Boys swimming: Skylar Drolema qualifies for state in two events

EAST MOLINE – In the final sectional meet of his high school career, Skylar Drolema wanted to set the tone for his Sterling teammates.

The Morrison senior did just that, and he ended up making a statement by earning state berths in two events at the United Township Sectional on Saturday afternoon.

Drolema finished second in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races, but swam faster than the state qualifying time in both races with season-best performances.

“In the 50, I was going into this meet as a senior and I wanted to make state in my last year – for my coaches and for myself, of course, but also for the team,” Drolema said. “I wanted to get that going, get the hype going for the upcoming races that we had. But cutting time, that’s what we practice to do. I came in and got it done.”

He cut 0.9 seconds off his seed time in the 50 freestyle, and slashed a whopping 2.21 seconds off his previous season-best time in the 100 free.

He swam the 50 in 21.49 seconds, beating the state cut of 21.74; Galesburg’s Riley Stevenson won the race in 21.25, and Dunlap’s Nicholas Foster took third and also qualified for state with a 21.63. LaSalle-Peru’s Owen Phillips finished fourth in 21.75, missing state by one-hundredth of a second.

In the 100 free, Drolema clocked a 47.30; the state qualifying time was 47.63. Stevenson again won that race (47.03), and Dunlap’s Jack Morris took third with a state-qualifying time of 47.59.

“I had the times in my head, and when I was racing in the pool, I just thought, ‘I’m racing for this time, and I’m going to get it,’” Drolema said. “So I went out and got it, and that’s all that matters now.”

Drolema will swim at state for the third time in his career; he missed out his sophomore season because of the COVID pandemic. It’s the first time since he was a freshman that he’ll swim in an individual event at state; he qualified in the breaststroke that year, and swam in a pair of relays last season.

Knowing the competition he was facing, Drolema said he knew he’d likely have to make it on time instead of earning the automatic qualifying spots by winning the races.

“It’s pretty amazing, honestly,” he said. “Going into this, I was hoping to make it to state, and I knew I’d have to get the time to make it to state. I could’ve got first in the race, but I knew the time would come first more than winning the race. Being a senior, making it to state, it’s just amazing to me.”

Drolema was the lone state qualifier for the Water Warriors, but they finished third as a team with 161 points, behind sectional champion Galesburg (287) and runner-up Dunlap (270).

They also cut time in nearly every single race. In all, 17 of the 19 swimmers or relay teams that competed in the 11 swimming events swam faster than their seed times, which were also previous season bests.

The 200 medley relay team of Drolema, Evan Scott, Peter Garland and Conner Porter swam a 1:41.79 to take third, and the 200 freestyle relay team of Garland, Connor Pham, Porter and Drolema clocked a 1:32.46 to also finish third. Both of those times were more than two seconds faster than the seed times.

Rock Falls sophomore Conner Porter finished fourth in a pair of races, swimming the 200 IM in 2:04.73 – more than three seconds faster than his previous best – and clocking a 5:02.67 in the 500 freestyle; that was faster by a whopping 9.12 seconds. The 400 free relay team of Dale Johnson, Jack Graves, Patrick Riley and Evan Scott finished fourth in 3:39.98, 7.75 seconds faster than its seed.

Garland also medaled in the 100 butterfly, swimming a 57.22 to place fifth. He improved his seed time by 3.05 seconds.

Riley (200 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Scott (200 IM and 100 breaststroke), Graves (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle), and Pham (100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke) all swam faster than their seed time in two events, and Hunter Lofgren’s 1:12.34 in the 100 backstroke was more than two seconds faster. Riley’s nearly six-second drop in the 200 freestyle was the biggest improvement after Porter’s effort in the 500 freestyle.

“That’s all that we really hope for. At the start of the season we set some goals and see where we get to, and when we end, can we finish with personal bests? And if we do that, that’s a successful season,” Sterling coach Kyle Ruiz said. “I think the team overall had a fantastic meet. Obviously Skylar was a big part of that by swimming two phenomenal races. But it was a fantastic day for the whole team, and I’m really proud of the team as a whole coming here and swimming fast and completing a really good season.”

Seniors Scott and Pham had a pretty cool moment near the end of the meet. In the final individual race, the 100 breaststroke, the two longtime teammates swam in the same heat with just one lane separating them.

Getting to finish their careers in the pool together meant a lot to both of them.

“It’s so cool, because every single meet so far, we’ve pretty much been either right next to each other or the same heat every time, always so close,” Pham said. “It’s cool to end the year in a race like this together.”

“Me and him swim together in each lane at practice, so we always work together,” Scott added. “We both knew what we had to do today, it’s the last race, so we gave it everything we had. It’s just special to be able to swim a race at my last meet with somebody I swim with everyday.”

Scott came in with a seed time of 1:07.15 to Pham’s 1:10.01, but Pham shaved some of that margin in the finale. Scott placed eighth in 1:06.11, while Pham was 11th in 1:07.44.

“He’s slightly faster than me, so every time we’re in practice together and doing the breaststroke, I always think, ‘I’m going to try to keep up with him this time instead of letting him pass me,’” Pham said. “It’s fun to have that teammate that we can push each other.”

While neither senior will get the chance to finish their careers at the state meet like their teammate Drolema, both were happy with the way it ended.

“It’s cool that we all swam so well. I think we both had a time in mind, and we both achieved those times. It’s cool to be able to do that,” Scott said. “Even if we didn’t make it to state, still happy with where we are.”

“No regrets. My high school career has been amazing,” Pham added. “My first three years, we swept every dual meet that we did. This year, not quite as good, but I still think we did amazing for what we had. I’m just so proud of this year, of my team, of being part of this program.”