Through the Years: Swim & Dive 1925/72-2015
August 12, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
We finish our look at fall MHSAA tournaments today with the perfect transition to our features for our winter events – and with perfect timing to go with the international competition playing out right now in Rio de Janeiro.
The MHSAA's history with boys swimming & diving goes to the start of the association, in 1925, and in 1972 one of our first girls sports also found its home in the pool. Just more than four decades later, one of the best-known Michigan high school standouts – Canton's Allison Schmitt – is one of six captains of this Olympics' U.S. national swim team.
This feature is from the spring issue of benchmarks, built and written by Rob Kaminski. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a link to our previous installments. We'll continue to look at more MHSAA postseason events every Tuesday and Friday this fall.
Previous installments
August 9: Football - Read
August 5: Girls Volleyball - Read
August 2: Boys Soccer - Read
July 30: Boys Cross Country - Read
July 26: Girls Cross Country - Read
July 22: Boys/Girls Lacrosse - Read
July 19: Boys/Girls Tennis - Read
July 15: Boys/Girls Golf - Read
July 12: Girls Soccer - Read
July 8: Boys Track & Field - Read
July 5: Girls Track & Field - Read
July 1: Baseball - Read
June 28: Softball - Read
Performance of the Week: West Bloomfield's Elizabeth Eichbrecht
November 28, 2025
Elizabeth Eichbrecht♦ West Bloomfield
Senior ♦ Swimming
Eichbrecht finished her high school career last week by completing career Finals sweeps in the 200 and 500-yard freestyles at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship meet at Oakland University. She set all-Finals records in both races, swimming a 1:45.05 in her 200 prelim to break the 2007 record set by past Canton star and later Olympic medalist Allison Schmitt. Her 500 prelim time of 4:42.00 broke the 2017 record set by Grand Ledge's Lola Mull.
Eichbrecht went on to swim 1:45.98 in the 200 and 4:42.89 in her championship races to win them by more than 5 and 16 seconds, respectively. She had entered the meet with seed times of 1:45.48 and 4:41.54. She improved on her Finals times from a year ago by three seconds in the 200 and nearly 10 in the 500. Eichbrecht will continue at Indiana, which is coming off a record fourth-place finish at last season's NCAA championship meet.
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Elizabeth Eichbrecht #swimming #westbloomfield #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA
@mhsaasports 🏊♀️POW: Elizabeth Eichbrecht #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #highschoolsports #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA
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Previous 2025-26 honorees
Nov. 20: Brady Kieff, Blanchard Montabella football - Report
Nov. 13: Ella Laupp, Battle Creek Harper Creek swimming - Report
Nov. 7: Hunter Eaton, Charlevoix cross country - Report
Oct. 31: Stephen Gollapalli, Lansing Christian tennis - Report
Oct. 23: Talya Schreiber, Pickford cross country - Report
Oct. 16: Avery Manning, Dexter golf - Report
Oct. 9: Brady Van Laecke, Hudsonville football - Report
Oct. 2: Sarah Giroux, Flat Rock volleyball - Report
Sept. 25: Sam Schumacher, Portage Central tennis - Report
Sept. 18: Kaylee Mitzel, Saline field hockey - Report
Sept. 11: Natasza Dudek, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country - Report
Sept. 4: Kate Posey, Big Rapids golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of the Eichbrecht family.)