Maddie Martin of the Pickerington High School Central girls swimming and diving team says the only pressure she feels in the pool is self-inflicted.

“I want to do it again, but no one puts pressure on me,” Martin, a junior, said of possibly winning a third consecutive Division I state championship in the 100-yard butterfly. “I don’t let any of that stuff get to me, though. I just came in (to the district meet Feb. 18 at Ohio State) and wanted to know I would make it to state automatically.”

She knew it would take a special performance, considering a 100-degree fever the previous weekend during the sectional meet produced subpar times in the 100 fly and 100 freestyle and gave her the seventh and 10th seeds, respectively, in those events.

It ended up not mattering. Martin swam 54.72 seconds in the 100 fly and 51.25 in the 100 free to win district championships and earn the top seed in both events for the state meet, which will be held Thursday, Feb. 23, to Saturday, Feb. 25, at Branin Natatorium in Canton.

“Especially with her being in the outside lanes (because of her seed), it’s very hard to swim because you’re catching every wave from all the other swimmers. She knew she had to get first in everything,” coach Nicole Miller said. “She knew what she had to do today and she kind of had a point to prove, I guess. I’m sure a lot of people saw the times from last week and they were wondering if Maddie Martin had hit her prime. She hasn’t.”

Martin won last year’s title with a state-record time of 53.34 and was second in the 100 free (50.86) behind Springboro senior Dani Barbiea (50.72) to earn Swimmer of the Meet honors.

Martin also is part of the 200 medley relay with seniors Lindsey Inkrott and Paige Martin and sophomore Ashley Stewart that placed sixth (1:49.85) to advance. The relay is seeded 17th at state.

Inkrott qualified in the 100 backstroke (58.26) and is seeded 18th. She fell short in the 500 free, placing seventh (5:21.95).

Central scored 115 points to place eighth behind champion Upper Arlington (522).

•North sophomore Andrew Martin placed fifth in the 100 back (52.74) to earn an at-large state berth and helped advance the 200 medley and 400 free relays, which finished third (1:37.49) and seventh (3:16.01), respectively.

Sophomore Jacob Griffith, also a member of those relays with sophomore Justin Mathews and senior Paul Hintz, qualified in the 100 fly. He was eighth (52.85) and earned the 21st seed at state.

Andrew Martin and the 200 medley relay are seeded 14th. The 400 free relay is 20th.

“I’m right about where I want to be. This (52.74) was my goal time,” said Martin, who is not related to Maddie and Paige Martin. “Our team’s been great. Everybody’s putting in hard work and it has paid off at this meet.”

The boys scored 128 points to place sixth behind champion UA (435). The girls were 12th (59).

Junior Sara Sams earned an at-large berth in the 100 breaststroke, placing third (1:06.03) and getting the 14th seed at state. She earlier fell short of qualifying in the 200 individual medley, in which she was sixth (2:10.78).

“I definitely needed to go 1:06 to have a chance and I went 1:06.03,” said Sams, who went to state last year with the 200 medley relay that finished 15th (1:51.52). “I just tried to shake off my earlier swim that I wasn’t happy with and focus on this one and not let my nerves get the best of me.”

•The Central boys team has no seniors, and Miller hopes that means bigger numbers next season.

As the district meet wound down, she said she was optimistic that numbers on the boys team would begin to creep up to levels not seen since the school district split into two high schools nine years ago.

“Since the split, all the boys have gone to North, but I think some are coming back,” Miller said. “We see some more interest. We’re hoping to see more come out next year.”

Two freshmen, Kyle Staten and Tony Nolan, participated on the 200 free and 200 medley relays, respectively, that each placed 27th. The team did not score.

“We wanted to get them the feel and make them want it for next year, let them see where they need to be,” Miller said. “They need to see what’s needed to get here. It was an experience for them.”

Juniors Zak Duncan and Atticus Murphy as well as sophomore Matthias Speidel participated on both district-qualifying relays and are expected to anchor the team next year.

The Tigers scored a season-high 80 points in the OCC-Ohio Division meet Jan. 28 to place sixth behind champion Pickerington North (365), Gahanna (227), Lancaster (211), Grove City (151) and Reynoldsburg (116) and ahead of Newark (5).

Central was 12th (14) in the Upper Arlington sectional on Feb. 11 behind champion UA (397.5).