In their hooded black robes and with their shaved heads, Fenwick`s swimmers looked like they had just stepped out of a science fiction movie.
Sunday, Fenwick was more than sci-fi. They were hi-fi and light years ahead of the competition, taking the Catholic League title by a 101-point margin over second-place Loyola, 341-240, at UIC.
The Friars won 10 of 12 events, including a record-setting performance by freshman Steve VonGluekiat in the 100-yard breaststroke. VonGluekiat`s time of 1:00.25 eclipsed Chris Brundage`s 1:00.6 mark for Fenwick set in 1987.
VonGluekiat also won the 100 butterfly and was one of three Friars to win two events. Ed Pierce took the 200 free in 1:43.56, seven seconds ahead of teammate Jeff Winterfield, and then bested Winterfield again in the 500 free, finishing in 4:42.83. Tim Dragas added wins in the 200 individual medley
(1:59.65) and the 100-yard backstroke (:53.63).
”It`s kind of the rivalry thing,” said Dragas, one of the few Friars still sporting a full head of hair. ”You can`t do much in a dual meet. You need a meet like this to show how you have come along.”
Fenwick coach Jim Caliendo was elated. ”If our kids` times drop like they did today, I don`t know if anyone can touch us,” he said.
There was one big ”what if” hanging over the meet, and that was the absence of Greg Maurer, the three-time 500 free league champ from Loyola Academy, who came down with asthmatic bronchitis earlier in the week and is sidelined indefinitely.
”The meet lost a lot of its luster because Pierce and Maurer are possibly two of the best freestylers in the state,” said Loyola coach Patrick Burton. ”They would have gone head to head in four events. I`m sure Fenwick is disappointed, too. The electricity of the meet was missing today.”
Earlier in the year, Burton provided a little electricity of his own for Fenwick, when he was quoted in a newspaper as saying: ”I think Fenwick`s losses are greater than their additions.”
Sunday, the Friars copied that quote, enlarged it and hung it prominently on the pool`s wall in several locations.
In addition to their individual successes, Fenwick also won all three relay events. Loyola`s Mark Matelski won the 50 freestyle in :23.05 while third-place Brother Rice (228 team points) won the diving competition behind Patrick Murphy.
As for Dragas, he doesn`t plan to be Fenwick`s ”mane” man in the sectionals.
”I`ve done it (shaved) the past three years,” said Dragas. ”There`s no way I can not shave here. When you get in the water and you`re bald and shaved and swimming for Fenwick, you get goosebumps.”
