Freshman swimmer Greydon Pieroni, last-minute replacement at sectional meet, helps Trojans reach state in 400 Free Relay

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

When a Chesterton swimmer wasn’t sure he was going to be able to go in the 400-yard freestyle relay at Saturday’s sectional meet, coach Jenni Kellstrom went into scramble mode.
The coach notified freshman Greydon Pieroni that he might need to fill in for the second leg of the 12th and final event of the meet.
“I found out right after my 100 back,” Pieroni said of the 10th event. “She said I might be swimming it because one of the people was hurting a lot. It was 50-50 whether I’d be swimming it.”
The uncertainty, he said, was extremely nerve-wracking and something new to him.
“Usually I’m not at alternate,” he said. “And I haven’t swam it in months, so that made it more of a miracle.”
Pieroni swam the butterfly in the 200 medley relay, which finished third, swam to a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly and then was sixth in the 100 backstroke.
So, he was available for the relay because the maximum allowed number of events is four.
Pieroni joins seniors Luke Wheele and Calan Barrier and sophomore Aaron Guzzo on the 400 free relay that swims in the preliminary Friday and if all goes well will get a second swim Saturday. The Trojans’ time of 3:14.39 was 15th best in all the sectionals. The eight fastest times at prelims advance to the A final and a spot on the medal podium. Finishers 9 through 16 at prelims compete in the consolation final, earning points for their school, provided they don’t get disqualified.
Pieroni is first cousin to Chesterton Hall of Fame swimmer Blake Pieroni, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a silver medalist in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Their fathers are brothers. Greydon has made big progress as a freshman.
“It’s been a really nice year,” Pieroni said. “I wish I could have done better on my fly.”
Even so, he improved an impressive five seconds from the beginning of his first high school season to the end. That’s a lot of time. How did he do it?
“I think it was just because of morning practice and weights,” he said. “Before that, I had only practiced in afternoon practices.”
Pieroni swam the butterfly in the 200 medley relay, which finished third in the sectional, swam to a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly, and then was sixth in the 100 backstroke. So, he was available for the final relay because the maximum allowed number of events is four and he had only been in three races.