Nov. 13—BEMIDJI — Park Rapids’ Avery Schueller is in a league of her own. She’s the only person who’s finished ahead of Finley Zothman in the 50-yard freestyle.
The Bemidji High School girls swimmer is only a freshman, but she’s been swimming like a seasoned senior. Out of the six 50-yard freestyles Zothman has competed in this season, she’s won five of them.
On Nov. 8, she was looking for one more.
At the Section 8AA Championships, Zothman came in confident. She finished first during the preliminaries, 0.12 seconds ahead of Brainerd’s Aralyn Marcelo.
Despite being the class of the field in the prelims, Zothman could feel the stress and nerves before the race.
Nevertheless, she focused on her own race, and once her hand hit the wall, she checked the scoreboard to see a familiar sight — her coming in first place,
Zothman clocked a time of 24.67, her best of the season.
“The relief of finally making it was the best,” she said. “And I feel like it didn’t even finally kick in until I was walking up the podium.”
She will compete in the Class AA state meet this weekend at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.
She won’t be the only Lumberjack there, either. Zothman, Kiera Strodtman, Ellie Wille and Abby Daman came in second in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:40.07), enough to qualify for the state meet.
While BHS has had divers qualify over the last seven years, it’ll be the first time Bemidji swimmers are represented at state since 2018.
“Bemidji can do this,” co-head coach Danielle Bartz said. “(We) can be up there with the top (teams). So I think it’s hopefully going to show them that they’re capable.”
Daman described the 200-yard freestyle relay quadrant as a tight-knit group that really gets along with each other. It’s slightly surprising, considering that every single one of them is in a different grade.
However, it’s part of the positive and supportive culture that co-head coaches Bartz and Lisa Friedt have created at the BHS swim and dive team.
“We worked really hard on that team culture and positivity, supporting everybody in and out of the pool,” Friedt said. “When you have a positive team outlook and reputation, kids are going to want to join and come and swim.”
Daman, a senior, is the oldest of the bunch. She’s looked up to as the leader of the relay team, and she showed why at the Section 8AA Championships.
With Zothman (freshman), Strodtman (sophomore) and Wille (junior) all putting in 25-second times, Daman had to step it up to finish ahead of hard-charging Elk River and Buffalo, who were in third and fourth, respectively.
Just when the Jacks needed her the most, Daman swam the last 50 yards in 24.34 seconds, enough to clinch second place and a state berth.
“She just had a lights-out swim,” Friedt said. “She was teetering on that 24 (seconds) time, and I knew she could get it. She pulled it out; she brought it home. We knew she was the perfect fit to anchor that relay and get it done.”
Daman swam like it was her last race ever — and it very well could’ve been. Now that she’s advanced to state for the first time in her high school career, the senior has a mixture of emotions.
“You know, it’s bittersweet, because I know this is the last time I’ll get the opportunity to do something like this,” Daman said. “But it’s also super cool that I get to do it with some of my best friends by my side, and my biggest supporters.”
The 200 freestyle relay team knew it had something special throughout the year. Come section championship time, the Jacks were trying to will a state qualification into existence.
Once it was finally official, Zothman and the rest of the team finally felt at ease.
“We tried saying things like, ‘Not if we make it, when we make it,'” she said. “We were expecting it and hoping for it, but the second that Abby was swimming and hit the wall, we just all broke down from the relief and finally seeing that we made it.”
To say that sprinting is Zothman’s strength would be an understatement.
The freshman has gravitated towards short-distance events and has shown her dominance in those races. Once section championships came around, there was no question that Zothman would be the frontrunner for the Jacks, especially in the 50-yard freestyle.
“She’s held her spot all season in that,” Friedt said. “She’s definitely expressed that’s her race, and she likes that about it.”
Zothman added: “I like (short-distance events) because I can just go out and give it everything quick and fast, and I feel like it’s just more my style than endurance type stuff. It goes better for me.”
Along with her relay and solo victories, she came 0.13 seconds away from qualifying for state in the 100-yard freestyle as well.
With so much success as a freshman, she’s excited to get more opportunities throughout her high school career. She hopes to qualify for state in different events, but if she keeps improving in short-distance events, she could become one of the best Minnesota has to offer.
As easy as she makes swimming look, she hasn’t done it alone. There are plenty of teammates she looks up to, none better than Daman.
“I definitely see her as a role model,” Zothman said. “She’s just such a great leader, and she takes charge with our group and a lot of the younger girls. And she’s just such a great person. She’s one of my best friends. I love her.”
Zothman is very thankful for the 200 freestyle relay team and hopes they can make some noise at state.
“They wanted it all year,” Friedt said. “They’re fighters.”
