Chelsea, Milan swimmers claim individual titles at D3 finals
Milan junior Ollie Smith celebrates after winning the 50-yard freestyle at the MHSAA Division 3 state championships Saturday at Eastern Michigan University.
Daniel Brenner I AnnArbor.com
Tim Wing | For AnnArbor.com
Chelsea High School junior David Alday won both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 freestyle races at the Division 3 state finals in two very similar situations.
Alday trailed Bloomfield-Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood’s Matthew Liu going into the final 50 yards in the 200 IM at Eastern Michigan University on Saturday, but shot out and dominated the final leg to finish in 1 minute, 52.88 seconds, a full two seconds ahead of Liu.
“That entire race was exciting, and I didn’t breathe at all in the last 25 yards,” Alday said.
Four races later, Alday turned on the afterburners and edged Grand Rapids Christian’s Ryan Beezhold in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 46.85 seconds.
“To be as multi-talented as David really shows you how great of a swimmer he is,” Chelsea coach Dave Jolly said.
Chelsea finished the meet in fifth place with 177 points.
More after the jump…