After taking second place at last year’s Missouri state swimming and diving championships, the Lindbergh High School Flyers approached the 2007 state championship meet with the attitude of it being a learning experience for several of its up-and-coming swimmers.

“We had several juniors that got some experience this year at state,” Lindbergh head coach Tim Lombardo told the Call. “This year, we knew what the situation would be for us and hopefully we’ll get our relays into the top 16 next year.”

The Flyers finished 37th overall in the meet, which took place Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, as senior Teddy Key finished his high-school career with a solid 10th-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:50.53.

“Teddy always swims well at state,” Lombardo said. “The coaching staff was a little concerned in that the conference meet didn’t go the way we wanted it to for him. But he came in on Friday and swam really well.”

Lombardo was disappointed when the Flyers’ 200-yard medley relay of junior Andrew Dahle, junior Kyle Schnoring, senior Teddy Key and junior Parker Finlinson was disqualified due to a false start.

“The false start was obviously disappointing,” he said. “That stuff happens when you’re seeded seventh and this was our only relay. You’re going to want to try and get some kind of an edge on everyone.”

With several swimmers turning in personal bests at state, Lombardo believes that the Flyers will improve next year and could even crack the top 10 at state.

“Last year, we had five seniors that kind of dominated the meet,” he said. “We swam real well Friday and Saturday and it was unfortunate that we just were not as quick as we were last year. But we had some personal bests on nearly every swim.”