![Birmingham Groves’ Angus MacDonald stands for a photo after receiving his medal for winning the 100 breaststroke Saturday at Eastern Michigan University.](/sites/default/files/2024-03/240312_Groves_2H.png)
Groves' MacDonald Caps Career with Individual Swim Sweep, Team Repeat
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2024
It can be amazing sometimes how winning can completely change an athlete’s mind.
Such was the case for Birmingham Groves senior swimmer Gus MacDonald when he was 13 years old.
While swimming at an event for his club team, his coach decided “for fun” — according to MacDonald — to put him in a breaststroke event.
Never mind that MacDonald up to that point had mainly swum in the backstroke and wasn’t particularly good in the breaststroke.
Then, something unforeseen happened.
“I ended up winning by a few seconds and dropping multiple seconds off of my time,” MacDonald said.
And so MacDonald’s racing transformation began.
Opponents probably wish they could go back in a time machine and prevent that coach from inserting MacDonald into that breaststroke race, because ever since MacDonald has established himself as one of the state’s best in the event regardless of division.
MacDonald successfully repeated as champion in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday, claiming first place in a time of 54.88.
“I find breaststroke more fun because it works on specific muscles and doesn’t wear me out as much in total,” MacDonald said. “My mom was also a breaststroker, so I think I’ve picked up some of the breaststroke genes from her.”
Oh, but MacDonald did even more.
He also tried his hand this year in the 200 individual medley and won that event Saturday in a time of 1:46.51.
Then, saving his best for last, MacDonald swam the anchor leg for Groves’ winning team in the 400 freestyle relay, which provided the most dramatic ending possible.
Thanks to a first-place finish in that event, Groves ended up repeating as team champion by one point ahead of rival Birmingham Seaholm.
If there was a more storybook ending to a high school career, it’s hard to imagine.
Despite his victory in the IM, MacDonald likely will continue to swim breaststroke in college. He chose to swim for Notre Dame over Michigan and Wisconsin, and he said Notre Dame coaches already are envisioning him being a breaststroke specialist once he arrives in South Bend.
In addition to being a leader in the pool for races, MacDonald and the rest of the Groves seniors took on the task of guiding the rest of the team through a coaching transition this winter.
Nick Valice took over the program, and the transition was smooth from both the perspective of the new coach and the swimmers.
“It’s been easy sailing,” Valice said.
Valice said the hardest adjustment initially with MacDonald in particular was learning what training methods he prefers.
“I spent the first couple of weeks trying to figure out what he’s capable of running versus the caliber level of kids I’ve coached beforehand,” Valice said. “He is definitely able to do a little more. He responds to stuff a little differently, so it’s just been tweaking workouts that benefit him specifically as opposed to the whole team or your generic run-of-the-mill swimmer. I will say he will eat up any workout you throw at him.”
MacDonald certainly proved that with a terrific high school career, especially with the two breaststroke Finals titles.
That’s pretty good for someone who didn’t know he liked the event until he was 13.
“I was terrible at it,” MacDonald said.
Not anymore. Not at all.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS Birmingham Groves’ Angus MacDonald stands for a photo after receiving his medal for winning the 100 breaststroke Saturday at Eastern Michigan University. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
![UP Boys Swimming](/sites/default/files/2021-03/210312_BSWIM_2H.jpg)
Preview: Annual Contenders Aim for Top Finish Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 12, 2021
No team has won more Upper Peninsula boys swimming & diving championships than reigning Finals champ Marquette’s 26.
Similarly, no team has finished second more than Sault Ste. Marie’s 19 runner-up finishes, to go along with four titles.
Those two stand to contend for the top two places again at this weekend’s event – order to be determined.
Diving is Friday at all swimming Saturday – click for more meet details. Both will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv.
Here’s a glance at team and individual favorites:
Reigning champion: Marquette
Reigning runner-up: Sault Ste. Marie
Marquette broke Houghton’s two-season championship streak in 2020, finishing ahead of Sault Ste. Marie by 117 points. Prior to Houghton’s two-year run, Marquette had won four straight titles from 2014-17 – which followed Sault Ste. Marie’s most recent championship, in 2013.
Maverick Baldwin, Marquette sophomore – The top seed in the 100-yard freestyle (54.76) and fourth in the 50 (24.80) was second in the 50 as a freshman.
Morgan Burd, Sault Ste. Marie senior – He’s returning after winning the backstroke and individual medley and swimming on two championship relays in 2020. This time he’s seeded first in the 50 (23.18) and backstroke (57.63), the latter by nearly eight seconds.
Davin Evans, Houghton junior – He added a breaststroke championship last season to a relay title from freshman year, and also was third in the IM in 2020. He enters this weekend top-seeded in the IM (2:20.21) and second in the breaststroke (1:05.62).
Liam McFarren, Marquette sophomore – He kicked off his high school career with a championship in the 100 free and runner-up finish in the IM last season, and this weekend he’s top-seeded in the 200 free (2:00.83) and butterfly (1:00.48) both by six seconds.
Archer Olson, Houghton junior – One of three double individual champions last season, Olson will attempt to repeat in the 200 and 500 freestyles and is the second seed in both (2:06.67 and 5:37.01, respectively).
Colin Vanderschaaf, Marquette sophomore – Another standout Marquette sophomore, Vanderschaaf is seeded first in the 500 (5:24.65) by more than 12 seconds as well as the breaststroke (1:05.41).
Marquette 200 freestyle relay – A group with no seniors won last season’s event, with senior Hobey Manson, junior Bobby Caron and McFarren back as possibilities to swim it this weekend.
Cameron Bauers, Sault Ste. Marie senior – Last season’s diving runner-up also swam on the winning 200 medley relay and is slated to swim the 50 on Saturday as well. He also was fourth in diving as a sophomore and third as a freshman.
PHOTO: Swimmers launch during a race at the 2019 Upper Peninsula Finals at Marquette High School. (Click for more from Jarvinen Photos.)