T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - The Marshalltown boys’ swimming squad is sending seven entrants with nine swimmers for this week’s state swimming meet in Iowa City. Pictured are, front row: (from left) Sam Greazel, Charlie Gilbertson, Parker Christen, Aaron Hunter and Thomas Stanley; back row: Jacob Seberger, Michael Lechnir, Lincoln Barker and Kade Randall.

In the wake of an exceptional district meet last Saturday, an experienced and battle-tested Marshalltown boys swimming team is aiming to slip past competition for some team points at this weekend’s state meet.

The Bobcats will compete in seven events for the 2025 IHSAA State Swimming Championships at the University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City. Individual prelims will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, with the individual and relay finals scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Friday’s prelims will feature a trio of four-time state qualifiers for the Bobcats, as seniors Charlie Gilbertson, Lincoln Barker and Sam Greazel hop in the pool for their fourth and final state meet.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” Greazel said. “Being there for four years in a row, it’s just a good experience for the whole team and me to be there.”

Greazel is seeded 22nd in the 100-yard breaststroke with a district seed time of 1:01.62.

The hope for Greazel, as is the case for all of Marshalltown’s individual events, is to finish in the top 16 of Friday’s prelims to qualify for Saturday’s top-8 finals or next-8 consolations, which would also confer team points for the Bobcats.

Marshalltown last scored team points in the 2023 state meet with a 200 medley relay team that included Greazel and Gilbertson on the quartet. The Bobcats’ last individual scorers were Aaron Seberger and Marcus Barker in 2022.

“I’ve been working on the 100 breast for quite a long time,” Greazel said. “I just have to really focus this week and have good tempo.”

The 16th-seeded swimmer in the breaststroke clocked in at just over a second faster than Greazel at 1:00.29. Greazel was 26th in the event last year.

“That’s his signature event,” Marshalltown head coach Mike Loupee said. “He had a great time drop at districts and he’s got the musculature with continued rest and stretching that we should be able to squeeze a little more out of him.”

Loupee also mentioned that Logan Frederick, who won a state title in the breaststroke in 2006, has visited a couple practices to work with Greazel.

“He’s been helpful with all of our breaststrokers on some of the more fine-tuning techniques,” Loupee said, adding with a smile, “some things that an old freestyler probably misses.”

Greazel will also compete in the 200 individual medley prelims on Friday, where he’s seeded 28th at 2 minutes, 4 seconds flat.

Another Bobcat seeded 22nd in an individual event is Gilbertson in the 100 butterfly and aiming high for his last go-round.

The margins for top 16 are a little tighter in that event, where even another half second off Gilbertson’s 53.63 at districts would have the senior competitive for a top-16 spot.

“There are some things that I need to clean up for state, but for the most part, it was fast, it was efficient, and it got me to state,” Gilbertson said. “I’m looking forward to competing against all these other athletes that are pretty high-caliber and just swimming fast and having fun.”

Loupee has been impressed with Gilbertson’s work ethic in the butterfly event. Gilbertson was 29th in the event at state last year.

“He classically doesn’t drop a lot of time at districts with his build,” Loupee said, “but then he drops more time at state than the other guys. He dropped about eight-tenths of a second in his fly at districts, but I’m looking for him to drop a second and a half to two seconds on Saturday.

“He’s literally just a hair over a second off the school record, so that’s been a goal for Charlie ever since he’s started, and he’s within sniffing distance.”

Lincoln Barker competes Friday in the 200 and 500 freestyle prelims. He’s seeded 32nd out of 32 in the 200 free at 1:50.10 and 27th in the 500 free in 5:01.39.

“He’s got nowhere to go up in the 200,” Loupee said. “And we’ve always talked with Lincoln about taking his races out more aggressively, staying with the big dogs in the first part of the race and realizing that he belongs with him, having more confidence in his ability. … He’s a big, strong, well-muscled swimmer and he’s got more time to drive.”

Barker was 29th in the 500 freestyle as a junior.

“I’ve been practicing hard [on the 500 freestyle],” Barker said. “Just keeping a consistent pace and trying to hold that as long as possible. … It can be nerve-wracking there at state, it’s a big place, and I feel like knowing that atmosphere [these last four years] will help for sure to calm the nerves.”

The Bobcats will also be keeping an eye on Friday’s prelims to help them determine who will swim in Saturday’s relays, particularly the 200 freestyle relay where sprints in practice and Friday’s results will help Loupee and assistant coach Ray Dulaney figure out which four to go with for each of the 50-meter legs.

“We’ve probably got seven guys that could be swimming in those four spots. We’ll see how the week goes, and how the weekend goes, before we make a decision,” Loupee said. “Ames is in that last scoring spot and we were running them down at districts where we just needed about four more strokes and we’d have had them.”

The 200 medley relay is seeded 18th as the closest of the seven entries to team-scoring territory, looking to need about 2-3 seconds chopped off the time to get into that top 16, which Loupee said is an immediate goal for the Saturday relay finals.

Beyond that, it’s about an accomplished group of seniors getting one last swim in the Iowa City pool as a Bobcat.

“I love swimming,” Gilbertson said. “Swimming has been a large part of my life for the last few years and I thank God for giving me these opportunities. … It’s going to be tough to miss next year. … But for this year, I’m glad to just be able to be a person that people can look up to, and hopefully be like, ‘I’m going to be like him,’ — that I’m leaving behind a legacy of leadership, teamwork and team unity.”