IHSAA boys swimming: Record-breaking start for Bloomington South's Paegle, Kovacs at state
Bloomington swimmers earned eight A Finals swims and another four in the B Finals on Friday in the preliminaries of the IHSAA boys' swimming and diving championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
While they were at it, South juniors Lukas Paegle and David Kovacs combined to break three school records. The finals on Saturday will begin at 1 p.m.
Kovacs' mark came in the 100 backstroke, where he earned the top seed with a 48.34, .20 seconds better than his 48.54 of a year ago. It was just .07 faster than Center Grove sophomore Henry Lyness. Kovacs also turned in a career-best 1:49.24 in the 200 individual medley to grab the third spot there behind Carmel's Gregg Enoch (1:44.66) and Michael Gorey (1:46.92).
Paegle first took down Ian Finnerty's school record in the 50 free (20.69) with a 20.67 to finish fourth in qualifying. North's Jay Stewart just missed the A Final by .05 with a 21.20 to take ninth. Joining him in the B Final is teammate Will Dixon, who dropped his best time to 21.33 and moved from a 17th seed to 15th.
Then Paegle and Stewart also made the A Final of the 100 butterfly as Paegle took down Finnerty's 48.18 with a 47.85 for second behind only Matthew Klinge of West Lafayette Harrison (47.41). Stewart just made it with a 49.95 for eighth, .19 ahead of ninth.
Dixon also went 46.48 for ninth in the 100 free to make the B Final. He needed to 46.45 for eighth.
More: Sprint freestylers endure in long run for Bloomington North boys swimming ahead of state
South's 200 medley relay went 1:33.36 for fifth behind Kovacs (22.6 back), Leo Nelson (27.42 breaststroke), Paegle (21.44 fly) and 21.90 finish in the free from Kian Kadlec. The Panthers; 400 free relay of Paegle (45.11), Kadlec, Botond Kun and Kovacs (44.84) placed second with a 3:07.47, as Carmel was first with a 3:05.16.
North grabbed a spot in the A Final of the 200 free relay as Stewart, Buehler (21.14), Landon Mobley and Dixon (21.19) touched in 1:26.14. The Cougars' 400 free relay, same group, same order, got a 46.73 from Buehler and a 46.75 leg from Dixon to go 3:11.13 for 11th.
Buehler also finished 20th in the 200 free (1:44.79), rising five seed spots, and 22nd in the 100 free (47.73). North's Hunter Tang was 21st in the 100 breaststroke (59.67) and South's Kun was 25th in the 500 free (4:50.51) and 26th in the 200 free (1:46.67) while Kadlec lowered his PR to 4:46.67 in the 500 to take 19th.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Record-breaking start for Bloomington South duo at IHSAA state swim
