Hayley Sims bobbed her head out of the New Trier pool one final time Saturday following the 100-yard butterfly final, took a quick glance at the scoreboard behind her, then turned the other way toward the crowd and simply smiled.
She did the best she could.
Unfortunately for the Downers Grove North junior, her best was not good enough to claim an individual championship at the Illinois girls swimming and diving state meet. That honor went to Rosary senior Olivia Scott, who set a state record with her first-place time of 53.09 seconds.
Sims was Scott’s closest competition as she finished second in 54.80.
“It took something phenomenal to win today,” Sims said. “It was amazing. I’m so happy for her, and it’s just such a cool thing to do.”
Sims’ performance was pretty phenomenal in and of itself. Five days after discovering she had pneumonia, the junior finished second in the butterfly and in the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.57). The freestyle runner-up finish came up mere minutes after Sims teamed with seniors Emily Wilkinson, Kate Smith and Emma Buckley to take 10th in the 200-yard medley relay.
The Trojans finished 13th overall as a team with 32 points. Rosary finished with 177 points for its fourth consecutive state title.
“This was definitely as good as I could have hoped for,” Sims said. “I definitely don’t want to discount anything anyone else has done because I know a lot of other girls aren’t feeling their best.”
It had been several weeks that Sims had not been feeling her best when she found out she actually had pneumonia.
That was on Monday.
Thanks to antibiotics and rest, she felt significantly better — though still not 100 percent — for state.
“Physically I’m probably at least 90 percent,” Sims said. “I feel like maybe I could have a little bit more to go, but I’ve been feeling pretty good and I’ve been racing pretty good, and I’ve been mostly happy with my times.”
What makes Sims happier is knowing she did so well while still competing under the weather. That knowledge has Sims feeling optimistic heading into the offseason before her senior season.
“I know since I wasn’t feeling my best and I didn’t swim my best races today, there’s things I can work on, things I can improve,” Sims said. “I feel like I can still drop time, which is really a great feeling. I hope that I can just keep it up and keep my training up, and I hope everything comes together a little bit better at my next championship meet.”
Sims was the only individual to advance to Saturday’s finals. Wilkinson finished 22nd overall in Friday’s 100-yard butterfly preliminaries and 25th in the 200 individual medley. Sophomore Meghan Downey was 25th in diving and Buckley was 26th in the 200-yard freestyle and 38th in the 500-yard freestyle. Junior Allison Soper and Kate Smith were 31st and 36th, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Buckley, Wilkinson, Sims and freshman Jennifer Gockman finished 13th overall.
Downers South
Alexis Spivak was the lone Downers Grove South representative at Saturday’s swimming and diving state finals, but the senior still helped the Mustangs finish ahead of 16 other schools.
Spivak finished fifth overall in the 100-yard butterfly. Her time of 55.78 seconds was the fastest of her career without one of the high-tech swimsuits banned this year by the Illinois High School Association.
Rosary senior Olivia Scott set a new state record of 53.09 as she took first in the butterfly.
This weekend was Spivak’s fourth straight appearance at the state meet and third straight top 10 finish in the butterfly. Last year she finished fourth overall in the event, and took seventh the year before as a sophomore.
Now, with her high school career officially behind her, the senior’s attention is on her future swimming career at the University of Missouri.
“It’s kind of sad to see it over,” Spivak confessed. “Place-wise it wasn’t as high as last year, but this is my fastest time without a leg skin, so I’m really happy. I can’t wait to go on to start training for my college season. I can’t wait to go to Mizzou next year.”
Spivak also placed 25th in the 200 freestyle (1:55.66) and teamed with Rachael Loek, Ellen Wiese and Sara Koniecko to place 19th in the 200 medley relay (1:50.50). Wiese was also 35th in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.90).
Spivak also placed 25th in the 200 freestyle (1:55.66) and teamed with Rachael Loek, Ellen Wiese and Sara Koniecko to place 19th in the 200 medley relay (1:50.50). Wiese was also 35th in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.90).
