As she glided over the water on the return trip to the west end of the pool, Rachel Bockrath could peek to her left and glance at the clock.

So she knew that she had taken out her 200-yard freestyle at a pace that would have been competitive in the 50 and the 100. And she knew that even though she was getting slower each lap, the state record of 1:47.69 was right there.

Bockrath touched the wall as the clock hit 1:45.98. The crowd swelled to an ovation.

"I told my mom on Sunday this week, 'I'm going to go out fast and I don't care if I hang on. I'm just going to go out fast and know I put it all out there,'" Bockrath said. "I did that and I was able to come home tonight, so I'm just really grateful."

That was Thursday night, the first of three state record swims for Bockrath at the DIAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Delaware's Rawstrom Natatorium. Later Thursday, the Brandywine senior lowered her 100-yard freestyle record from 49.32 to 49.11.

In Saturday's final, she sliced another tenth of a second off her 100 time, finishing in 49.01, and swam the second-fastest 200 free in state history (1:46.76) to claim her seventh and eighth state titles. Bockrath won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle at each of the previous three state meets.

She will head to Ohio State in the fall as the state record holder in three events.

Bockrath broke the 100 free record set by Tatnall's Kaitlyn Jones in 2013 as a sophomore. Last year, as part of Brandywine's state meet 200-yard free relay, Bockrath swam 22.85 in the opening 50 to break the record set by Charter of Wilmington's Lily Dubroff in 2012.

The 200 free record she broke this year was set by Tower Hill's Lainey Mullins in 2022. Mullins, now a freshman at Virginia, matched the time the following year in her fifth straight state meet win at the distance.

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Bockrath combined with teammates Katie Grant, Leah Norton and Olivia Erskine to place fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay and third in the 400-yard freestyle relay. In one of the meet's most exciting finishes, Bockrath, as the anchor of the 400 free relay, covered several yards to move Brandywine from fourth to third and within four-tenths of a second of the lead.

"The adrenaline just carries you through the relays," Bockrath said.

Ursuline wins back-to-back team swimming titles

With two relay wins and six podium finishes in individual events, Ursuline amassed 357.5 points to win their second consecutive team title and their fourth in the last nine years. The Raiders' score is the highest team score of the previous 10 state meets.

"The reason why we're so successful is we just have so much depth," junior Eliza Johnson said. "There's so many incredible swimmers that contribute. There's not one specific person who won it for us."

Nineteen athletes swam for Ursuline in Thursday's prelims. Many had tight schedules Saturday night that were compressed further because officials held the boys and girls diving competitions together in the morning and abbreviated the second break.

The team of Caitlin Horning, Bella Caraballo, Eliza Johnson and Samantha Weinert won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:46.93.

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With one event in between, Johnson bounced back to place second in the 200-yard individual medley. Later, she finished third in the 100 free and anchored Ursuline's second-place 400 free relay, following McKinley Jefferson, Caraballo and Mia Devlin.

Caraballo placed second in the 500-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. Devlin, a freshman, swam a four-second personal best to place sixth in the IM from lane eight. She finished third in the 100-yard backstroke and combined with Weinert, Horning and eighth grader Taylor Aiello to win the 200 free relay in 1:39.65.

Ursuline has won nine team titles since winning their first in 1983. In a perfect 10-0 dual-meet season, their closest contest was a 36-point win against Tower Hill.

Ursuline also received a fourth-place finish from Horning in the 100-yard butterfly, a sixth-place finish from Aiello in the 100 free, seventh-place finishes from Jefferson in the 200 free and 100 back, eighth-place finishes from Weinert in the 50 and 100 free and an eighth-place finish from Mia Thayer in the 100 breast.

Dual-sport Conrad athlete wins first state swim title

On most days, Alyssa Napier goes to track practice from 2:45 p.m. to 4:10 p.m. and swim practice from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. The Conrad junior eats dinner and does homework for her four Advanced Placement classes and a college course. Then, if there's time, she heads to the basement to bench press and bicep curl.

Three weeks after placing third in the 400 meters and seventh in the 200 meters at the indoor track and field state meet, Napier on Saturday won the 50 free and placed second in the 100 butterfly. She left the meet wanting more, confident she will surpass her season-best times when club competition resumes over the coming weeks, but pleased with her first state meet victory.

Napier grew up swimming at the Western YMCA and now swims with Diamond State Aquatics. In middle school, her father, Darryl, a former track and field athlete, encouraged her to try the sport. Since eighth grade, she's been a sprinter in the pool and on the track.

"You just have to trust yourself," Napier said when asked how to excel in disciplines with different demands at the same time. "Trust the training. ... Take care of your body and get a lot of rest. Don't go on TikTok as much."

Charter of Wilmington, Sussex Academy stars rack up individual swim wins

Charter of Wilmington's Georgia Colborn came from behind to win the 100 butterfly over Napier by a tenth of a second in 55.44. Colborn trailed Napier until the final turn.

Only focused on her lane, the Auburn-bound senior said she didn't feel how close the race was.

"I wasn't even thinking; I was just going," Colborn said. "When I touched the wall, there was a sense of relief to be, I guess like, done. It's an exciting experience, but it's also a lot of stress."

She returned to win the 100 back and anchor the Force's winning 400 free relay. In the relay, Colborn entered the pool roughly even with Ursuline and Tower Hill. The key to the day was trying not to think about each race until they arrived to keep things light and fun, she said.

Colborn also led off Charter's second-place 200 medley relay. She ends her high school career with nine state championships, including four consecutive wins in the 100 butterfly and three 100 back titles.

Colborn's teammate Allie Phillips won the 200 IM with a strong breaststroke leg. She placed third in the 100 butterfly and swam leadoff on the school's 400 free relay. Her sister, Victoria Phillips, and eighth grader Abigail Dilworth filled out Charter's winning team. Charter finished second as a team.

After an undefeated regular season and a win two weeks ago at the Henlopen Conference Championships, Sussex Academy had a strong showing Saturday.

Freshman Anna Mumford took an early lead in the 500 free and pulled away late to win by more than three seconds in 5:02.79. She also placed third in the 200 free. Gracie Maughan won the 100 breast for the second straight year and placed third in the 200 IM.

"It's super fun coming upstate because we get a lot of competition and we get to really push ourselves," Maughan said.

Newark Charter junior Madelyn Hiller won the 1-meter diving competition for the third time. Tower Hill senior Grace Gilbert placed second in the 50 and 100 free to lead the Hillers to a third-place team finish.

Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com. Follow him on X and Instagram @holveck_brandon. Follow him on TikTok @bholveck.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Ursuline wins DIAA swimming title as Rachel Bockrath sets state records