Oswego Co-op junior Owen Lippoldt got into the pool in order to follow in the wake of his sister Zoe.

“I started swimming because of my sister,” Lippoldt said. “She was older.

“I wanted to be like her, so I started on the summer team. I just liked the sport, so I kept going.”

That was true even after his sister quit swimming to focus on dance, which she did throughout high school. Three years into his high school career, it is clear Lippoldt is going places.

Lippoldt won four medals at the state finals on Saturday at FMC Natatorium in Westmont. He made the championship heats in the 50-yard free style and 100-yard freestyle, finishing third in the former and eighth in the latter.

Lippoldt, who was sixth in the 50 and 15th in the 100 as a sophomore, made significant strides in each event. He was in contention for the state title in the 50, clocking a personal-best 20.27 in Friday’s preliminaries.

In the finals, Lippoldt timed 20.32 to take third. Vernon Hills junior Yury Plaksin won in 20.09 and Schlarman senior Charles Medlin was second in 20.19.

“It was pretty good,” Lippoldt said. “I was hoping for better, for sure, but I’m glad I can go out there and do that for my team.”

Having already been in the championship heat last year, Lippoldt knew what to expect and was pumped at the prospect of being in contention.

“It feels good,” Lippoldt said. “It’s a lot of adrenaline going in and it’s all about the small stuff. So it’s anyone’s game at the end.”

Oswego Co-Op coach Erik Enslen was proud yet disappointed of Lippoldt’s near-miss.

“It was heartbreaking,” Enslen said. “He could win. The kid who won it, Yury, I’ve known his coach and we have a pool rivalry.

“We wanted both boys to break the 20-second mark. That was our goal. The nice part is they are both juniors. Next year I’m expecting 19s out of both of them.”

Lippoldt had lower expectations in the 100. After setting a personal best of 44.71 in the prelims to qualify for his first championship heat in that event, he just wanted to go out and do his best. He ended up eighth in 45.26.

Lippoldt then added two more medals in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay. He teamed with senior Ethan Schrader and sophomores Zack Petersen and Tyler Liska to finish seventh in the 200 free relay in 1:24.55 and ninth in the 400 free relay in 3:04.55.

That enabled Oswego Co-Op to finish 11th in the team standings with 80 points. That was only two places lower and seven points fewer than its 2025 performance, when current Navy freshman Chase Maier won state titles in the 200 free and 500 free.

“We lose Chase, but we didn’t decrease at all,” Enslen said. “They all moved into new roles.

“Ethan Schrader kind of stepped up to be the kind of leader Chase was, and then Owen and Tyler kind of just moved into the next role.”

Lippoldt enjoyed the added responsibility.

“It’s been pretty cool,” he said. “It’s definitely different without Chase but I’m hoping that I can step up and kind of fill his role the best I can. I think I’m doing all right.”

If that sounds a bit modest, it fits Lippoldt’s personality.

“I think he does (know how good he can be), it’s just he’s not one of those ego kids,” Enslen said. “You get some of the that go, ‘I’m great.’ He’s just, ‘I can do better, I can swim fast.’”

If Lippoldt continues to swimming faster, he could realize his big dreams. He said his top three dream schools are Navy, Minnesota and Northwestern. Fortunately for Oswego, that’s still a year away.

“The lucky part is we’ve got next year,” Enslen said. “Owen will move into the lead; Tyler will be second in command.

“We’re better this year than we were with Chase and that’s hard to say, because Chase was so good. We may not win individual events next year but we’re getting there in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay.”