CANTON, Ohio — At 6-foot-5 and with his hair dyed purple, Sam DeNero wasn’t hard to spot on dry land at the state swimming and diving championships over the weekend.
But where the Galion senior really distinguished himself was in the water.
The Richland Bank Athlete of the Week, DeNero finished third in the 50 yard freestyle in the Division II finals at Canton McKinley’s C.T. Branin Natatorium. He touched the wall in 21.20 seconds, lowering the school record he had established while finishing second in Thursday’s preliminaries.
Bay Village Bay’s Trevor Lake won the event 20.60 seconds, defending his state title. Cincinnati Indian Hill’s Sam Vester was second in 21.09.
DeNero, who also earned All-Ohio honors in the 100 freestyle after finishing 12th in 47.41 seconds, had a goal of cracking the 21-second barrier. He didn’t quite reach his goal, but he wasn’t complaining.
“I can’t be disappointed, because I still dropped time,” DeNero said. “Even though I dropped one spot (from the preliminaries) I feel like I did better.”
Even before Friday’s showing, DeNero already had an impressive state meet resume. He finished eighth in the 50 as a sophomore in 21.85 seconds, anchored Galion’s 13th-place 200 medley relay team and swam the lead-off leg of the 13th-place 400 freestyle relay team.
As a junior, he swam on the state-qualifying 200 medley relay and 200 free relay teams. He finished 23rd in the 100 freestyle and was third in the 50 in 21.38 seconds despite qualifying as the No. 8 seed.
“Last year I went into prelims seeded third and then I got eighth and almost didn’t make the finals,” DeNero said. “Then I came back and got third (in the finals). Anything can happen in the 50. There isn’t any margin for error.”
That makes the start even more important. By his own admission, DeNero isn’t great off the blocks.
“My coach (Ted Temple) says I’m always the last off the blocks and first out of the water,” DeNero said. “My length definitely helps, especially with the longer reach and a stronger kick.”
In addition to his two individual events, DeNero was a member of Galion’s state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team. He joined forces with fellow senior Chad Karnes and freshmen Sam Rigdon and Luke Eisnaugle. The team didn’t qualify for the finals.
In three trips to the state meet, DeNero earned All-Ohio recognition in eight individual or relay events.
Even though he didn’t leave Canton with a gold medal, DeNero was smiling after he left the interview area.
“It’s all I could ask for,” he said.
“I can’t be disappointed, because I still dropped time,” Sam DeNero said. “Even though I dropped one spot (from the preliminaries) I feel like I did better.”
