Reciprocal records leave swim team lopsided

The Blazer boys stand undefeated, having beaten Sherwood High School, the second of their two toughest opponents this season. The Blazers scraped by with a 97-72 win on Jan 25, but the girls were pummeled, 117-52.

Senior Ian MacKinnon and freshman Kelsey Dean each broke a Blair record in the meet against the Warriors; MacKinnon split a 54.65 for a new boys' 100-yard backstroke record, and Dean set the new girls' individual medley record at 2:28.13 in the 200-yard event.

Seniors Tom Johnson, David Madej and MacKinnon each qualified for Metros in the 100-yard backstroke, the 200-yard individual medley and the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.

The boys' best team finish came from freshman Bryan Erickson and sophomores Ari Halper-Stromberg and Patrick Detzner who took second, third and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle event.

Coach David Swaney attributes Blair's success in Division I and overall to depth rather than speed. "What we have is depth," he said. "Our third and fourth swimmers are getting fourth and fifth place, but their third and fourth swimmers are getting last place."

Swaney is also optimistic about his girls' team, despite their record. "It's not that they're not swimming well, they're just placed in the wrong division," he said. He predicts that the girls may be able to pull out a single win at their last regular season meet against Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (B-CC) next Saturday, Feb 1 at Montgomery College, Takoma Park.

The girls barely survived the Sherwood meet, but they beat 20 individual times, proving their steady improvement. "There's constantly time dropping," said Swaney, "which is all you can hope for."

The girls faced Sherwood after losing to Wootton High School on Jan 18 by just one point. According to senior Leah Cowdrey, every heat was close and exciting, so the loss was ever more painful. "It was heartbreaking," Cowdrey said. "That seemed like our only chance [to win this season]." Because B-CC is a Division II team, Cowdrey is confident that the Blair girls can compete evenly with the Barons, as well.

The Blazer girls pulled out more first place wins against the Patriots than they had in any other meet. Blair beat them in the 100-yard backstroke and breaststroke and the 500-yard and 200-yard freestyle events.

Also against Wootton, senior diver Pete Johnson broke the Blair record for four dives with a score of 133.8. His four-dive record is also higher than Blair's six-dive record, so Johnson should set that record the next time he throws six dives in competition.