Boys swimming: Drolema, Helfrich excited to enjoy state experience

A senior from Morrison will be making his third appearance at the IHSA Boys Swimming State Finals this weekend in Westmont. A Dixon freshman will be competing for the first time.

Skylar Drolema, swimming for the Sterling Water Warriors co-op, will compete in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle races on Friday at the FMC Natatorium. Gage Helfrich, swimming for the Byron TigerSharks co-op, will be swimming in the 500-yard freestyle race, and is also part of the 200 medley relay.

Both are finishing the season where they expected, and both are going in with the same attitude.

Drolema, a senior from Morrison, believes that he’ll have a good handle on the situation because of his previous experience.

“It definitely will help that I’ve been there before, because I know what to expect. I’m not going in where I have a chance to medal or get to the top, and I know that, so I’m not going to let that bother me,” he said. “I’m just going to go in and swim my race and hopefully have my best times again.”

Dixon’s Helfrich knows what an accomplishment it is to get to the season finale as a freshman. But he knows that the key this weekend will be to enjoy the experience and not be overwhelmed by the environment.

“My goals this weekend are to get best times, do the best I can do, and have fun at state with my teammates,” he said. “It means a lot to qualify for state as a freshman. I knew from the beginning of the season that I had a chance to make it, and I really wanted to. Once I made it on Saturday [at the sectional], I was happy that I made it and I was proud to share his accomplishment with my other teammates that made it also.”

Sterling coach Kyle Ruiz believes that’s the best attitude to take going into the state meet, because it allows swimmers to enjoy their trip there instead of putting too much pressure on themselves.

“That’s all that we ever ask of everybody. ‘Let’s go, can we better our time, can we match our time, can we do that,’ and that puts us in a place of success, no matter what,” Ruiz said. “Especially when you look at it being a one-class sport, where we’re going to be going up against everybody in the state. You look at some of these schools and it feels like some of the schools are the size of Sterling. So it’s impressive to get there, and just having fun is a great perspective to swim fast.”

Helfrich won the 500 freestyle by 13.3 seconds at the Rockford Jefferson Sectional last Saturday, clocking a 4:54.93. He teamed with seniors Levi Schamper, Nathan Bell and Tyson Politsch to win the 200 medley relay in 1:37.95, taking that race by more than a second and a half.

Helfrich credited his preparation and mindset as the main reasons why he was able to advance to state.

“The key to my fast swims was preparation. My teammates and I had sectionals circled on our calendar for the whole season, and we worked hard for it everyday,” he said. “The last week before sectionals, we were just locked in and mentally ready for the meet. And visualizing my races over and over to see the best outcomes was also key.”

Drolema didn’t win either race he qualified in, but he easily advanced to state by swimming faster than the state qualifying time in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races. He swam the 50 free in 21.49 seconds, beating the state cut of 21.74, and in the 100 free, Drolema clocked a 47.30; the state qualifying time was 47.63.

The fact that he beat the state cut is a big boost for him heading into this weekend – his third time ending the season at state.

“It definitely makes me more confident that I made it on time,” Drolema said. “It means a lot; making the cut means way more to me than getting first in those races.

“My freshman year, I was a breaststroker and made it to state in that, but didn’t make the cut. My sophomore year we didn’t have state because of COVID. Junior year, I didn’t get any individual spots, but I did make it in the two relays. And now this year, making the cut and qualifying on time, it’s huge.”

Last year, Drolema got to spend some time with his teammates in the two relays he swam in. While he’s going by himself this season, he and the Byron swimmers are very close because of their ties in club swimming, so he and Helfrich will both have friendly faces to rely on for support.

Helfrich will be much more comfortable during his first trip to state because of his teammates.

“It is really cool to have teammates there in support. We are family to each, so that is what do,” he said. “We’ve been supportive all season by encouraging each other to try harder, to swim our best, and have to fun. It would have been a lot harder to make state without their support, and I’m happy we had such a great season together.”

All three of the Byron seniors will also be swimming individual events: Schamper in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke, Bell in the 200 IM, and Politsch in the 100 breaststroke.

The TigerSharks are seeded 33rd out of 38 in the 200 medley relay at state, while Helfrich is 29th out of 30 in the 500 freestyle. Schamper is 20th out of 34 in the 100 butterfly and 35th out of 36 in the 100 backstroke, while Bell is 30th out of 35 in the 200 IM and Politsch is 36th out of 40 in the 100 breaststroke.

Drolema’s times are 27th out of 44 in the 50 freestyle, and 26th out of 36 in the 100 free. He says hard work this week will be the key if he wants to swim his personal-best times in his final meet.

“Basically keep focused, don’t let anything else distract me,” Drolema said. “Just keep focused on swimming, have good practices, make sure to work at the practices and don’t lay low on them, and just get ready for state as best I can.”

Ruiz says that no matter what happens this weekend in the final meet of his career with the Sterling co-op, Drolema has come a long way – and has left his mark on the Water Warriors program.

“It’s been really nice watching him progress, especially if you look at the versatility and how he’s gotten to state – or that COVID year, to conference,” Ruiz said. “Every year has been in different events. He’s been a breaststroker for us, he’s been a backstroker for us in the relay, he’s been a butterflier for us – he’s the school record-holder in that – and now he’s been our freestyler this year. So it’s been great to watch him progress over the four years.”