PIAA Swimming: Ridley’s Vannucci ‘astronomically’ surprises himself

LEWISBURG — Just 11 days ago, Joe Vannucci sat on deck at La Salle University wondering if his time in the 200 individual medley was good enough to qualify for states.

Wednesday night, the Ridley senior was jumping into Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium for the B final of the event at the PIAA Class AAA championships, the culmination of a wild ride to cap the Green Raider’s career.

Vannucci ended up going 1:57.62 in the finals, holding onto his 16th seed. But when Vannucci started his warmdown after the morning prelims, he sat 17th, on the outside looking in.

Not that he was all that disappointed. After all, Vannucci, who swam in the first heat of four, was only in that position because he clocked in at 1:56.81, a massive drop from his seed time of 1:57.63 from districts at a meet in which matching your seed was widely considered a success.

When Cumberland Valley’s Benjamin Johnston, who had clocked a 1:54.35 in the final heat, got disqualified, in stepped Vannucci for the chance at one more swim.

The times Wednesday represented a major improvement for Vannucci, who thought he’d plateaued in the event around the low two-minute range. In the homestretch of his high school career, though, he has, to use his word, “astronomically’ exceeded his expectations.

“It’s been fun. To think about it, since last year, I thought I was capped out with the 200 IM, but I was wrong,” Vannucci said. “The last 10 days, they’ve been fun, just spending time with all the guys coming here. And this in itself was just a whole different experience.”

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Ridley senior Joe Vannucci was satisfied to learn he dropped his time in the 200 individual medley during Wednesday's PIAA championships. (Mark C Psoras)