By WILLIE WENZLAU
For the Review
After Tuesday’s home meet against powerful Mercer Island, Bainbridge High girls swim team remains undefeated halfway through the 2011 season.
Ray Williamson Pool rang with cheers and encouragement from teammates while the girls swam their way to a 101-82 victory over Mercer Island, which is the two-time defending 3A state champion.
One of the team’s greatest strengths in competition, is its depth said head coach Greg Colby. The Spartans clearly displayed that depth against Mercer, winning nine of the 12 events.
Colby also said that the girls are “very supportive of each other,” a strength that showed clearly in their vocal support for their fellow swimmers during each heat.
The team’s goals for this season are simple, according to Colby. They hope to “swim fast, have fun and win the state championship.”
The latter seems possible for the Spartans, Colby said, adding that this year’s team is the best he’s had since 2005 … “maybe better.”
Colby said while the team is strong as a whole, he would like to see improvements in a few areas. He hopes to work on “turns and off the wall work, underwater kicking into breakouts, and finishing strong in practice and races.”
Senior captain Tess Harpur was the biggest contributor to the team’s 101 points, earning 12 points in her individual events and helping two relay teams score 16 points.
Harpur took first in the 50-yard freestyle (0:25.07) as well as the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.64), both of which qualify for the state championship on Nov. 12-13. She also swam on the 200-yard medley relay (1:53.28) and 400-yard freestyle relay (3:46.41) teams, both of which took first and qualified for the state meet.
Also earning valuable points for the Spartans was Shayla Archer. She swam a leg on the 200-yard medley relay (1:53.28) team, placed second in the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.60) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.51), and swam on the third-place 400-yard freestyle relay (3:56.75) team.
Sarah Grundman took first place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:16.21) and Geneva Levy took first place in the 100-yard freestyle (55.37). Both are state qualifiers.
The Spartans’ next competition is against Gig Harbor on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
