The 2025 Nebraska State Swimming and Diving Championships took place from Feb. 27 to March 1, bringing together the state’s top aquatic athletes for a thrilling weekend of competition. Central made a strong showing, sending multiple swimmers and a diver to the meet, with standout performances across various events.
The top performers include junior Owen Johnson, the only diver for Central, who placed third in the state with a score of 403.60. On the swimming side, junior Carter Hiley broke the OPS district record and placed second in the boys 100-yard freestyle with time of 45.82 seconds. Hiley also placed second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1 minute and 51.29 seconds. Senior Laura Lindsay placed fifth in the girls 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute and 6.98 seconds.
The girls 200-yard medley relay, including Lindsay, freshman Eliza Stockmann, junior Cecilia Taylor and senior Holland Robison, placed eleventh with a time of 1:55. The boys 400-yard freestyle relay team, including Hiley, freshmen Aydin Gholami and Max Goebel, and senior Rocco Cerasoli, placed 15th with a time of 3:25. Several other relay teams, both girls and boys, did not advance to the finals following prelims.
The state meet did not come without adversity for the team. Just a week before state, Johnson broke his wrist doing the exact dive that would eventually place him at state. Despite the lack of practice, injury recovery and pre-meet anxiety, he became the first diver from Central to place in years.
“I didn’t get to practice at all between breaking my wrist and state, so when I was cleared to dive, I was scared it wouldn’t go well,” Johnson said.
Lindsay was also challenged, struggling to find her footing during prelims. She would go on to be the best girl’s swimmer for Central at state. “I had to reset mentally that night,” she said of the prelims.
Taylor was worried after the suit she was supposed to wear at state didn’t work out. “I ended up having to wear a suit from freshman year that I already had bad races in, so I worried it wasn’t going to go well,” she said.
