a junior. “I think if you look at the history of Hinsdale Central, that’s what we were built on.

“The way they set up the meet, they like to start it off with a bang by putting the varsity medley relay first. We wanted to come out and make a statement, get the win and have fun doing it.”

Carlbaum finished first in the 50 free (21.58 seconds) for the Red Devils. Teammate Henry Guo (51.65 seconds) took the 100 fly. Bertulis was fastest in the 100 backstroke in a time of 52.40.

Stevenson’s runner-up finish was paced by Colin Zhang, who won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:53.73.

The Patriots were victorious in the 200 free relay (David Kohan, Jonny Farber, Diego Rosario-Freytes, Jack Curtin) and the 400 free relay (Farber, Liam Plautz, Zhang and Curtin.)

“The top three teams in the state were here today – New Trier is No. 3, we’re No. 2 right now and Hinsdale Central is No. 1,” Stevenson coach Doug Lillydahl said. “Relays are double points in the state championship, so hopefully [our performance today] is something we can build on.”

Lillydahl also had high praise for Zhang, a junior.

“In many ways he’s the centerpiece we build around,” Lillydahl said. “He consistently wins or is close. The way he swims determines the way we attack the meets the rest of the way.”

Barrington’s Rylan Anselm (1:43.86) won the 200 free.

Jonathan Wang of Naperville North was first in the 100 breaststroke in 57:63.

St. Charles East junior Kyle Algrim has been specializing in the 500 free for several years, so he knows how grueling the race can be. He excelled Jan. 14 by winning the event in a time of 4:39.51.

“I think distance is one of the more mentally challenging races and it’s very different than any other stroke,” Algrim said. “You really have to know what you’re doing, have a good internal clock, know where you are at and pace yourself because the race can go really well – or really poorly.”

Algrim said the Trevian Relays was one of the events on the schedule he was excited about.

“I was looking forward to racing today,” he said. “There were some pretty fast guys out here, so I psyched myself up really good. I kept swimming my own race. I was third or so at the 200, but I just kept going at it and finished strong. I just kind of swam according to what I planned out and everything worked out. This event, with all the great teams, kind of makes you want to show what you can do.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20230114/boys-swimming-hinsdale-central-tops-stevenson-to-claim-new-trier-title