WAUKESHA — Hannah Tubbs said she wasn’t very fast when she began competitive swimming at the age of 9.
That has all changed — officially — for the Black River Falls High School junior, who made some program history at the Waukesha South Natatorium on Friday.
Tubbs won the 100-yard freestyle championship and added a second-place finish in the 50 freestyle as the two-day meet began. The victory makes her the first swim chance in Black River Falls history and the first event champion from the Coulee Region since 1997.
Tubbs, a three-year state qualifier and sixth-place finisher in the 100 as a sophomore, started her day with the runner-up finish in the 50 and time of 24.26 seconds. That stoked her confidence before a winning time of 52.24 in the 100.
“I was feeling really good after I saw that I got second place (in the 50),” said Tubbs, who won both events at her sectional last weekend. “I was seeded first (in the 100), and I knew I could drop time like I did in the 50.”
Tubbs, who said she started to realize her swimming potential at 12 years old, was seeded third in the 50 and cut from her sectional time of 24.5. She also lowered her sectional time of 53.14 in the 100.
“I knew I could drop time in this pool,” Tubbs said. “I know it’s a fast pool.
“Being my third year (as a qualifier), it definitely helped calm me down.”
Tubbs was only beaten by Whitefish Bay freshman Maggie Dickinson (23.6) in the 50, and she held off Whitefish Bay sophomore Cassidy Shanks (53.23) and Whitefish Bay freshman Vivian Utschig (53.24) in the 100.
Tubbs is the first WIAA girls swim champion from the area since Logan’s girls 200 freestyle relay won Division 2 in 1997. She is the first individual champion since Central’s Pam Hanson won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke in 1996.
Calvin Hulse won the most recent boys state swim championship for Onalaska/Holmen/Aquinas with his victory in the Division 1 50 freestyle in 2016.
