In the mix for six | Prep girls swim and dive preview

Published 2:55 pm Tuesday, September 9, 2014

As long as Chauntelle Johnson has coached Mercer Island girls swim and dive, the Islanders have made a point of winning state championships, with Mercer Island taking the 3A state title as a team in each of Johnson’s first five seasons. For a program that makes it look easy, does that make going for six any harder?

“They’re all hard! Are you kidding me?” she exclaimed with a laugh during the opening week of practice at Mary Wayte Pool.

All kidding aside, the Mercer Island swim coach had a very successful year last season, with both the boys and girls teams winning state titles under her tutelage. But this fall will feature a few fresher faces on the girls side, with a third of Mercer Island’s swimmers new to the program.

“The great thing about this program is even though we lose kids that have a ton of talent, there’s always a kid waiting for an opportunity to move into that spot,” said Johnson. “Some of these girls have been working really hard and I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen from them these first few days.

“Every year, it’s hard because you lose someone who’s been on the team for three seasons and then they’re gone. But now, we’ve got a different set of girls who’ve been on the team for three seasons who now get to step in as leaders, so I wouldn’t say that we have a lot of spots that we need to fill.”

The swimmers stepping into leadership roles will include senior captains Leah Fisk, Sofija Raisys, Angela Riggins and Kirbi Phillips. Also returning for Mercer Island is junior Sabrina Kwan, who qualified for four state tournament events last season.

Johnson said this year’s team offers plenty of size and depth, which will allow her options on which events to assign her swimmers. Keeping a team competitive for so long is a feat within itself, and Johnson said it’s about being flexible, knowing what the team has to offer and how to help those kids progress. With every new year, it’s about focusing on what’s ahead and not what the team has done in the past.

“The goal is to go for a state championship and that’s been the goal for five years, but the goal is to go for number one,” said Johnson. “We have won nothing this year. No one has won anything this year and there are lots of really talented swimmers and teams in the state. All we can control is what we do at Mary Wayte.

“I’m looking forward to the season. Every year is a new challenge, a new puzzle to put together. I’m excited for these girls.”