Wade Lavalle and Carson Todd: A friendly rivalry played out in the pool

Poplar Bluff swimmer Carson Todd narrowly finishes the 100-yard freestyle race ahead of Jackson's Wade Lavalle on Thursday, Aug. 31 at the SEMO Recreation Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

In the boys' 100-yard freestyle portion of Thursday's swim meet between Poplar Bluff and Jackson, the separation between Carson Todd of the Mules and Wade Lavalle of the Indians was .17 seconds.

"It was a good race," said Todd, who won the race with a time of 52.50. "I really liked the time, especially at this point of the year with all the training we've been doing. It's a good spot."

"We pushed each other to the very end," Lavalle said.

The 100y freestyle race was the highlight of what is really a glorified practice. Due to illness, the Indians were down to three swimmers. The Mules won 98-23 at the SEMO Recreation Center by mainly competing in the events by themselves, especially the relays.

Both Wade and Todd thrashed through the waters. All that was visible through the splashes were the skull caps and swinging arms like a windmill. Todd couldn't help but frequently glance at the lane next to him while frantically and ferociously swimming toward the finish line.

In only the first week of the year, it was a great way to get into midseason form early.

"It definitely gets me prepared," Todd said. "I mean, swimming against a guy like Wade, a little friendly rivalry never hurt anybody. It feels good to swim against him. He definitely pushes me."

The feeling is mutual.

"I love racing him," Lavalle said. "I raced him back in the beginning of the summer and I got him. So we ran this one back and we're 1-1. So I guess we'll have to run it back again.

Todd and Lavalle were both named Semoball Awards finalists for qualifying in the state meet last season. Lavalle placed 23rd in the 500-yard freestyle for the Indians' best finish, with a time of 5:05.02, nearly two full seconds faster than his freshman season's best.

Todd won the SEMO Conference title in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. He was also a state qualifier in the 100y freestyle and swam with the Mules' 200y and 400y relay teams at the Class 1 state meet.

"We want to push each other, race each other, but we're good buds," Lavalle said.

Todd and Lavalle dominated in other events during the meet. Lavalle won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.09 while Todd won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.86, which is his best event.

Both Todd and Lavalle said their goal this season is to make the state finals in their individual events.

"I think we're on track to be better than ever," Todd said.