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National finalists

MARQUETTE – Marquette Senior High School senior Sam Williams is an old wizened expert when it comes to his upcoming trip to the YMCA swimming nationals.

But for junior teammate Andrew Kilpela, it will be his first experience joining hundreds of other teenage swimmers gathering for four days in North Carolina to decide champions in numerous swimming events.

The pair of 17-year-olds are probably the two most accomplished members of the YMCA of Marquette County Killer Whales program.

And they were pivotal in the Redmen winning their third straight Upper Peninsula high school boys swimming and diving title in February, too.

Now, though, they get their chance to shine as individuals from April 5-8 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“My very first nationals, it definitely was extremely nerve-wracking,” said Williams, who will be making his fourth trip to this meet and second to the Greensboro pool. “There were so many people there. I didn’t expect it to be that big.”

For his first two trips, during his freshman and sophomore years, the meet was held in Indianapolis.

“Last year was my third time there and it was a lot easier to handle. I could focus a lot more just on my swimming.”

Kilpela wants to soak in the whole experience in North Carolina.

“I like to talk to the top guys,” he said about attending elite meets, like the Wisconsin state finals that earned him his spot in the nationals.

The spot wasn’t earned by a high finish there, but rather by breaking an established time. For Kilpela, it was in the 100-yard backstroke, where he previously had come close but not quite reached the qualifying time of 54.29 seconds, swimming as fast as 54.40 seconds.

Then in Brown Deer, Wisconsin, just over a week ago, he shattered his personal mark and the qualifying standard by about a full second, putting in a time of 53.33 seconds.

“I trained really hard for states,” Kilpela said, adding that the availability of a warm-up and cool-down pool is a luxury U.P. swimmers never have.

Williams and his father, Northern Michigan University assistant swim coach Matt Williams, explained that most events at the national meet will have 100 to 150 competitors, necessitating close to 20 preliminary heats in some cases at the eight-lane pool.

“They hold all the prelims during the day, then the top 24 come back for the finals at night,” Matt Williams said. “It’s such a different environment then.”

There are three sets of finals – A, B and C – for the first set of eight, second set of eight and third set of eight swimmers in each event.

Sam Williams made the finals cut for the first time last year in the 100-yard breaststroke, barely making it in 24th place, finishing just one-hundredth of a second ahead of three or four other swimmers.

So he came back for his first night final, and while he wasn’t able to improve his standing from 24th, it was the experience that counted.

“Just going to the nationals, it’s a great opportunity for us because we’re in a more isolated area up here in the U.P.,” Sam Williams said. “It’s a nice reminder that there are so many more levels of swimming.”

Williams has qualified in five events at the nationals but will have to choose since each swimmer can only participate in four events. His qualifying comes in the 100 and 200 breast, 100 and 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley. He might also be able to participate in the 400 IM, an event he hasn’t swum in more than a year.

He said his goal for this year’s meet is to make a top-16 B final or failing that, multiple C finals.

Both Williams and Kilpela have been “sharks” in U.P. pools, Williams being named high school boys U.P. Swimmer of the Year the past two seasons while winning four events and setting three records at this year’s U.P. Finals at his home MSHS pool.

Kilpela came within a whisker of being a four-time winner, too, at this year’s U.P. Finals, joining Williams on Marquette’s victorious 200 medley and 200 free relays, then finishing runner-up in the 100 back by 0.07 of a second in the 100 back and by 0.04 of a second in the 50 freestyle.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.

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