With four divisions of high school competition, meaning four different state championships and 36 separate individual state champions (potentially), the Michigan Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (MISCA) has a lot to consider when compiling its annual “Dream Team.”
Per MISCA’s website, the selection process for the Dream Team is based on the following criteria:
- The fastest state meet performance in each event at finals; relay lead off times are considered.
- An athlete may only receive the honor in 1 individual event. If an athlete has multiple #1 performances the runner-up performances in each event are factored in. The better of the runner-up swims is chosen based on the NISCA Power Point scores.
- If there is a tie in the relays both teams will be chosen.
- If there is an individual tie and neither swimmer is #1 in another event both swimmers will be chosen.
Now that boy’s high school swim season has wrapped in the Mitten, the 2018 Dream Team has been revealed. Its members and their teams and performances are listed below. Results for all Lower Peninsula state championships–D1, D2, and D3–and the Upper Peninsula state championships* are also linked.
| Event | Swimmer | Time | School | Division |
| 200 Medley Relay | Mass, Barrios, Langdon, Soto |
1:31.91 | Holland West Ottowa | D1 |
| 200 Freestyle | Skyler Cook-Weeks | 1:37.27 | Holland Christian | D3 |
| 200 IM | David Cleason | 1:49.81 | Ann Arbor Skyline | D1 |
| 50 Freestyle | Christian Bart | 20.31 | East Grand Rapids | D3 |
| 1 Meter Diving | Henry Schirmer | 503.85 | Ann Arbor Skyline | D1 |
| 100 Butterfly | Alex Margherio | 48.43 | Birmingham Brother Rice | D1 |
| 100 Freestyle | Henry Schutte | 44.16 | Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central |
D1 |
| 500 Freestyle | Alexander Capizzo | 4:27.48 | Fraser | D2 |
| 200 Freestyle Relay | Mass, Barrios, Boersema, Smith |
1:24.54 | Holland West Ottowa | D1 |
| 100 Backstroke | Ian MisKelley | 49.05 | Holland Christian | D3 |
| 100 Breaststroke | Michael MacGillivray | 55.01 | Ann Arbor Skyline | D1 |
| 400 Freestyle Relay | Heeres, VanMeter, Mason, Cook-Weeks |
3:04.52 | Holland Christian | D3 |
*Girl’s high school swimming is a fall sport in Michigan; however, in the Upper Peninsula (UP), boy’s and girl’s seasons are both winter sports. UP State championship results can be found here.
Because the Dream Team must include a different swimmer for each individual event, MISCA had to decide which events to favor for its double individual state champions.
Skyler Cook-Weeks, for example, swam the fastest 200 freestyle and the fastest 500 freestyle across all divisions, posting times of 1:37.27 and 4:25.84, respectively. MISCA favored Cook-Weeks in the 200, however, and drafted Division 2 state champion Alexander Capizzo for the 500, though Capizzo’s 500 (4:27.84) was exactly 2 seconds behind Cook-Weeks’s. Capizzo, on the other hand, was also Division 2 champion in the 200 IM with a 1:50.42. A second table with each draftee and their individual wins and times is below for comparison.
| Swimmer | Drafted Event | Place | Second Event | Place | Division |
| Skyler Cook-Weeks | 200 Freestyle – 1:37.27 | 1 | 500 Freestyle – 4:25.84 | 1 | D3 |
| David Cleason | 200 IM – 1:49.81 | 1 | 500 Freestyle – 4:30.50 | 1 | D1 |
| Christian Bart | 50 Freestyle – 20.31 | 1 | 100 Breaststroke – 56.07 | 1 | D3 |
| Alex Margherio | 100 Butterfly – 48.34 | 1 | 50 Freestyle – 21.68 | 8 | D1 |
| Henry Schutte | 100 Freestyle – 44.16 | 1 | 50 Freestyle – 20.04 | 1 | D1 |
| Alexander Capizzo | 500 Freestyle – 4:27.84 | 1 | 200 IM – 1:50.42 | 1 | D2 |
| Ian MisKelley | 100 Backstroke – 49.05 | 1 | 200 IM – 1:49.58 | 1 | D3 |
| Michael MacGillivray | 100 Breaststroke – 55.01 | 1 | 200 IM – 1:50.27 | 2 | D1 |
YEA!! GREAT JOB!