Tigers swimmer competes in state swim meet

 

MINNEAPOLIS — Albert Lea junior Jaeda Koziolek was the lone swimmer to qualify for the Class A Minnesota state swim and dive meet this season.

Unfortunately for Koziolek, she failed to qualify for either the championship or consolation finals in both of her races.

Qualifying in two events at the Section 1A meet, Koziolek swam in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly.

First up was the 200-yard individual medley, which pitted Koziolek against 21 other swimmers. Despite having a seed time that would have earned her a spot in the consolation final, Koziolek swam a 2:16.88 in the event, more than three seconds slower than her seed time. She ultimately finished in 20th place. The final qualifying time to get into the consolation final was 2:15.29. Hutchinson sophomore Hailey Farrell qualified first in the event with a time of 2:04.30.

In the 100-yard butterfly, Koziolek swam against 25 other competitors. Despite swimming close to her seed time, Koziolek came in 21st place with a time of 1:01.16. The final qualifying time to reach the consolation final was 59.95. Hutchinson senior Lexi Kucera qualified in first place with a time of 55.79.

Koziolek’s season comes to an end after the first day of the state swim meet, however, she will be back next fall with a host of returning sophomores to attempt and reach her sixth state swim meet.