Trojans sophomore Aaron Guzzo, busiest swimmer in the pool in second half of sectional meet, earns swims in two relays at state meet in Indianapolis

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

His participation got underway late at the sectional swim meet, but once Chesterton sophomore Aaron Guzzo started, he more than made up for lost time.
The same could be said for his swimming career.
Guzzo said he thinks he first joined a swim team in seventh grade, which is later than most competing where he’ll be swimming this weekend.
His first swim at the sectional came in the seventh event, which is a lot later than most who have four swims in a 12-event meet.
Guzzo will be competing at the state meet in Indianapolis in two of those events, the 200-yard freestyle relay and the 400 free relay.
And the most impressive improvements he has made in the pool since coming to high school have come in another event, the 100 backstroke.
His first and last name were the first words to come out of coach Jenni Kellstrom’s mouth after Chesterton won the sectional championship at Valparaiso on Saturday.
“Aaron Guzzo had all four events in the second half of the meet,” Kellstrom said. “Aaron Guzzo in the 100 backstroke since September of his freshman year, in 16 months, has dropped 15 seconds, and that was swimming back-to-back, relay to backstroke, thank you very much.”
Guzzo swam a 54.68 to earn fourth place in the backstroke, the 10th event and his third swim in a four-race span. He didn’t qualify for state in that event but has two more years to chase that goal.
Before that, Guzzo swam the 100 free in the seventh event, and the second leg of the 200 free relay in Event No. 9. After the backstroke and a trip to the podium, his day still wasn’t done. He anchored the 400 free, the final event. The Trojans swam a 3:14.39, third behind Valparaiso and LaPorte. The Trojans made it to state via a call-down, which is the term used for third and final way to make the field of 32 competitors, coming after sectional champions and swimmers or relays that meet the state standard time predetermined for each event.
Guzzo went from the least busy swimmer at the meet in the first half to the busiest.
“He’s gotten a lot better and I’m glad,” said senior Luke Wheele started the 400 free relay with a blistering split of 47.12. “He’s been training hard. He’s been at summer (workouts), training hard and getting better.”
Guzzo anchored the 400 free relay with a 49.30 split, fast enough to the get the Trojans to state.
As a freshman, Guzzo made the trip to state as an alternate for the 200 medley relay. He didn’t swim but was able to soak it all in.
“It’s intense,” he said. “It’s a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day, you just have to push through that and focus.”
Starting with specifics and moving to a general reason, Guzzo shared what he thinks has gone well for him in workouts to achieve what he achieved at the sectional.
“I think my underwaters are pretty good and my starts, too,” he said. “And just my goals, just trying to beat everyone else.”
A goal-oriented personality works well in a sport that has swimmers forever chasing the clock and fellow competitors.