The difficult part for the Albert Lea girls’ swimming team was reaching the Class A state meet and beginning Friday the Tigers will be able to bask in their accomplishment at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center when they begin the preliminaries of the state meet.

For some it took a huge cut in time just to qualify for the state meet. Case in point, the 200-yard medley relay team of Kemma Bergland, Gracie Thomas, Amy Horejsi and Galen Schulz. The relay entered the Section 1A meet last week fresh off a time of 2 minutes, 2.92 seconds at the Big Nine Conference meet, but a minor change in the lineup and three lifetime best swims got the relay to the state meet.

“Our last time before section was 2:02 and then we got down to a 1:57 at prelims and all of us we could not believe it,” said Albert Lea senior captain Gracie Thomas, who is making her fourth consecutive trip to the state meet.

Some on the team had almost lost hope in the relay advancing to state, but after its prelim swim being off the pace by a half second the team regained its faith in the event.

The coaches decided to insert Bergland on the backstroke late in the season on the relay and the move paid off as she swam her best split in the relay at the section meet in the finals. Thomas swam a lifetime best split and so did Schulz to propel the team forward.

Thomas is the veteran of the team when it comes to the state meet. She went to state as a member of the same relay team last season and in her speciality event, the 100 breaststroke. She just missed a chance to go to state again in the breaststroke, but that hasn’t stopped her from helping her teammates reach the state meet.

All season long Thomas has worked with teammate Morgan Field in the breaststroke and Field, a sophomore, credited Thomas for teaching her the breaststroke and helping her advance to the state meet for the first time in her career.

“I learned how to do the breaststroke from her,” Field said. “Without her I don’t think we would have good breaststrokers.”

Tigers head coach Jon Schmitz said Thomas is a great workout swimmer who has pushed Field the entire season in practice. Her hard work and guidance paid off in a big way at the section meet as Field swam lifetime bests in the event in the prelims and the finals.

Field had never broken 1:12 in the event prior to the section meet and did so in the prelims, clocking a time of 1:11.78 to gain the best prelim time. In the finals she surprised herself once again by finishing with a time of 1:11.07 to finish third and make the state cut time.

“This has been a great season for us,” Schmitz said. “I think these kids have reached their potential more than any team that we’ve had. There’s no doubt about that.”

Schulz is the other individual qualifier for the team and she will swim in the 50 freestyle. Schulz was part of the 200 medley and the 200 freestyle relay teams that went to state last year and returns with that bit of experience.

“This year I have more of a sense of I need to do this instead of I want to do this,” Schulz said. “I’ve already been setting goals for next year because I just think of how I want to make even farther.”

Schmitz said she has a chance to advance to the finals in her event, but the state meet will likely serve as more of a building block for some on the team.

The prelims begin at noon Friday and the finals begin at noon on Saturday.