The podium will have to wait another year for members of the Albert Lea girls’ swimming team.

The Tigers entered the state meet with five swimmers in five events. Only one event moved on to the second day of the meet after the preliminary meet Friday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

“It was one of the most competitive state meets I’ve seen,” Albert Lea head coach Jon Schmitz said.

Eight records were set in 12 events in the finals Saturday. Three state records were broken on the first day of competition.

Visitation ran away with the Class A state championship scoring 268 points. Albert Lea finished in 45th place.

The Tigers managed to advance the 200-yard freestyle relay to the consolation finals Saturday, but they needed a season-best time to do so. The relay placed 16th overall with a time of 1 minute, 44.15 seconds. Albert Lea used a season-best time in the relay just to advance to the consolation finals. The relay team of Amanda Walters, Galen Schulz, Bria Schreiber, and Amy Horejsi had a prelim time of 1:43.21, which was good for 14th place Friday. Schulz swam a personal best in the relay on Saturday with her split of 25.22.

Visitation set a new Class A state record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1 minute, 48.52 seconds. Monticello also broke the record with its time of 1:49.37. The previous record was held by Hutchinson with a 1:49.54 set in 2003.

“We really wanted more,” Schmitz said. “We thought we could drop.”

Although most of the Albert Lea swimmers were at or near season-best times, the competition was deep.

With swimming gaining popularity the state meet has become a very tough place, Schmitz said.

“It’s a popular sport,” he said. “A lot of kids are swimming year round.”

Instead, Albert Lea was left with a number of close finishes in the prelims. Walters finished 18th in the 50 free with a time of 25.41 and 20th in the 100 free with a time of 55.66. She missed the consolation finals by 0.15 seconds in the 50 free.

The 200 medley relay team of Walters, Horejsi, Schulz, and Gracie Thomas finished 17th with a time of 1:55.77, just four one-hundredths of a second behind Mankato West for a place in the consolation finals. The time was two seconds under the state cut time, which is an average based on the 16th place finish time for the past three years, and Schmitz found it hard to believe the relay didn’t move on to the second day of competition.

“It was the most elite meet I’ve ever seen,” Schmitz said.

In the 100 breaststroke Schreiber finished 21st in the prelims with a time of 1:11.88, near her season-best time of 1:11.70.

Thomas finished 26th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.10.

“It was really rough on us,” Schmitz said. “You’ve got to do your best or your eliminated.”

Many of the private schools surprised Schmitz with their times and many upperclassman dropped their times significantly from last year’s meet.

“When we got here it was a lot faster,” Walters said. “The times were two seconds faster in a lot of events. “Our times weren’t that bad, we went out there and did what we could.”

This year’s state meet will mean more time in the weight room for the swimmers in an effort to get faster. The Albert Lea swimmers made tremendous strides this season and cut lots of time from the start of the season. Thomas improved her time in the 100 breaststroke by more than two seconds. The 200 medley relay dropped six seconds from its time early in the season. The 200 free relay dropped four seconds through out the season and Walters dropped two seconds in her 100 free.

“We’re going to keep trying,” Schmitz said.

Virtually the entire team returns next season for Schmitz, only one senior graduates this season.

“We’re going to get the girls stronger,” Schmitz said. “We’re going to have a good team next year.”