Talent runs swift, deep

Published 10:00 am Wednesday, December 13, 2006

A young and eager group look for a top five finish at state.

Bainbridge boys swim head coach Kaycee Taylor felt his team would be good, but even he was surprised at how the 200 medley relay team did against Lakeside Friday at the Bainbridge Aquatic Center.

The relay team of David Ortyn, Cheyne Clark, Austin Hallett and Cooper Ashley not only scored a state time of 1:43.86 in that event, but the team of Clark, Kevin Brooks, Ashley and Hallett scored another state time in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:34.24.

Add to that another school record broken by Hallett, and the Spartans are looking good as they work to return to state for the 2006-07 prep season.

“It’s a fantastic way to start out the season,” Taylor said. “To be at this point in the season – and it’s our first meet – it’s exciting to think about what the rest of the season could be like.”

Last season was exciting for the Spartans as well, as they finished fourth at Metros, eighth in districts and at the state meet, their first top 10 finish since 2004.

Olaf Olson also won a state title in diving, the first time that’s happened in school history.

They lost several veteran swimmers including Jon Swanson, Clif McKenzie and Tomas Torok, but they have two of the best returning in Hallett and Olson.

The junior broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with his state qualifying time of 52.81, just 0.48 of a second faster than Jeff Christensen’s time of 53.29, set in 2001.

Hallett said that while they’ve done a lot of anaerobic work, thereby keeping his “stroke cycles a lot slower than what they would be near the end of the season,” he felt “pretty strong” in the pool.

He’s also got a future as a fortune teller, according to Taylor.

“(Thursday) at practice he told me he’s going to beat that mark (the next day),” he said. “I said, ‘OK.’ So he finishes and I look at the clock and I look at the record, and he did it.

“I can’t keep up with him on the record books. (There are) all those blank spots on the wall” where the records are posted, “and I haven’t been able to make new ones yet.”

Olson had a good score on Friday, but struggled on sticking some of his dives.

“It was a little rough,” the senior co-captain said. “Everything was going well except for entries. I swim in this pool but I don’t dive as much. It’s kind of hard to see when it gets dark, but you deal with what you get.”

Taylor said Olson is increasing his “DD” – degree of difficulty – list, which means he’ll struggle here and there.

“He had a tough, tough list,” he said. “He could have made it an easier list and scored, but he had some 3.0 degree of difficulty dives. That’s almost unheard of. Someone that really has no coaching, other than himself, (and) to be at that level is amazing.”

Also returning is Clark, who finished in fifth in the diving competition and swam on the 200 medley relay with Hallett at state.

He’ll dive with Olson and swim in the relays as well.

Taylor also feels that seniors PJ Trimble, Chris Darling, Andrew Stewart and Caelen Ball, Ashley, a junior and Brooks, a sophomore, all have the potential to improve on their times from last season.

Hallett thinks that juniors Lee and Lane Baldwin are improved as well.

There are several newcomers in freshman Ortyn, Sam Pollock and Zach Morrow that can all contribute right away to the team’s success.

“If they stick with the program for three or four years they have some longevity there,” Taylor said. “All these freshman have legs that come up to my shoulders. It’s exciting to see how they’ll grow and mature.”

They’ll get competition from the usual suspects – O’Dea, Seattle Prep, Mercer Island, Kennedy (with U.S. Swimming Junior National star Kevin Munsch), Lakeside, Issaquah and Bellevue – but they feel they have the potential to be a top team at the state meet in Federal Way.

Taylor is impressed with their focus and drive so early in the season.

“I’ve never had a team at this point in the season as capable and prepared as these guys are,” he said. “The way they swam the relays was so easy to them.

“I can’t predict where we’re going to be, but compared to where we are at this point in the season in the past, it’s easy to be excited and optimistic about it.”