4A State Swimming | Inglemoor senior leaves big freestyle wake
FEDERAL WAY - Talk about making a sudden splash.
Inglemoor senior Jayme Swalin came out of nowhere to wow herself and opponents Friday in the preliminaries of the Class 4A state girls swimming and diving championships.
Heading into tonight’s finals at the King County Aquatic Center, the Vikings’ longshot hope has a solid chance to jump to the top of the podium in two events.
Inglemoor will need Swalin’s best to nail down its fourth consecutive team title. The Vikings are chasing Garfield and must fend off Ballard.
“There’s no pressure on us to win,” Swalin said.
Swalin opened some eyes in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle to earn the top seed in both finals.
Swalin, a team captain, also swam the third leg on the Vikings’ 200 free relay, which secured the top seed in the finals and set a school mark of 1 minute, 40.48 seconds. She swam the opening leg of the 400 free relay that was second in the prelims and bettered last year’s school-record time.
“Jayme just swam her heart out,” said 12th-year coach Monica Mayes of Inglemoor. Swalin shaved 14.19 seconds off her best 500 free time and 4.24 off her top 200 free clocking.
“I think she’s really shown these younger girls if you train really hard, that this is what can happen,” Mayes said. “My knees were shaking. I think we were all shaking. Her splits were just faster and faster.”
Swalin pulled off her first big surprise in the 200 free prelims, winning her heat in 1:53.29. She entered the event with the eighth-fastest qualifying time.
She was the No. 7 seed in the 500 free prelims, but put up an automatic All-America and school-record time of 4:55.81. She shattered the record of 4:58.71 set in 1977 by Tina Weisel.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Swalin said. “It’s my senior year, so I was really excited and wanted to go out with a bang. But it was sort of a surprise what I did today. I think it was my [new swim] suit.”
A DQ blizzard
Disqualification was the word of the day. Garfield senior and defending champ Alexandra Ernst won her heat in the 200 individual medley prelims, but was DQ’d. Her teammate, Melissa Oishi, a junior, moved into the top spot after finishing second in 2:11.00.
Ernst came back to secure a spot in the 100 butterfly finals, finishing second in her heat to teammate Gabby Guieb (57.37).
Jefferson senior Amy Friedhoff was disqualified during her heat of the 200 free prelims. Friedhoff, state runner-up a year ago in the 500 free, came back to qualify for the finals in that event as the No. 2 seed in 4:58.51.
Notes
• Jackson sophomore Alana Pazevic came into Friday’s prelims with the fastest qualifying time in the 100 free and won her heat in 52.29, fastest time of the day.
• Redmond junior Maureen Cardwell checked in with the top qualifying time in the 100 fly, 57.23. She was eighth at state last year in the event.
• As expected, Kentwood senior Marley Prothero, defending champion in the 200 IM, finished with the top time Friday, 2:08.61.
• Ballard freshman Annemarie Thayer locked up the top seed in the 100 backstroke, winning her heat in 57.62.