Gavin Anderson’s season and career came to an end Friday in the preliminary round of the IHSA Boys Swimming and Diving State Meet in Evanston.

“Everybody here is fast,” said Anderson, a senior on the DeKalb-Sycamore swim team. “It’s a very fast meet. It’s very loud. Everybody is here to compete. Nobody is here to mess around. My swims weren’t my best; they weren’t where I wanted to go, but I’ll take them.”

Anderson finished 31st in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:45.97, about 2 seconds off his seed time. In the 500 free, he finished in 4:44.64. His seed time of 4:38.85 would have qualified for the final round.

Anderson said he enjoyed his final experience at state.

“You get to see everybody you know at one big meet,” Anderson said. “It’s a community. Everybody knows each other; everybody is able to say, ‘Hey, good job,’ or ‘Hey, good luck’ and push each other.”