Oak Park and River Forest senior swimmer Josh Fluharty continues pushing to perfection in the 50-yard freestyle.
“I’m always in the race to win,” Fluharty said. “I like the competition. It helps me improve a little bit more every time.”
Fluharty once again came in first Saturday at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division Meet at Downers Grove North in 21.91 seconds, but this victory was somewhat special.
This was his first conference title at any level after winning all of the conference duals in the event. The school record of 21.15 is .14 faster than Fluharty’s lifetime best.
“It’s showing that I can get there, basically,” Fluharty said.
Freshman J.P. Rotatori also won the 200 free (1:47.41) for the Huskies, who finished third (227 points) behind Lyons Township (308) and Hinsdale Central (258).
Fluharty (48.68) and Rotatori (49.38) finished 2-3 in the 100 free and were part of the 200 free relay with junior Thomas Wolfe and senior Sean Pawelko (1:29.54) and 400 free relay with Wolfe and sophomore Max Razzino (3:18.13), which both were third. Wolfe was third in the 200 individual medley (2:03.84).
“I think the guys are right where they need to be,” OPRF coach Clyde Lundgren said. “It’s sometimes a hard thing to do (at conference) because you’ve got other guys that are (rested) — shaved, bald heads — and they’ve got to keep the blinders on and focus on what they’re doing in a couple of weeks.”
Even as a freshman, Rotatori has his sights on the Fenwick Sectional Feb. 20. His highlight Saturday was beating his seed time of 1:48.20.
“I don’t really think about (winning) coming in,” Rotatori said. “This is just a meet where you want to see where you are. These meets build up to the championship meets and the championship meets are really where you want to finish the season.”
Fenwick
Senior Cavan Smith and his Fenwick relay teammates began Saturday’s Metro Catholic Aquatic Championships in Oak Park with a victory and ended with a personal triumph.
The Friars (316 points) were second to St. Ignatius (338) with their lone victory the 200 medley relay of sophomore Tommy Bartecki and seniors Chez Daggs, Smith and Mickey McGuire (1:39.77).
Their fourth-place 400 free relay of Smith, senior Ryan Clark, McGuire and freshman Liam Hutchinson (3:16.28) also appears on pace to beat the state cut of 3:13.84 at the Fenwick Sectional Feb. 20.
“It’s a whole new ballgame for us,” Smith said. “I’ve been to state freshman, sophomore and junior year for the (200) medley and sophomore and junior year for the 200 freestyle (relays), but I’ve never gone for the 400 freestyle so this is super exciting.”
The 200 free relay of McGuire, Daggs, Clark and Smith (1:29.73) was second. Smith (100 butterfly in 52.38) and Bartecki (100 backstroke in 55.26) were third. Hutchinson was fourth in the 200 free (1:48.05) and fifth in the 500 free (4:52.72).
The medley relay won by .13 over Brother Rice.
“It’s been pretty solid all year. The state cut is 1:37.60 so we’re right there,” Fenwick coach Luke McGuire said.
“Of course, winning is always a highlight. It’s always great to have a winning relay because you can celebrate with the team,” Smith said.
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