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Jan. 8, 2005
Blazer swimmers struggle at Relay Carnival
JAN. 8, MARTIN LUTHER KING SWIM CENTER--
After two weeks without competing, Blair's swim team found a special treat awaiting their return to the poolside today: Instead of the usual dual meet against a single school, Blair joined five of the county's top swim teams at the 2005 Division I Relay Carnival for a morning of intense, boisterous racing. Though the Blazers put up a good fight, they were only able to score 40 points through thirteen events, finishing the Carnival in fifth place.
Following a pattern that has been established for several seasons, the boys' and girls' teams swam very different meets at the Relay Carnival. Though several swimmers, both male and female, swam personal bests or otherwise impressive splits, the boys' team stood up well to the competition while the girls struggled to stay afloat in the pool of competition.
The Blazers never placed less than third in the four boys-only events, and senior Patrick Detzner, junior Tyler Wilchek, and freshmen Eddie Tang and Yang Yang captured Blair's only first-place showing of the meet in the 200 Boys' Breast. If only the boys' events had been scored, in fact, the Blazers would have earned 21 total points " trumped only by Walter Johnson's 22 -- and an impressive second-place finish.
While the boys' team was able to place in every single of its events, Blair's girls never broke fourth place in the Carnival's four female-only events, and they edged out B-CC for fifth place by only seven milliseconds in the 200 Girls' Free. The Blazers would earn another fifth-place showing in the 200 Girls' Breast and place last in the backstroke relay by a full eight seconds, earning Blair only eight points in the four girls' events -- less than any other team.
Though several of the teams present, such as Richard Montgomery and Walter Johnson, boasted female swimmers who could keep up with the other teams' boys, the lag between Blair's boys' and girls' squads put the Blazers at a disadvantage during the mixed relays. While both the boys' and girls' worked hard to overcome that disadvantage, it soon proved difficult to compete against more balanced teams. The Blazers took fifth in four of the five mixed events and fourth in the other - the 200 Mixed Back, in which both Sherwood and Walter Johnson's swimmers had been disqualified.
Though the Blazers' final score was not particularly impressive, Coach David Swaney nonetheless found plenty to be proud of at the Carnival's conclusion. "Our boys' breaststroke did great, and we had lots of really good individual splits,” he said with a smile. "My fear was that we'd get last,” Swaney added, "but we got fifth, so I'm not unhappy.”
The Blazers' next meet will occur at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15. The team will be hosting the Sherwood Warriors at the Gaithersburg Aquatic Center.
After two weeks without competing, Blair's swim team found a special treat awaiting their return to the poolside today: Instead of the usual dual meet against a single school, Blair joined five of the county's top swim teams at the 2005 Division I Relay Carnival for a morning of intense, boisterous racing. Though the Blazers put up a good fight, they were only able to score 40 points through thirteen events, finishing the Carnival in fifth place.
Following a pattern that has been established for several seasons, the boys' and girls' teams swam very different meets at the Relay Carnival. Though several swimmers, both male and female, swam personal bests or otherwise impressive splits, the boys' team stood up well to the competition while the girls struggled to stay afloat in the pool of competition.
Freshman Sam Bullard-Sisken dives off the starting block into the pool as his teammate finishes at the Jan. 8 Relay carnival at Martin Luther King, Jr. Swim Center in Silver Spring.
The Blazers never placed less than third in the four boys-only events, and senior Patrick Detzner, junior Tyler Wilchek, and freshmen Eddie Tang and Yang Yang captured Blair's only first-place showing of the meet in the 200 Boys' Breast. If only the boys' events had been scored, in fact, the Blazers would have earned 21 total points " trumped only by Walter Johnson's 22 -- and an impressive second-place finish.
While the boys' team was able to place in every single of its events, Blair's girls never broke fourth place in the Carnival's four female-only events, and they edged out B-CC for fifth place by only seven milliseconds in the 200 Girls' Free. The Blazers would earn another fifth-place showing in the 200 Girls' Breast and place last in the backstroke relay by a full eight seconds, earning Blair only eight points in the four girls' events -- less than any other team.
Though several of the teams present, such as Richard Montgomery and Walter Johnson, boasted female swimmers who could keep up with the other teams' boys, the lag between Blair's boys' and girls' squads put the Blazers at a disadvantage during the mixed relays. While both the boys' and girls' worked hard to overcome that disadvantage, it soon proved difficult to compete against more balanced teams. The Blazers took fifth in four of the five mixed events and fourth in the other - the 200 Mixed Back, in which both Sherwood and Walter Johnson's swimmers had been disqualified.
Though the Blazers' final score was not particularly impressive, Coach David Swaney nonetheless found plenty to be proud of at the Carnival's conclusion. "Our boys' breaststroke did great, and we had lots of really good individual splits,” he said with a smile. "My fear was that we'd get last,” Swaney added, "but we got fifth, so I'm not unhappy.”
The Blazers' next meet will occur at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15. The team will be hosting the Sherwood Warriors at the Gaithersburg Aquatic Center.
Discuss this Article
You guys look awesome!
Everone had a good meet - it was partly due to the way we did the lineup. Since our team has more depth at boys, we felt we could put our fastest swimmers in boys & mixed relays. We had our fastest girls in mixed relays so that there would be fast guys to anchor their relays. We felt we would have a better chance of scoring more points if we put our effort into relays with 2 guys and 2 girls rather than 4 girls. Thats part of this huge difference in point totals.
As long as we do not take 6th in this division we stay in for next year. That should definitly be something to look for at the end of the season. I think that that is a goal that we can reach.
And also in case people did not notice WJ was soooooo fast in 200 Fly relay - they broke the county record and they beat 3 HS's 200 free relay with their time for 200 fly. They averaged something under 24 for a 50 fly or something crazy like that.
We were very spirited too! Many cheers many cheers - and many boys with blazer-faced tatoos walking around getting many awkward looks... But its all good!
GOOD JOB EVERYONE! We got Sherwood next weekend and also - my favorite - a trip to OLD COUNTRY BUFFET in gaithrusburg!
your stories rock!!