Hodag swimmers mix things up in Antigo win

The 200 backstroke, the 400 individual medley and the 400 medley relay are not events in a typical high school swimming program. They were, however, on the docket for some members of the Hodag boys’ swim team on Thursday night. 

Rhinelander mixed up the lineup and swam some events unconventionally as they earned a 104-52 victory on the road at Antigo.

The meet did not count toward Great Northern Conference standings. Because of that, and because Antigo’s short-course meter pool makes apples to apples time comparisons more difficult, the Hodags and coach Jenny Heck decided to have some swimmers swim different events, applying a more liberal definition to the term “freestyle.”

“We thought we’d mix it up a little bit,” Heck said. “I really enjoyed watching the full effort. These guys are challenging themselves. Doing things that are difficult and uncomfortable is going to make them better in the long run. There wasn’t much convincing for these guys. In fact, they asked for the challenges. That just makes my job easier and more fun and exciting too.”

    Rhinelander swimmers, from left to right, Dolan O’Malley, Zacha King and Shawn Denis swam the 400-meter freestyle as a 400 individual medley instead during a GNC exhibition boys’ swim meet at Antigo Thursday, Jan. 11. King still on the event, with a time of 5 minutes, 9.98 seconds. O’Malley finished third and Denis took fourth. (Submitted photo)
  

The 200-meter freestyle became the 200 backstroke for freshman Judson O’Malley, who still finished third overall against the freestylers with a time of 2 minutes, 31.00 seconds. All three of Rhinelander entries in the 400-meter freestyle treated the race as a 400 individual medley. Senior Zacha King still won (5:09.98), edging Antigo’s Dawson Behm by 1.19 seconds. Dolan O’Malley took third and Shawn Denis took fourth.

Finally, the Hodags’ A entry in the 400 freestyle relay treated it as a medley. Even then, the team of Dolan O’Malley, Denis, King and Mathias Fugle finished only 3.52 seconds behind the Hodag B entry of Judson O’Malley, Chris Larson, Charlie Antonuk and Samson Shinners (4:13.20), all of whom swam freestyle.

“It’s kind of a mental preparation as well as a physical,” Heck said. “A 400 IM, especially in meters, is a really tough event, but these guys, they wanted the challenge and took it on. It was a lot of pain.

“They know it’s going to make their other events better. It’s going to prepare them. When you have guys like that who are just looking for the challenge, looking for things that are going to make them better and push them. What a gift that is. They went after it. They attacked it. They were exhausted but I was really proud of them.”

The Hodags won 10 of the 11 events on the night, and all nine swimmers on the roster played a role in at least one victory. Antonuk, a freshman, won all four of his races. In addition to being on the winning 200 and 400 freestyle relays he won the 200 freestyle, swimming conventionally, with a time of 2:15.70. He also claimed the 100 freestyle (1:00.09).

“I’d say one of the highlights was Charlie Antonuk’s 200 freestyle, which was a converted 2:01, which was a five-second drop on the season,” Heck said. “He just really had a nice meet, overall, and good time drops. I was really pleased with his times.”

King added a win for the Hodags in the 100 backstroke (1:06.26), leading a 1-2-3 finish in that event with Judson O’Malley and Fugle. Fugle won the 200 individual medley (2:27.43) and Denis took the 50 freestyle (25.09). 

The O’Malley brothers, King and Arrowood made up the winning quartet in the 200 medley relay (2:00.19), beating teammates Larson, Fugle, Denis and Shinners by 6.1 seconds. Larson, Antonuk, Arrowood and Shinners won the 200 freestyle relay (1:54.52).

Antigo’s Ezra Santiago scored the win in the 100 butterfly (1:08.24), beating Shinners by 2.24 seconds. Larson, Fugle, Denis and Shinners made up the runner-up squad in the 200 medley relay, Arrowood took second in the 200 IM. Dolan O’Malley was second in the 50 freestyle.

The meet was supposed to be the first of back-to-back nights of racing for the Hodags, but Friday night’s Appleton North Invite was canceled due to inclement weather. It was unclear as of press time if that meet would be rescheduled. While understanding the decision, Heck called it a “huge bummer” for the Hodags to miss out on a kay opportunity to race fast teams from outside of the area. 

“We were really looking for to that,” she said. “We were really close with Ashwaubenon, how it would score out. We were really looking forward to that, but that’s how it goes. We just really enjoy those invites when we get down south and get to see some of those other teams.”

The Hodags will be back in action this Thursday night in another GNC exhibition at Tomahawk. Medford was added to the meet this past week, making the event a double dual.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].