Whitefish Bay repeats as Division 2 team champion at WIAA state girls swim and dive

After a breakthrough 2024 season ended in the program’s first WIAA state title, Whitefish Bay let the statewide girls swim community know it is here to stay with a dominant repeat performance Nov. 14 at Waukesha South Natatorium.

The Blue Dukes won eight of the 12 events at the 56th annual WIAA girls swimming and diving championships, setting three WIAA Division 2 state meet records while scoring 22 more points than the 2024 title-winning team.

The records began to fall in the first two swim events, starting with a 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore Maggie Dickinson, senior Kate Antonelli, junior Aibhy King and sophomore Julia Burrall that won in 1:44.32. The time bested the previous D2 state record set by Edgewood of 1:44.51 in 2019.

Senior Anne Dickinson followed in the 200 freestyle with a win in 1:47.60, which was .04 of a second faster than Edgewood’s Izzy Enz’s 2022 record time of 1:47.64. Later in the 500 freestyle, Anne won by more than 30 seconds with her time of 4:44.09, which also eclipsed Autumn Haebig of Grafton’s 2016 record time of 4:47.79.

Whitefish Bay coach Douglas Dickinson was particularly proud to see his daughter Anne walk away with her fifth individual career gold and ninth including relays.

«(Anne) wasn’t sure she was gonna be able to break the 200 record she did. She knew she was gonna break the 500 record and she crushed it, so that was just 12 months in the making,» coach Dickinson said.

The Indiana University commit was part of a senior class that were the collective lynchpin of the repeat effort. Antonelli added a fourth win in the 200 IM (2:11.28), a fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.27) and led off the winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:37.47) also including sophomore Vivian Utschig, junior Cassidy Shanks and Anne Dickinson.

«We only lost one senior last year, so we knew we were going to be in a good position,» coach Dickinson said. «This is a senior-driven team between Anne and Kate and Annika and Maddie. They pretty much led the crew the whole way.»

Fellow Blue Dukes coach Jenny Holtzen went a step further when summing up the contributions of the seniors over the past few years leading up to the program’s first two state titles.

«I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say a lot of our seniors are program-changing, culture-changing. The way the program was when they came in versus how they left it is just completely different, and I think it’s just a testament to what they were able to build upon,» Holtzen said.

Whitefish Bay will still bring plenty of talent into 2026, led by King. Her effort in the 2025 state meet included an individual win in the 100 butterfly (:54.92), a second in the 200 IM (2:08.09), a leg of the record-setting 200 medley relay and leading off the winning 400 freestyle relay team (3:27.06) also featuring Shanks and both Dickinson sisters. Maggie Dickinson repeated as gold medalist in both the 50 freestyle (:23.60) and 100 backstroke (:53.70), Burrall finished third in the 100 backstroke (:58.36), Shanks took fourth in the 100 freestyle (:53.69) and Utschig placed fifth in the 200 freestyle (1:57.44).

«I think we’ve kind of figured out our formula now, where we know how to kind of push the girls and get them to swim well,» Holtzen said. «Being state champions is awesome, but there’s that aspect of just trying to swim faster than you did the last time.»

The pursuit of a third straight title will require that next wave of leaders to step up, and King said she is among those ready to accept the challenge.

«Really the team is what makes (high school) so special. As a senior, I would absolutely love to be one of those mentors and somebody people can look up to, because I think that’s what makes it so fun and special,» King said.

Anne Dickinson of Whitefish Bay competes in the 500-yard freestyle during the WIAA Division 2 state swimming and diving championships Nov. 14 in Waukesha.

Anne Dickinson carried late Nicolet swimmer’s memory to state gold

Written on Anne Dickinson’s right forearm was a simple eight-letter tribute to a late friend and fellow member of the Milwaukee swim community who was lost earlier this year.

«For Grant»

The message referred to late Nicolet High School swimmer Grant Freeze, who died of injuries sustained in an Oct. 1 car accident. He was 16 years old.

«I talked to his mom like a month ago and she said that he was trying to set as many pool records as possible, so I kind of wanted to carry on his legacy, be able to swim as fast as I could for him, because he really loved the sport of swimming,» Anne Dickinson said. «I got it done tonight. That was really special for me.»

The Nicolet and Whitefish Bay High School swim teams gathered to remember Freeze on Oct. 7, with attendees holding signs, a moment of silence and group hugs for the two programs separated by less than three miles.

«It showed how much strength that we have and how much love for each other. It was a tough thing to go through for a lot of members of our team, but overall it was just really a lot of celebration of his life and love for the sport,» Anne Dickinson said.

Brown Deer/University School’s Nordstrum wins 1-meter dive

A season after she burst on to the scene as a freshman with a fourth-place finish at D2 state, Elsa Nordstrum found her way to the top of the podium. It was a wire-to-wire title win for Nordstrum, who endured a late push from Whitefish Bay senior Annika Leinweber to win by one tenth of a point, 421.75-421.65. Nordstrum was in command after the preliminary round, 208.00-200.95 over Wauwatosa West’s Jessica Thompson. By the semifinal round, her lead had ballooned to 327.70-304.60 over Thompson. Leinweber was not far behind after the semifinals with a score of 297.75 and made her move with a strong final round of dives. Thompson (407.85) fell to third, while Tosa West freshman teammate Allison DiCastri placed fifth (337.60).

Shorewood places fourth as team, led by Miota, Simon and Quandt

The Shorewood Greyhounds (197) placed fourth, matching their best team finish at the state meet dating back to 2021. Among the leading performances were a second in the 100 butterfly by junior Tess Miota (:58.46), thirds in the 200 (1:56.70) and 500 (5:16.49) freestyle events by junior Lauren Simon, and fifths in the 100 freestyle (:54.03) and 100 backstroke (:58.92) by sophomore Addison Quandt. The Greyhounds also had a 200 freestyle relay team of Miota, Quandt, sophomore Nina Neumyer and Simon place third (1:39.02), a 400 freestyle relay team of freshman Anna Kim, junior Heidi Lotter, Neumyer and Simon place fourth (3:40.12) and a 200 medley relay team of Quandt, sophomore Hannah Pagels, Miota and Neumyer place fifth (1:51.95).

Other area podium highlights

Port Washington freshman Amanda Lotz finished second in both the 200 freestyle (1:51.95) and 100 backstroke (:57.09).
Whitnall junior Mya Miles placed sixth in the 100 freestyle (:54.14).
Wauwatosa West junior Kaia Kunz took sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.84).

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whitefish Bay repeats at WIAA Division 2 state girls swim and dive