Swimming looks strong

After a disappointing season last year with a record of 2-3 for the boys' and 0-5 for the girls', the Blair swim team is expected to come back strong. After last year's combined sixth-place finish in the Division I standings, the team has dropped to Division II, where Coach David Swaney expects both teams to be able to hold their own.

The team didn't lose many swimmers from last season. "We didn't take a big hit," said Swaney, although he admitted that the team's "really going to miss [class of 2005's] Kendra Williams, Patrick Detzner and Ariel Halper-Stromberg," all of whom were top scorers for the teams last year.

Swaney feels optimistic about the upcoming season. "The boys' had a great record last year. I expect them to be solid this year," he said. Last season, even though the boys' team had a losing record, they finished second in the divisional meet and third in the county championship meet at the end of the season. Swaney added that "the girls' might be a lot better because we lost very few seniors and got a lot of fast freshmen girls."

The team has seven captains this year - juniors Sally Chang and Robert Feasley and seniors Bryan Erickson, Tyler Wilchek, Anna Chiplis, Kelsey Dean and diving captain Sam Silsbee. "All seven captains are high scorers," said Swaney. Other swimmers to watch include sophomore Yang Yang, who, according to Swaney, is "probably [the team's] fastest swimmer," junior David Vuong, and freshman Melanie Snail, who "has some pretty fast times coming in [to the season]."

The dive team has four new members this year. "Dive team's going to be better than last year. We have two new girls who are very excited and working on [dives]," Swaney said, adding that there are two returning and two new male divers for the team.

Overall, the team is poised for a strong season in Division II. With both the boys' and girls' teams showing strength preseason, both teams are looking for and expecting winning records this year. "I expect both teams to do better," said Swaney.