Calan Berrier wins the 200 freestyle in a season-opening dual meet at Merrillville. AMY LUTTERMAN/photo
The comparative swimming talent of the schools didn’t allow for a competitive team competition, but individual events were not without suspense that was amplified by the boisterous crowd at Merrillville.
Chesterton freshman Nathan Fernandez made his first high school meet a memorable one by taking on Jacob Cruz, who was backed by the home crowd in a big way, in the 100 breaststroke, the final individual event of the evening.
“As soon as I heard the crowd, it was an instant thing in my mind that I had to keep pushing forward and I’ve got to beat this kid because he was right next me,” Fernandez said. “It was an intense battle, and he was amazing too. It was probably the best swimming race that I’ve done. It was crazy. It was amazing.”
And Fernandez survived the challenge, winning the race by less than a second with a time of 1:19.23.
“It’s so fun,” Fernandez said of being on the swim team. “I plan on doing it all four years, maybe even in college.”
The crowd was probably the second loudest of the meet, topped only by the noise generated in the 50 free, the only race won by Merrillville. Fernandez took third in that one in 25.64 and Merrillville’s Noah Newman, fueled by passionate spectators, held off Chesterton’s Tyler Scalf (24.71) to win the 50 free in 23.92.
Each Chesterton class had a swimmer who won at least one individual event and the sophomore class led the way with three wins, two by Arron Guzzo and one by Liam Eschbach. Other winners: senior Calan Berrier, junior Tyler Scalf and freshman Greydon Pieroni.
More than just the winners found significance in the meet. For Mason Olson, it represented a chance to knock off the competitive rust after a couple of years away from swimming.
“My sister (Zoey) did it really well, so I wanted to do it,” Olson said. “I kind of grew out of it for a bit, then I realized that I should probably do it to get back in shape. They’ve knocked me back into shape.”
The meet got off to a rough start for Olson in the 200 medley relay, when he swam the breastroke leg of it for the Chesterton B team that finished second to the A team.
“I messed up on my breaststroke,” Olson said. “My goggles came off, so I couldn’t see the whole time.”
The goggles stayed on for his leg of the 50 free relay and he swam much better.
The Trojans, who had their 27-year grip on the DAC title ended last season by finishing second to Valparaiso, will face tougher competition than in the opener when they welcome Crown Point to their pool in a meet that starts at 5:30 p.m.
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