Niantic Sangamon Valley's Andrew Bellemare had one chance to do it, and the senior delivered on his mission.
After moving to Harristown from the state of Connecticut for his senior year, Bellemare advanced to his first and only Illinois High School Association state swimming and diving finals in February.
Since Sangamon Valley does not have a full team, Bellemare trained individually at the Decatur YMCA leading up to the Urbana Sectional, and there he won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles to qualify for the state meet at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.
Bellemare had previously swam in the Connecticut state finals during his sophomore and junior seasons, but said the experience in Illinois was much different.
“It was a lot bigger of a thing (in Illinois), a lot bigger of a pool, a lot more people there,” Bellemare said. "A lot more experienced people, who are quicker.”
The 17-year-old is The State Journal-Register's Swimming and Diving All-Area Athlete of the Year. He finished 29th in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 45.36 seconds) and 31st in the 500 free (4:55.32) at state.
He said he gravitated toward the distance swims in the freestyle after being a sprint swimmer in his early teachings.
“When I started swimming, my dad originally taught me how to swim because he used to be a swimmer,” Bellamare said. “He saw I had a good stroke at freestyle. The other coaches tried teaching me other strokes, but I wasn’t as good at the other strokes as I was at freestyle. When I reached high school, the coach decided to put me in the 200 and 500, and I just excelled.”
Here is the rest of the all-area swimming and diving team compiled in alphabetical ...
