Naval aspirations have City High’s Nate Katalinich back in the pool

IOWA CITY – After Nate Katalinich went through Senior Night ceremonies Tuesday at Mercer Park Aquatic Center, he said it's been great to be back.

After all, it had been three years since Katalinich swam the breaststroke for Iowa City High's state-qualifying 200-yard medley relay team. The last of his nine years with the Iowa City Eels club team ended as a sophomore, followed by a year out of the water. Armed with a clear career path, Katalinich placed a call to City High Coach Zane Hugo.

'It pretty much started the beginning of this season,' Katalinich said. 'I hadn't really gotten in the water. I'd still work out. Just lift a lot of weights in the offseason.'

Katalinich was committed to becoming a United States Navy Diver. In anticipation of the physical requirements, he re-joined the Little Hawks' varsity swim team. His season-best time of 1:04.30 in the 100-yard breaststroke ranks in the top 25 across the state.

'I'm just trying to get back to pretty much that same spot where I was when I left off,' Katalinich said. 'Trying to get back down to a one-minute in the 100 breast. This is like a personal goal to see if I can get back there in just that few short months of training as compared to the years it took me to get there in the first place.'

Katalinich, 18, enlisted with the United States Navy nearly two months ago and reported to the North Liberty Aquatic Center for his first PST (physical screening test), which consisted of a 500-yard swim, calisthenics and running. Those results, combined with the cognitive ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) test, placed Katalinich in a draft whereby an algorithm selects the top eight candidates each month for a seven-year naval special warfare/special operations contract.

'I did well,' Katalinich said. 'I got picked up first time. Number one pick in the country.'

Katalinich will continue the monthly PST tests until he reports for boot camp in July in Great Lakes, Ill. From there, it's on to the U.S. Naval Diving & Salvage Training Center in Panama City Beach, Fla.

'I'm going to keep swimming through the summer,' Katalinich said. 'As for the high school season, just going to keep working hard, in and out of the pool.'

LIONS TOP METRO RANKINGS

A trio of Metro schools are clustered together in the latest quikstatsiowa.com team power rankings. Two-time state runner-up Cedar Rapids Washington is ranked 14th, while Kennedy is three spots behind. Leading the Metro pack is Linn-Mar, which ranks 13th on the strength of a solid performance at its Jan. 9 invitational.

'We just need to continue to build on the little things,' Linn-Mar Coach Tom Belin said. 'Like most guys, like most teams, we're tired. We're kind of right at the conversion point to the last part of our season. … I expect a lot of good things out of these guys the next couple of weeks.'

POSTSEASON APPROACHING

It is officially less than a month until the Feb. 13 state championships at Marshalltown. Conference crowns will be on the line Jan. 23 at the Mississippi Valley Conference championships at the sparkling University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center pool. Two weeks later, state qualifiers will be named at one of six district meets on Feb. 6.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com