Boys High School National Championships: Worth the wait

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Aug 2003 by Lydersen, Kari

After failing to win the Illinois State High School Championships in 2002 by a mere one-and-a-half points, Lake Forest returned a year later not only to capture the state title, but Swimming World's national high school title as well.

At the 2002 Illinois State High School Championships, the Lake Forest High School boys' team knew they had their first-ever championship within their grasp.

The title came down to the last event, the 400 yard free relay, and sprint superstar Matt Grevers, a 2000 Olympic Trials participant, would swim the anchor leg.

Grevers gave it his all, but he was outtouched by 1-tenth of a second by the St. Charles East team, giving the overall title to Naperville Central High School by one-and-a-half points-the closest margin ever in state history.

On his way to the parking lot after the meet, Grevers couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't been beaten like that in a long time.

Coach Lea (Loveless) Maurer, a 1992 Olympian and former American record holder who has been coaching at Lake Forest for seven years, advised him to channel that disappointment into motivation for the next season. The rest of the team felt the same way.

"That day, we committed ourselves to coming back and having a great year," said Maurer. "Sometimes those disappointments work to your advantage."

A year later, Maurer's prediction proved true.

At this year's state meet at New Trier High School, Feb. 28-March 1, senior Grevers and the rest of the team turned in stellar performances and ran away with the title, trouncing second-place Lincolnshire Stevenson 181-138.

About three months later, they found out they had also won Swimming World's national high school championship, which is determined by compiling and scoring top times from the year's high school meets throughout the country. National high school rules are followed, too, so that a swimmer cannot swim in more than two individual events and two relays or one individual event and three relays.

Lake Forest amassed 149.5 points to outdistance Cincinnati St. Xavier with 122 and Carmel (Indiana) at 117.5.

Going Out in Style

Grevers certainly avenged his disappointment of last year at this year's state meet. He won the 50 yard free in 19.94 and the 100 back in 50.54, and anchored the team's winning 200 (1:23.39) and 400 (3:04.59) free relays.

The 200 free relay plus prelim swims in the 400 free relay (3:03.74), 50 free (19.83) and 100 back (48.77) were state records. Grevers also led off the 400 free relay final with a 43.51 state record, under the listed national record of 43.73 by Ugur Taner in 1992. But it was 2-hundredths off the new national public school record set this year by Garrett Weber-Gale of Nicolet High School in Glendale, Wis.

Grevers' performances in the 50 free and 100 back ranked first nationally. His 50 was the second-fastest in high school history, bettered only by Michael Cavic's national record of 19.69, set just last year. Matt was also named Swimming World's Male High School Swimmer of the Year.

The 200 free relay team of Sammy Kintz, Steve Inacker, Brendan Selby and Grevers was also tops in the nation, and they just missed the national record by 24-hundredths. The 400 free relay (from prelims) was No. 1, too, with a foursome of Kintz, David Ashley, Inacker and Grevers.

Kintz won the 100 free at the state meet and took third in the 200. His 1:39.01 prelim time from states in the 200 tied him for sixth nationally, while his 45.21 prelim time in the 100 was ninth nationally.

Additionally, senior David Ashley took second in the 500 and third in the 200 IM at the state meet, tying for ninth nationally in the 500 with his 4:28.97.

"They had really high goals going into the meet, and they met them," said Maurer.

Last fall, Kintz didn't even think he would swim at the state meet. He had broken his collarbone and required a metal plate and screws to put it back together. He didn't even really start training until about 10 weeks before states.

Kintz, who will be attending Stanford in the fall, credited his quick comeback to good coaching. "Also, the whole environment of the state meet got us really pumped up. It was one of the most exciting times of my life," said Kintz.

Great Expectations

When Maurer started coaching at Lake Forest, the best team finish at the state meet had been seventh. With Lea at the helm and her husband, Erik (an NCAA champion at Stanford), as her assistant, the team moved up steadily each year. Lake Forest broke into the top three in the state for the first time four years ago.

"Every year the expectations have gone up," said Erik Maurer, a Lake Forest-area native who still holds the state 200 free record from 1989. "Now it's a tradition."

Lea, who also coached the state champion Lake Forest girls' team, is the first woman to coach a boys' team to the state title in Illinois.

"She's breaking down a lot of barriers," Erik said.

Much of the Maurers' coaching philosophy has come from their own experiences at Stanford, the University of Florida as well as several U.S. national teams.