History of Iowa High School Boy's Swimming Ten Iowa high schools gathered in fall of 1936 for an informal “state competition.” One year later, the IHSAA decided to sponsored it first state meet, crowning winners in five individual events and one relay. No team scores were kept. The next year (the 1938-39 school year), it was decided that the swimming season and state meet would be held over the winter months rather than in the fall, and team scores were kept for the first time, with Des Moines North claiming the first team state championship. Swimming is the only boy's state championship still in existence for which there are no classifications, due largely to the fact that only the state's largest school tend to sponsor the sport. Events The first (informal) state swimming meet included races in the 40-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 220-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, and a team medley relay. When the IHSAA took over sponsorship, two additional events were added: a 4x40-yard freestyle relay and individual diving. Diving was part of the state meet for 57 years, but was dropped after the 1993-94 season. In 1949 an individual medley race was added to the list of state meet events (originally 120 yards, later 200 yards). In 1958, two more events were added: a longer individual freestyle race (400-yards), and the 100-yard butterfly. Finally, a second team freestyle relay (the 4x100) was added in 1966. The length of some of these events have been modified over time (40-yards to 50-yards, 220-yards to 200-yards), but unlike the state track meet metric measurements have not been adopted, so some races have been contested every year since 1936-37 at an unchanged distance. 2020 2019 Champ: no team competition |
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