WIAA BOYS STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING

BASICS

What: 95th-annual WIAA boys swimming and diving championships.

When: Friday (diving at 2:30 p.m.; swimming at 6:30) and Saturday (diving at 10 a.m. and swimming at 3 p.m.). Where: UW Natatorium, Madison. Tickets: $6

Order of events: Diving, 200-yard medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay.

Broadcast: Every event will be shown live on WIAA.TV, a subscription service.

2018 team champions: Division 1 – Madison West; Division 2 – Monona Grove.

Lowdown

Division 1: Madison West and Middleton are expected to battle for the title. Waukesha South/Catholic Memorial, which is ranked second in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association ranking, will also be in the mix. It returns a number of key performers from the team that missed finishing ahead of Middleton for second place by three points last season. Franklin, which took seventh last season, also returns a strong core of competitors.

Division 2: Edgewood is the team to beat. Elkhorn is expected to be in a tight race for second with Rhinelander and Monona Grove.

Athletes to watch

Division 1 Caleb Blischke, Waukesha South/

Catholic Memorial: The junior is the top returner in the 500 free where he took fourth last season. He’ll also try to medal in the 200 free after competing in the 200 IM the past two seasons.

Ben Gabbey, Muskego: The senior, an Illinois-Chicago recruit, will battle defending 100 breast champion Henry Miller for the title. He took second last season but owns the state’s best time in the event this year (57.33). Gabbey is also the No. 3 seed in the 200 IM.

Michael Linnihan, Brookfield: The junior’s third-place finishes in the 100 and 200 freestyle last season make him the top returner in each event. His season-best of 45.80 in the 100 free is tops in the state and his top 200 time (1:41.32) would ranked second behind Middleton senior Andrew Martin.

Braden Rumpit, Brookfield: The senior, whose Classic 8 record of 552.00 is the best diving total of the season, took fourth as a sophomore and third as a junior.

Division 2

Evan Szablewski, Shorewood: The senior is the one to watch in the 500 free after taking second to graduated senior Ben McDade the past two seasons. He also returns to the 200 free as the top seed after competing in the 100 butterfly last season.

Find more athletes to watch at jsonline.com/preps