![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.)
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Performance: Dexter's Rob Zofchak
January 13, 2016
Rob Zofchak
Dexter senior – Swimming
Zofchak entered this season poised for a strong finish to his high school career coming off his first MHSAA championship and a Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals record in the 100-yard backstroke (49.72 seconds) last winter. He’s on pace to equal that success – and accomplish much more. Zofchak was one of two multiple winners at Saturday’s Spartan Invitational at Battle Creek Lakeview, besting a field that included most of the top-ranked teams in Lower Peninsula Division 2 to earn this week’s Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Zofchak won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:42.07, more than five seconds faster than the runner-up, and his winning backstroke time of 51.44 was more than a second faster than the rest. He also swam on the winning 400 freestyle relay (3:13.36) and fifth-place 200 medley relay (1:40.39). Top-ranked Dexter as a team finished first overall, in front of No. 4 Warren DeLaSalle and also ahead of No. 5 Lakeview, reigning champion and No. 2 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 3 Birmingham Groves, No. 8 Grosse Pointe South, No. 10 Portage Northern and Division 1 No. 2 Ann Arbor Skyline.
The two-time team Most Valuable Performer holds three individual and a relay school record, and last season was part of 17 pool record swims at pools throughout Michigan. He’s also earned All-America honors five times from the national coaches association and has signed to continue his swimming career on scholarship at the University of Michigan. Zofchak is a member of the National Honor Society, and last summer he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 backstrokes with times of 56.94 and 2:02.56, respectively.
Coach Michael McHugh said: “Rob is a gifted swimmer, but without the hard work and dedication he has shown throughout his career none of the accomplishments would have been possible. He puts himself in a position to succeed each day and motivates his teammates to raise their effort level to match. He is such a versatile swimmer that I can put in almost anywhere in the lineup and know he will come through for the team. As a captain for us this year he has shown great leadership and a willingness to go the extra distance for his teammates. His teammates look to him in big moments, and he is always ready to give it everything he has in order to get the job done.”
Performance Point: “I think (Spartan) went pretty well. Obviously, there’s a lot that I still need to improve – and there always will be. But it really sets us up with most of the other teams. The meet had most of the top five or six teams in Division 2 there. … We’d never actually gotten a trophy at that meet.”
Title time: Dexter won its last MHSAA team championship in boys swimming & diving in 2012; the Dreadnaughts finished fourth, second and third at the LP Division 2 Finals over Zofchak’s first three seasons. The Dexter girls, including his sophomore sister Sarah, won the LPD2 title this fall. “I know a lot of the guys are really looking at trying to get that title, especially with the girls winning it. It would be a great way to end my high school career, for sure. It would be a really great way to end it after all we’ve been through.”
Family ties: In addition to Zofchak’s younger sister, his older brother Jonathan was a Dexter standout and swims at Michigan State. “I try to teach my sister as much as I can, which is not much. I like to help her as much as I can. With Jonathan, I always try to go after him. I always want to beat my big brother.”
Chasing Clay: “Certainly, there are times and names out there that you always want to measure yourself up to, come close to those times. Clay Youngquist’s times (for Battle Creek Lakeview) in everything; I look at those and aspire for those. His 200 free (1:34.28 in 2011) in pretty absurd, probably untouchable. But I’d like to swim at the end of the year and at least be close.”
Hailing U-M: “I really admire the program there. I really admire the coaches, and I like what they have going on. On top of being one of the best swim schools in the nation, it’s a top academic school as well. Especially with it being 15 minutes from my house, it was one of my greatest choices. I’ll try for med(ical) school. My uncle is a doctor, and I want to help solve issues with people, help make people better.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and respond as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our Nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Rob Zofchak was a two-time champion at the Spartan Invitational, winning the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke. (Middle) The backstroke is Zofchak's favorite stroke, and he is the reigning Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion in the event. (Action photos by Doni Houghtaling; head shot by Tammy Lynne Photography.)