Split Dominance: Maddy Lu and Thomas Rudnicki Win Gold at State
Photo courtesy of Danzel Chen (‘26)
Grae Zedlitz (‘26), Sports Editor
“Take State” are not familiar words in a Cyclone’s vocabulary. But while new, they will soon be firmly implanted into the brain. Specifically, Cyclone Swim’s early efforts in the debut season of OSSAA competition set the bar high, with multiple individual state champions and a strong team finish. The Men’s Team finished Third Overall (and the Academic Champions) throughout the 5A division, while the Women’s team finished 7th overall, both out of 23 teams.
Thomas Rudnicki (‘24) has displayed dominance throughout the season, finishing as a top seed in every meet. His performance in the 50-yard freestyle was particularly dominant, as Thomas was an Individual State Champion for his event. “I worked really hard specifically on my start and turn during the 50 freestyle, two of the most significant areas where I could drop some time,” Thomas commented. “Training for those two parts really helped me during state because I could just let the muscle memory take control even when my mind was racing through all of the things that could go wrong.” Thomas’s season-long work resulted in a finals time of 22.88 seconds, beating out second place by a razor-thin margin of 0.06 seconds. In competitive swim, that can be the difference between first place and finishing outside the podium. Thomas’s hard work and dedication proved to be the defining factor in his final season, and he laid the foundation and blueprint for years to come.
Maddy Lu (‘24) had a similar course of dominance this season in the 100-meter breaststroke. She joins an extremely exclusive club, being one of the only athletes in Casady history to finish her career undefeated as a Casady swimmer in her event. “I have a pretty set routine each week, I go to about 6-7 practices per week,” Maddy remarked. “I would say focus on endurance work and body position. It's so important to keep your body in a straight line as often as possible, which comes to use in breaststroke. Endurance work to be able to perform at the top speed even at the end of the race. It paid off at the state championships, and I am very happy with my swim.” Maddy won state with a blazing fast time of 1:04:02, almost two and a half seconds ahead of second place. She will continue her athletic and academic career at Emory University next season.
Casady Swim had a strong season all around. There is work to be done over the off-season, but with the foundation laid and the bar raised, the swimmers of future years are more than capable of living up to those expectations.
