Mercer Island boys swim first at Kentridge Invitational

Competing Saturday against 35 other schools, the Islanders won with a team score of 569.5.

January 11, 2015 9:16 pm
Mercer Island's Ian Caldwell swims the 200 freestyle against Juanita Thursday
Mercer Island's Ian Caldwell swims the 200 freestyle against Juanita Thursday

Mercer Island swim and dive wrapped a busy week with a first-place finish at the Kentridge Invitational Saturday, Jan. 10 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Competing against 35 other schools, the Islanders won with a team score of 569.5. Kamiak was second at 372, and Issaquah was third with a score of 367.

Mercer Island had top finishers in three events. Senior Ian Caldwell won the 50 freestyle (21.29) and the 100 freestyle (47.03), and the team of Andrew Fukuda, Oliver Hoff, Ben Gore and Caldwell won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:14.42.

The Islanders were runners-up in the other two relay events, with the team of Teddy Larkin, Andrew Fukuda, Caldwell and Joseph Li finishing second in the 200 medley relay at 1:41.94. In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Li, Fukuda, Hoff and Gore finished second at 1:30.31.

In the 200 freestyle, Gore placed third with a time of 1:46.30, while Hoff was fourth at 1:47.51. Gore was also a runner-up in the 100 butterfly, finishing in 54.82, and Hoff was third in the 500 freestyle at 4:50.48. Fukuda placed fifth in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:03.24, and Kyle Bailey finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:05.77.

The competition was Mercer Island’s third of the week, all resulting in team wins. The Islanders beat Bainbridge 128-58 Tuesday and Juanita 127-59 Thursday, with both meets at Mary Wayte Pool. Heading into Saturday’s invite, coach Chauntelle Johnson said the goal was to see 13 state times from her swimmers.

“We’re hoping to come away with some kids qualified for the state meet,” Johnson said after the Juanita meet. “I think that they’re going to race really well. What they needed was Tuesday and [Thursday] to kind of get back in that racing routine.”

The Islanders finish a stretch of five meets in nine days this week, with meets against Newport at Mary Wayte Pool on Tuesday and against Woodinville at the Juanita Pool in Kirkland on Thursday.

“These next fourteen days are really important for us,” Johnson said Thursday. “The end comes really, really quick, so what happens over the next fourteen days in terms of training and racing really sets the tone for what the last few weeks of the season look like. This is definitely crunch time for us.”