CANTON – Even though she didn’t win a state championship, Isabella Gable is satisfied with how her high school swimming career ended on Friday.
The Arcanum senior was seeded first in the Division II 200-yard freestyle event after the preliminaries, but ended up placing second overall in a time of 1:50.63, which was a shade under her prelim time of 1:50.66. Cora Dupre, a senior from Mariemont, was the state champion with a record-setting time of 1:45.91.
“I did what I came to do,” said Gable, who also earned fourth place in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.98. “I raced my hardest so I am satisfied with it … I really am. The strategy was like to sprint the third 50, but when I got out there I was like just in the moment and I kind of died the last 100 because I went out real fast.
“Cora was not putting her best out there in prelims and she dropped 5 seconds from that,” she continued. “But I really did believe in myself so that was all I needed.”
Last year, Gable was in the same situation for the 200 free. She was the top seed after prelims but finished second in the finals. She also captured a fourth place finish in the 100 back as a junior.
“Isabella had a really good year,” Arcanum swim coach Josh Artin said. “She has been working extremely hard. As far as her time from yesterday in comparison to today it wasn’t too far off. I think she was a lot more focused this year than she was in the past and she wanted to have fun. That was her main goal whether she won or lost she wanted to come out with a positive attitude. I strive for that in my swimmers to have fun because I don’t want them to regret the following year that they may not want to swim. I want them to come back. I want them to succeed in life, but also have fun.”
Two other local swimmers had fun as well in making the podium in their respective events. Versailles senior Cole Condon placed fifth in the boys 50 free with a time of 21.77, and Tri-Village sophomore Lucie Morris placed seventh in the girls 50 free with a time of 23.97 seconds.
“It definitely was a good performance today,” said Condon, who also competed in the consolation finals for the 100 butterfly which he finished 14th overall in 52.41 seconds. “It has definitely been a dream since I was a kid to be on that state podium. Last year, I barely got out touched by a 100th of a second so this year to bring it back and take fifth is a pretty amazing journey. And then in 100 fly I dropped a little time there as well. I was pretty dead from the 50 free, but I made it through.”
Morris, a sophomore, made the podium for the first time in her career.
“I accomplished my goal of getting on the podium for the 50 free,” Morris said. “That is step 2 of 3. My 100 back was a lot better this morning, but I kind of ran out of gas toward the end but it’s OK. I was prepared for that, but step 2 of 3 is accomplished for my 50 free and next year the goal is to be 1, 2 or 3 on the podium, so I will be working toward that this summer and next season.
“I have some big things ahead of me I think for sure,” she continued. “I am dedicating myself to do a different level of training and I am very excited to see where it is going to put me.”
The Versailles boys 200 free relay team also made the consolation finals and placed 14th in 1:31.42. Team members were sophomores Ryan Subler and Jack Detrick and seniors Stuart Baltes and Cole Condon.
