Boy swimmers finish on high note, prepare for Metros

Coming off the giddy high of their first win in three years, the girls swam a distinctly flat final meet against Blake, losing 64-105. Although freshman Christie Lin, sophomore Diana Frey and senior captain Robin Hernandez each recorded personal-best splits in the relays, Blair's top girls failed to knock off seconds in individual events. Sophomore Anna Chiplis continued her steady climb through the ranks, however, with a time of 1:09.66 in the 100 yard fly, her best performance of the season.

In the season's only non-divisional meet, the boys managed to pull off their second win of the season (116-53) to improve to 2-4, while recording a handful of personal-best times. The boys' power surge was especially evident as Blair swept the 200 yard freestyle event, with junior captain Patrick Detzner, freshman David Vuong, and sophomore Tyler Wilchek taking respective first, second and third place. All four Blair competitors in the event, including freshman Eric Peterson, clocked personal-best times.

Sophomore Bryan Erickson took first in the 200 yard individual medley, with a personal-best 2:21.22 and second in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:32.08.

Both the girls' and boys' teams lack the depth to viably compete in the postseason against most division I schools, but Hernandez expects the county championships on Feb. 21 to better illuminate Blair's strengths. The county meet will comprise a larger and weaker pool that encompasses divisions I, II and III.

The Blazers will be left mainly to seek individual glory at the Metros, the biggest high school swimming event of the season. Four individual boys and three relay teams qualified to compete in metros. Although Metro competitors may only compete in two individual events, Wilchek and Detzner each qualified in four. Detzner, showcasing impressive range, qualified in every freestyle event, including the 50 yard and 500 yard freestyle.

While Detzner and Wilchek have consistently inked metro-caliber times at every meet, Vuong, who had a more erratic season, recorded team-best times while qualifying for three events. Vuong swam 15 seconds under the cutoff in the 500 free, nearly two seconds under in the 200 IM and one second under in the 100 yard backstroke.

Junior captain Ari Halper-Stromberg also qualified in the 100 fly.

On the girls' team, sophomore Kelsey Dean qualified in the 500 yard free, and Hernandez and sophomore Diana Frey qualified in the 50 free, along with two girls' relay teams.

Hernandez is the only senior who qualified individually for Metros. Although Blair will lose 13 seniors to graduation this year, Hernandez says that Blair is losing more in numbers than they are in talent.

Seniors, including Captain Joe Kramer, Gordon Su, and Abby Graber, have all made significant contributions this season, but Su points to younger swimmers as the team's anchor. A member of a metro-qualifying relay team, Su says he can only win when swimming with fast younger swimmers, like Detzner and Wilchek. Detzner, Wilchek, Vuong, Halper-Stromberg, Dean, and a horde of strong freshman are primed to fill out next year's much-anticipated team.

Hernandez wishes next year's team the best of luck. "I had a lot of fun," she says of her four years on the Blair team. "I always looked forward to winter swimming."