Sun-Times boys swimming preview

Updated: March 22, 2011 4:54PM

Naperville Central senior swimmer Jeff Depew will never forget how the 2010 state meet ended. Neither will anyone else who was there.

Three teams - New Trier, Neuqua Valley and Naperville Central - had a chance to win the championship by winning the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Naperville Central prevailed by two-tenths of a second in a race that saw four teams finish within 1.6 seconds of each other.

The Redhawks edged Neuqua by three points and favored New Trier by five in the closest trophy race in the 78-year history of the meet.

‘‘It was a huge shock,'' Depew said. ‘‘In the back of our minds we kind of thought to get a trophy would be real nice. No one really said, ‘Oh, we can do this,' but I think everyone individually believed if we all worked together we could come out on top.''

Depew wasn't on the relay team, but he played a huge role in Central's second state title since 2002. He helped the 200 medley relay take third and finished second in the 200 individual medley in 1:50.93 and third in the 100 backstroke in 50.79. Both times are school records, with the former beating the previous mark that Brett Lullo set in winning the 2007 state title.

‘‘I had a breakout year,'' said Depew, whose 2009 state meet was ruined by allergies and the flu. ‘‘I wanted to go a certain time and then I just went beyond that. It was just real nice to finally just live up to my own expectations as a swimmer.''

As the top returner in the backstroke and having finished just a second behind Peoria Richwoods star Matt Elliott in the IM, Depew knows he is in position to win at least one state championship, but Naperville Central coach Mike Adams

doesn't like to burden the Redhawks with the pressure of expectations.

‘‘He had a huge year for us,'' Adams said. ‘‘There's no more expectation on him. It's just get out there and work the process and then we'll see what happens from there.''

Depew said he will be excited to race his friend Elliott, the best swimmer in the state, but he won't make predictions.

‘‘I feel like if I work hard and I'm healthy at the end of the season, obviously it's going to be there,'' Depew said. ‘‘Just improving my times from last year will be an ideal senior year.''

Tempering expectations is how Depew keeps swimming from becoming all-consuming. That explains his decision to turn down a scholarship offer from Tennessee and sign with Redlands, a Division III school in Southern California where his brother Chris swims. Redlands offers a comprehensive training program for special education teachers, Depew's probable major.

‘‘My final decision was more academically based than athletically based,'' Depew said.

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