Galesburg senior reflects on becoming first swimmer to medal at state since 2006
The biggest swim of Riley Stevenson’s career was a good, old-fashioned, head-to-head race at the Illinois High School Association’s Boys State Championships the last weekend in February.
It led to the best individual state result a Galesburg swimmer has posted since the 2006 finals, when David Anderson recorded a pair of podium performances.
The Galesburg High School senior desperately wanted to add his name to the list of Silver Streaks medalists at state. Reaching the A-final in the 50-yard freestyle would guarantee it, but to get there, Stevenson had to defeat a single swimmer from Lane Tech High School.
The reason?
Stevenson and Lane Tech’s Alex Arsic swam the exact same time in their heat: 20.78 seconds. That was good for a tie for eighth place, and there was room for only one of them in the eight-swimmer A-final.
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“Riley asked me, ‘What do we do? Is it a coin toss?’” said his coach, Ray VanHootegem. “I told him, ‘No, you’re swimming it off.’”
At stake, said the coach, was a matter of ceilings and floors.
“If he’d not won the swim-off, he would’ve been in the B-final, and he could’ve fallen all the way to 16th place,” said VanHootegem. “But in the A-final, he’d have nowhere to go but up, since he was guaranteed at least eighth place.”
As it turned out, Stevenson and Arsic were very even swimmers throughout the 50 free competition, never separated by more than a blink of an eye in any of their three swims. But when it mattered most, Stevenson had the narrow edge, thanks to a slightly longer reach at the wall.
“I couldn’t see him at all, but when I watched a replay of the race, we were stroke for stroke, and we flipped at the exact same time,” said Stevenson. “It was neck-and-neck until the last stroke. I reached just a little farther than him and beat him by .04.”
Sticking to the plan
Stevenson said an improved mental approach helped him pull out that win and have a strong state meet in general.
“I didn’t want to psych myself out," he said. "A year ago, when we made it to state, there was this feeling that we were just happy to be there. I remember eating junk food with the guys. It was like, it’s time to party. I was a lot more focused this year, and that really helped.”
Even the days leading up to state were different a year ago. As a junior, Stevenson used the swimmer’s taper to be at his best for the sectional meet, which is where swimmers qualify for state. This season, the target of the taper was the state meet itself.
“My mindset was to shoot for the stars, and even if I fall a little short, I’m still a lot closer to where I wanted to be,” said Stevenson. “I’d think about those goals and try to keep what we call ‘PMA’ – a positive mental attitude – because if your mind goes (awry), your whole body goes. I knew what I wanted to get done.”
Strategy sessions throughout the season helped, and the senior applied what he and his coach discussed.
“Coachability,” said VanHootegem, when asked to talk about the senior’s attributes in the pool. “He was willing to discuss our approach to each workout, to each meet and to our buildup for the state meet. We stuck to the game plan. ... It’s OK not to have a great race sometimes, as long as you know why.”
In the final of the 50 free, Stevenson earned the eighth-place state medal with a time of 20.71. He was in three other events at state, taking 21st in the 100 free in 46.50 and placing 23rd in the 200-yard medley relay.
He and his teammates’ best relay swim was the 200 free, where their season-best time of 1:26.56 was good for 17th place, just one spot and .22 seconds out of reaching the B-final. Joining him in that group was Luke Thomas, Nathan Nelson and Carson Olson. Thomas, Olson and Travis Henry swam with Stevenson in the 200 medley, which broke the school record with a time of 1:35.51.
In all, the Streaks broke five team records at the state meet, including two individual times each by Stevenson and Olson.
The next state medalist?
There was a wait of 18 years between top-eight finishes for the GHS boys, but there’s a chance that the gap to the next medalist will be very short. Olson served notice that his senior year in 2025 might be his time to shine, as he placed 18th in the 100-yard butterfly (50.47) and 27th in the 200-yard individual medley (1:54.99).
“His time drops at state were even bigger than the time drops that Riley had,” said VanHootegem. “And in terms of placing at the state meet, he’s where Riley was a year ago.”
While Olson is working next year toward a state medal, Stevenson will be swimming at St. Ambrose University and studying exercise science, intending to move on to earn his master’s degree and potentially apply his knowledge with an NFL or other professional sports team.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA swimming: Galesburg's Riley Stevenson wins a state medal
