Columbus East’s, from left, Brady Beyer, Judah Nickoll, Misha Machavariani and Cavan Stilson are headed to state in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
When Brady Beyer returned to Columbus East after a year of training in California, he figured he’d make it back to state in the 500-yard freestyle and 100 breaststroke like he did as a sophomore at East.
But Beyer won’t be making a solo trip to this weekend’s Boys Swimming State Finals. The senior will have three of his teammates alongside him in a pair of relays, plus sophomore diver Gavin Day.
“I was definitely was expecting all year to win my two events, or at the very least, get the state cuts,” Beyer said. “But I was pretty focused for the relays, especially in the medley relay, to get the state cut. We were just off, so I was pretty confident that we’d get pulled in. Then the 400 free relay, I knew would be tough, but I felt pretty confident we could do it. So I was happy to have both the relays get in.”
Only the winners of each event at the sectional and others who make the state standard earn automatic state berths. After the 20 sectional champions from around the state and those making the state cut, the next-best times are added until a full field of 32 is reached in each event.
The Olympians’ 200 medley relay team finished third, and the 400 freestyle relay team took fourth at the sectional. The 200 medley team earned the 10th of 12 callbacks, and the 400 freestyle team claimed the 12th and final spot.
“I think we were all anxious at first because we didn’t know it was going to happen,” sophomore Misha Machavariani said. “When we got the news, we were so excited. We all texted each other immediately — ‘We made it. We made it.’ We were all really glad about what happened.”
Beyer and Machavariani are joined on both relay teams by juniors Judah Nickoll and Cavan Stilson.
“Even just getting in the relay was pretty awesome,” Stilson said. “Our relays have been pretty good all year.
“It was a very successful sectional for the boys,” East coach Doug Trueblood added. “Getting those two relays was big for us. We have a fast sectional, so coming in third in one and fourth on another and still making it in just shows how fast that sectional is.”
Both relays set school records. The 200 medley team swam 1 minute, 37.44 seconds, and the 400 freestyle squad went 3:16.92.
“It was pretty special because it was both a school record and got us into the state meet,” Nickoll said. ‘We certainly knew the relays were a possibility from the start.”
“We knew that we would have to try our best,” Machavariani added. “We knew we wanted it and we could easily get there, but we just had to all work together to get that far.”
Columbus East’s Brady Beyer competes in the 500-yard freestyle relay during a meet against Jennings County Dec. 5, 2022,at Columbus East High School.
The Republic file photo
Beyer also set school records in both of his individual events. He swam 4:35.67 in the 500 freestyle and 56.94 in the 100 breaststroke.
“I was pretty happy with both of my swims,” Beyer said. “I think there’s definitely some room for improvement in both of my swims Friday night and Saturday, so that’s exciting. But I was pretty happy with the times being the fastest I’ve swam in awhile.”
Nickoll also finished second in the 100 backstroke and third in the 200 freestyle at the sectional. Machavariani was second in the 200 individual medley and fourth in the 100 butterfly.
“Brady, of course, did a great job with getting in on his events,” Trueblood said. “Misha and Judah were close, but just too many guys that were faster in that next 12 after the winners got put in. But getting those relays in was pretty awesome. That’s great for the boys and great for our program.”
Beyer is seeded ninth in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 100 breaststroke going into Friday night’s preliminaries at IUPUI’s Indiana Natatorium. The top eight in each event qualify for Saturday afternoon’s finals and earn medals, while 9-through-16 make the consolation heats.
“My goal Friday is to just get top eight in both of my events,” Beyer said. “I’d say I’m probably more focused on the 100 breast. I feel like I could be in the top three, top four range. Kind of my goal for Saturday is top four in the 100 breast, but Friday, try to get top eight in both so I get a medal in both events no matter what.”
Beyer is only 1.75 seconds off the top spot and just .78-second out of fifth in the 100 breaststroke.
“I think in the breaststroke, he absolutely has the capability of being top four or five,” Trueblood said. “If he swims the way he’s capable of, I think he can be certainly in the top five. That top five, top eight, is extremely close. We’re talking hundredths of a second for three to four places. In the 500, he is capable of getting in the top eight for sure and if he has a day on Saturday, he could move up into the top four.”
Beyer was not fully tapered for the sectional, but plans to be this weekend.
“Tapering is a little subjective for everyone, and it’s not an exact science, so we’ve been trying to put more focus on the state meet, and that’s kind of how I felt,” Beyer said. “I didn’t feel the greatest I’ve ever felt Saturday, so I think we did a pretty good job of putting the focus on state, so I should swim faster there.”
The 200 medley relay team is seeded 24th, and the 400 freestyle relay squad is seeded 22nd. The 200 medley team is just 1.33 seconds out of 16th, and the 400 freestyle is 2.31 seconds out of 16th.
“Our minimum goal is to just move up spaces, but we’re really hoping to reach top 16 and come back on Saturday,” Nickoll said.
“We’re going to try our best up at state,” Stilson added. “Like Misha said, it’s all really close. If everyone on the relay drops a couple seconds or even in the millisecond range, we should be able to get at least top 16.”
Trueblood agreed that the relay teams will have to go a little faster to make it back to Saturday.
“We’ll have to have some really good swims, and they’re certainly capable,” Trueblood said. “It really depends on some of those other teams. The times between that last 16th spot is pretty close, in the 400 especially. But they’re going to have to drop some time. It’s an outside chance, but I certainly look forward to seeing them go up and race and see what they can do.”
