Opsal Overcomes Potential Season-Ending Injury to End Season as Champion
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
March 24, 2026
You couldn't blame Kade Opsal for being a little teary-eyed as he stood quietly on the medal stand at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Swimming & Diving Finals earlier this month at Holland Aquatics Center.
By rights, you could easily make the case he shouldn't have been there.
It wasn't through a lack of talent for the Adrian senior, who was undefeated in four years of conference championship meets in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke while taking second in Division 3 in the 100 backstroke as a junior. Talent wasn't the problem.
The problem was the freak accident Opsal had suffered six months ago which doctors feared could cost him his final year of swimming.
So as Opsal waited anxiously on the stand for a medal to be hung around his neck, he found himself fighting a flood of emotion.
"My coach handed out the medal, and I heard my name over the public address system," he said. "I leaned down and my coach said, 'You really did it.' I got a little emotional, I cried a little. I was so full of emotion. I was glad I had finished my career how I did."
Opsal's dream for his final year of high school swimming was simple: win a Finals championship. But that goal seemed potentially unattainable after an accident on the soccer field in early September.
After having been convinced by friends to go out for soccer when Adrian needed a goalkeeper, Opsal stepped up to fill the void. But during a practice session, Opsal faced shot from a teammate less than a dozen feet away. He stuck his hand in front of his face to shield himself from the shot, but the ball crashed into Opsal's wrist, causing a fracture of the scaphoid bone near where his wrist and thumb meet.
It was the second time Opsal had broken the bone. The first was during the swim Finals as a freshman when he slammed his hand into the end of the pool at the end of a race. He spent 16 weeks in a cast.
But while Opsal dodged surgery three years ago, this time doctors diagnosed a displaced fracture which resulted in surgery, screws inserted in the wrist and a bone graft. Qualifying for the Finals and fulfilling a lifelong dream at that point seemed miles away, Opsal admitted.
"I went into a spiral," he said. "I thought I was going to miss the whole season. It was terrible."
Doctors weren't exactly in disagreement with that prognosis. After surgery Oct. 12, doctors encased his hand in a nine-pound cast, basically a club, Opsal said. He spent two weeks in the cast, had a checkup, spent four more weeks in a cast, then was placed in a removeable cast. By now it was the second week of December, this season’s Finals were three months away, and Opsal had yet to enter the water. By Jan. 9, Opsal was finally pronounced ready to swim by doctors, but he was seriously behind in his attempt to simply qualify for the Division 3 championship meet, let alone be in the hunt to win a race there.
Still, Opsal wasn't ready to toss in his goggles.
"I knew I could do something with the little time I had left," he said. "I knew I had put in a lot of work over the summer and had gained like 30 pounds of muscle. But I didn't know how all that would translate in the final two months of the season. I did know that every practice and meet had to count."
By the MISCA meet in early February, there was a ray of light. Opsal swam a 21.2 in the 50 free and a 50.4 in the 100 backstroke. Suddenly there was hope that he still had a shot at his dream.
Opsal continued to pick up the pace until the Division 3 Finals prelims March 13. He wound up seeded first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 50.1 and was third in the 50 free.
There was, Opsal told himself, hope.
One day later, he began his Finals by helping Adrian's 200 medley relay to a ninth-place finish. Then, in his first attempt at a title, he finished runner-up in the 50 free with a time of 20.87.
Opsal's championship dream had come down to the 100 backstroke. He finally turned that dream into reality when he outdistanced Spring Lake's Dane Trask to win the event, swimming a lifetime-best time of 49.20 to nudge the 50.46 by Trask.
Tears aside on the medals stand, all Opsal could think about was advice he received from family members.
"I thought about my grandfather who always reminded me about that Vince Lombardi quote that winning wasn't everything, it was the only thing," he said. "I had thought I had a shot at it and I kept telling myself this was my senior year and I wanted to go out with a bang."
Considering his two broken hands and a fractured patella he suffered as a youngster, Opsal can now laugh at the obstacles he's had to overcome.
"My mom has definitely made comments that they need to bubble wrap me," he said. "I've been around the block in getting hurt."
PHOTOS (Top) Adrian’s Kade Opsal stands on the medal podium after winning the 100-yard backstroke at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals in Holland. (Middle) Opsal swims to his championship. (Action photo by High School Sports Scene.)
Performance: Spring Lake's Cam Peel
March 15, 2019
Cam Peel
Spring Lake senior – Swimming & Diving
The record-setting sprint star capped his high school career Saturday with two individual titles and as part of two relay championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals, earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” In addition to his championships, Peel became the first swimmer in Michigan high school history to break 20 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, swimming an all-Finals record 19.86 seconds in prelims and 19.91 in the championship race.
Peel had won the 100 freestyle as a junior and placed four more times in individual events before jumping into the Oakland University pool last weekend. In addition to winning the 50, Peel took the 100 in a meet record 43.94 seconds, anchored the 200 freestyle relay in a meet record 1:22.88 and also anchored the winning 400 relay in a meet record 3:03.66. Spring Lake as a team finished fourth, to go with finishes of 13th, fifth and third during his career. He will graduate with the school records in the 50 and 100, and also in the 200 freestyle (1:39.65), individual medley (1:54.14) and 100 butterfly (50.96).
Sprinting runs in the Peel family, at least these last two generations – his father Rob, also Spring Lake’s coach the last three seasons, won an NCAA Division III championship in the 50. Sister Meg Peel has reached the Division III Finals as well in the backstroke. Cam actually quit swimming during middle school, taking up football and lacrosse as his main pursuits instead. But he returned to the pool for high school, and will continue at University of Michigan. He carries a 3.85 GPA and plans to study business with an emphasis on property management or marketing.
Coach (and father) Rob Peel said: “I’m nothing short of amazed by Cam’s dedication these last few years. He’s earned everything that he’s accomplished, has worked so hard and sacrificed so much to go so fast. It was an experience for me both as a coach and especially his dad to watch him perform last weekend. It was one of those things, it made me try to hold it together when he’d swim so fast. I was thrilled when he got third at state a couple of years ago – it was a 46.99, I couldn’t have been more proud of that. And for him to go as fast as he has the last couple of years has just blown me away. It’s been inspiring I think to other kids on our team to see you can just put your head down and commit to excelling in a sport and get those kind of results, because I think there are other kids on our team that look at Cam and now say, I can have that – maybe not to that level, but I can be successful in this sport because it’s based upon your work and commitment and sacrifice, and they watched him every day do that.”
Performance Point: “I didn't know that no one had broken 20, so it was a little bit of a surprise for me,” said Cam Peel of his 50 record time. “It's a super high honor, and I'm really proud of it. After prelims, I was told they announced it at the other division state meets; it was pretty cool. … My biggest takeaway (from Finals) was probably that I had a lot of fun with my team. Fourth place, we were super close, one point away (from third), but I couldn't ask for a better way to go out with my brothers.”
Magic numbers: “I had been wanting to see 19 for a long time, too early than anyone thought I should. It was super relieving, and I was super buzzed I finally did it. … My freshman year at states – I only swam one event and I swam three relays – but I led off our 2(00) free relay and I went 22.40, and after that season I didn't set a number time, but I wrote a little note to myself and kept it in my room. I still have it to this day. It says I was gonna win states the following year in the 50, which didn't happen, But for that to finally happen (this year) was great.”
Spring Lake pride: “Our team swam great. We have Kevin Losee and Joey Wachter, two standout juniors that are coming back next year. They helped me train all year. That's what nobody seems to realize, is that they're pushing me every single day. And guys like Evan (Schock) and Sam (Sella) and Eric (Geschiere), the seniors, to make it to state there, it was a total team effort.”
Dad knew: “One thing he always said was find something you're passionate about. And before high school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Then I found swimming, which I'd swam before, but I quit because it was hard and time-consuming. My dad had always said as long as I keep getting faster, I'm going to keep swimming. I guess I've been living by that, and I want to continue doing that as long as I can.”
Coach’s Son: “He's been a great coach. I always get a bunch of flak from the other swimmers about being the coach's son, but it kinda comes along with it. My name changed from Cam to "Coach's Son" pretty much the whole year. And my dad would joke around; we’d ask after swim meets, ‘Do we have to warm down coach?’ I'd be in the mix, and my dad would say, ‘Yeah, you have to warm down, but Cam you don't have to do anything.’ It was just a joke. … He tells me when I ask (for advice). He doesn’t feed me with information, but it’s cool too to look back at stuff he’s done. We have old videos of (his races), and he has an awesome mind in the sport. So I’m learning as much as I can now, and I think it’s going to benefit me in the future. His best events were the 50, 100 and 200, but mostly the 50 – his short course time was 19:83. He was three hundredths of a second faster (than me) in the 50, but I think I have him in the 100 and 200.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Spring Lake's Cam Peel launches during a relay at Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Peel stands atop the awards podium at Oakland University. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)